Moving to Puna

Here's a list of subdivisions in Puna I adapted from one at Punaweb. If I would live in the subdivision I put a y. If I would not, I put an n. If I don't know much about the place I put u. This is my own personal opinion. Most places I would not want to live are based on my impression that the place is isolated or full of loud or criminal types. I am very much a mainstream, conservative, peace-and-quiet-loving person.

• Keaau - y keaau is a nice place. Very small town.
• Pahoa - n Pahoa attracts very 'live-off-the-grid" type of people, and in the past has been a drug and criminal hangout.
• Volcano - y I did live in Volcano for several months. I loved it. It's at 2800 ft elevation so it's very cool, even cold at night. A very quiet place with lots of retirees. Expensive.

Subdivisions in Puna

• Ainaloa - n
• Black Sands Beach - y
• Hawaiian Beaches - y
• Hawaiian Paradise Park - y this is where I live now. It's a huge, sprawling subdivision with mostly dirt roads, lots of space (most lots are 1 acre), and mostly quiet. Lots of money is moving in near the ocean.
• Hawaiian Shores - y
• Kaohe Homesteads- n
• Kaimu - y
• Kaimu Makena House Lots - y
• Kalapana -n would be a yes, except for the lava hazard.
• Kamaili Farms - y
• Kaniahiku House Lots - u
• Kapoho Beach Lots- y this is a gorgeous gated community clustered around a bay and full of naturally-heated tide pools. It's far from anywhere, but really nice. There is a lava hazard here too, but man this place is nice.
• Kapoho Vacationland - n would be a yes, except for the lava hazard
• Kaueleau Homesteads -u
• Kehena Beach Estates - y
• Keonepoko Iki Farm Lots - y
• Kikala Keokea -u
• Koae -u
• KuKui Estates - u
• Lanipuna Gardens -u
• Leilani Estates - y
• Makuu Farm Lots probably, but I think this is Hawaiian homelands, and therefore unavailable to the general public
• Nanawale Estates - y
• Opihikao - y
• Orchidland Estates some parts yes, some parts no
• Pakaka Road/Waa Waa - n too isolated, mostly off the grid
• Pohoiki maybe
• Puna Beach Palisades - u
• Kalapana Seaview Estates - n would be a yes, except for the lava hazard
• Tangerine Acres - y
• Tiki Gardens maybe, depends on the house and street and neighbors
• Upper Kaimu Homesteads - u
• Aloha Estates - y
• Canney Road Homesteads - u
• Eden Roc Estates - probably not
• Fern Acres - n
• Fern Forest - maybe
• Hawaii Island Paradise - u
• Hawaiian Acres -n
• Kopua Farm Lots -y
• Kukui Heights -u
• Kulani Pastures -y
• Mauna Lani -u
• Mokihana Farm Lots-u
• Orchid Isle Estates-u
• Pacific Paradise -u
• Pacific Paradise Mountain View Manor -u

Yes, we get a lot of rain here, but we really do get most of it at night. A typical day here is: I get up around 7:30, it's normally a bit rainy at that point but it usually quickly gets sunny. We have a steady, brisk trade wind that brings in cool water from the ocean to the east (it blows east to west typically) that lasts all day. On many days we will see a shower or two during the day that lasts for 5 or 10 minutes - just long enough to cool everything down. The temperature gets to about 81 max. Humidity is almost always high. Around 5:30 (summer) or 4:30 (winter) the sun drops on the other side of the mountain and it instantly gets cooler. The sun goes down between 7 and 7:30 (summer) or 6 and 6:30 (winter). At this point it cools down to about 70 degrees. During the months of march and april it tends to get quite cool at night (maybe down to 65?). More often than not it will start raining about 9 and rain on and off all night long.

There are times - usually during the months of January through April when it rains so much you think you will go insane. There are also times when it won't rain at all for weeks. I've been through 2 pretty severe winter droughts in the last 10 years. All the grass dies and we have to order water (a big truck comes and fills the cathement tank with county water for $100). The rain always comes back though.

All this rain is really not a hardship. It keeps everything cool and beautiful and growing like mad. We make provisions - we always carry a big umbrella and an extra set of clothes. We always put a tarp up at the beach and everyone has covered patios or porches for gatherings rain or shine. We don't cancel soccer unless you will literally drown standing up. The schools and churches have common areas that are open-air, but they are all covered. It's really much easier for me to live with than scraping frozen car windows or trudging through snow in -70 windchill.

I got the following numbers from worldclimate.com. They are in line with my experience. If you were planning something like a wedding in Puna or Hilo, it looks like March and April would be bad months to have it, but June would be the best month to avoid the rain.

You'll notice that Kalapana gets a lot less rain than the rest of the island. Kalapana is on a southern shore, and all the southern shores get less rain.

The presence of the volcano right in Puna's backyard is the main reason that I believe growth in Puna has been slower than the rest of Hawaii. A lot of Puna is in very real danger of being covered with lava tomorrow. Kalapana was inundated in 1990. An entire subdivsion was either covered or completely cut off of all but helicopter access around the same time. The lava hazard map will give you an idea what areas are at what level of danger. I live in a laza zone of three. I don't ever worry about lava bubbling up in my back yard.

I have a son who is in preschool as I write this. I don't know a lot about the public schools, but I know my son will never go to one. We have the means to send him to a private school and so we will. I don't know if I would feel the same anywhere, but I know the public schools do not have a good reputation here. I know caucasian children (haole, in the local vernacular) are discriminated against to some degree by a certain segment of the population, as are caucasian adults. Personally, this is not too big of a concern to me. My son is not the type that will be picked on more than once, already, but still who wants their children to have to deal with that? Not me. In reality, my biggest concern is the academics. I think a private education in this area will be best. There are a few private schools: Christian Liberty, and Malamalama Waldorf are two I can think of. Some people send their kids to Saint Joseph's in Hilo.

Playgrounds are few and far between in Hilo. There's a decent one in Ainaloa and a small one in Pahoa and a nice one at the Mountain View School .. and that's it. We go to Hilo where there are tons. Other than the playgrounds, there is nothing for children. Not even a Chuck E. Cheese on the entire island. We can go to the beach and that's about it. Well, actually the Imiloa astronomy center just opened in Hilo and there is a teeny tiny aquarium downtown, and the Ellison Onizuka space museum is at the Kona airport, and there are a couple of Fun Factory's (video games) around ... so I guess there's not nothing, but there's not much. It's one of my biggest complaints - one I never had till I had a child.

A few little things I wanted to share -