We LOVED our stay at the Dolphin Retreat! This may be the best property/location on the entire island. The place was extremely clean with fresh flowers placed throughout. The property manager Amma was then very helpful to meet us at check in and stay in contact via texting if we had any questions. A few things about this rental: 1) The House: it's a beautiful house located RIGHT on the water. It’s a different experience than staying at a resort but as far as vacation rentals go, this place was amazing! It is located down a long winding road in a lush and beautiful area. As Amma told us when we arrived, you are in the jungle! It's a tropical area so there will be bugs, spiders, and geckos. She instructed us to keep the kitchen very clean with all food put away because ants and insects do come in searching for food. The house is open air and you are never fully enclosed (you can shut all the sliding doors/windows, but air is still flowing). This keeps the ocean breeze moving through the house to keep it cool as there is no AC. We had no issue with this, but it is a different experience as everything is open to the outside air. We were there the first week of May and it was cool enough for us to not miss AC. Kitchen was well stocked with cookware and spices. We had an infant with us and there was a highchair and pack-and-play available. Yard is well kept and we used the back deck to do Pilates by the ocean which was a dream. 2) The Kayaks: We were concerned that there wouldn’t be enough kayaks as they are shared between three properties, but there is a large fleet of kayaks and we never had an issue going out when we wanted. The shared boathouse also has tons of life jackets, flippers, snorkels and masks, kids beach, and inflatables. The ocean entry can be challenging on rougher days. Make sure you learn when it is and is not safe to go out. 3) The Area: the Kealakekua Bay is AMAZING, and we saw dolphins and kayaked with them almost every morning. You do have to keep your distance, but they often come over to you! We would then kayak over to the Captain Cook monument and snorkel. Our other favorites in the area was Manini Beach – short 10min walk down the road. Two Step is a beach/snorkel spot that is a short 10min drive away and it was our favorite snorkeling! For local food, some are still closed or have limited hours because of COVID but we very much enjoyed the Honoaunau Poke Shop and Shaka Tacos. A wonderful trip! Thank you Dolphin Retreat!

Our family was so blown away by this property. Not only was the set up so nice for our family of 6 with everyone having their own king bed and space, but the lanai and living room and kitchen provides a great space for everyone to hang out together. We loved getting up and drinking coffee by the ocean and taking in the breath taking view every morning. You truly feel like you are in paradise. Definitely need to keep everything put away and clean due to the open concept of the house to keep the buggies/lizards out, but as long as you do that we didn’t have much of an issue. The host is very helpful and made it very clear that she was only a text away if we needed anything at all. We will definitely visit this property again!!

Our family was so blown away by this property. Not only was the set up so nice for our family of 6 with everyone having their own king bed and space, but the lanai and living room and kitchen provides a great space for everyone to hang out together. We loved getting up and drinking coffee by the ocean and taking in the breath taking view every morning. You truly feel like you are in paradise. Definitely need to keep everything put away and clean due to the open concept of the house to keep the buggies/lizards out, but as long as you do that we didn’t have much of an issue. The host is very helpful and made it very clear that she was only a text away if we needed anything at all. We will definitely visit this property again!!

Away from crowd. Good island experience. Loved the property manager!!!She works very hard .

The house was perfectly adequate for our 3 small families. But let’s be honest, this place is all about the location and it was beyond our expectations. It was such an amazing experience to have the sound of the waves lulling us to sleep and to sit on the ocean-side patio sipping Kona coffee in the mornings. We took the kayaks across the bay to snorkel by Cook Monument and watched the spinner dolphin pods cruise in and out of the bay on our crossings. It’s out of the way enough to feel kinda remote but still close enough to groceries to not have to stress about getting everything you need. Also being close to 2-Steps snorkeling was a big bonus. We will definitely be back!

Away from crowd. Good island experience. Loved the property manager!!!She works very hard .

The house was perfectly adequate for our 3 small families. But let’s be honest, this place is all about the location and it was beyond our expectations. It was such an amazing experience to have the sound of the waves lulling us to sleep and to sit on the ocean-side patio sipping Kona coffee in the mornings. We took the kayaks across the bay to snorkel by Cook Monument and watched the spinner dolphin pods cruise in and out of the bay on our crossings. It’s out of the way enough to feel kinda remote but still close enough to groceries to not have to stress about getting everything you need. Also being close to 2-Steps snorkeling was a big bonus. We will definitely be back!

We really enjoyed our stay. The views were just amazing. I will agree with another reviewer and say if you don't like bugs or spiders, you may want to look elsewhere. I really loved watching the geckos. The owner was very responsive. Kitchen and bathrooms a little worn but kitchen was pretty stocked with pot and pans. Cooked most nights. Might be good for houskeeping to go through spices. Some were very old. Eating on the large lanai for all meals was so peaceful and calming.