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!!

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.

After a brief nearby snorkeling session, we arrived back to the Dolphin Retreat to someone burglarizing the house. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the individual made away with only minor items after being interrupted in the process. There's not a long list of things more startling than opening a door while inside of a house to find someone there (actually still a tad bit haunted by this honestly). The responding Hawaii five-0 said that there had in fact been a car forcibly broken into the night before right next door with valuables taken, and that in general, there's been an uptick in crime in the area. They also indicated that based on the perpetrator's behavior, it likely wasn't the first time to the Dolphin Retreat. Given this experience and the officers' info, we decided to depart, forgoing the majority of our remaining time at the Dolphin Retreat (and cut our losses of items stolen and groceries). It actually took a couple of days before we were able to get a response from management. I must say I was consistently surprised by the handling by the owner (e.g., kept referring to the burglary experience as an "inconvenience"). He initially said this had never happened before at the Dophin Retreat, but later acknowledged one prior burglary there (but sounded like it was a while ago so perhaps forgot initially). The owner indicated that they would reimburse us for half of the nights of our stay. Fortunately, I kept the conversation in VRBO bc VRBO was then able to follow-up with the owner to help have him eventually follow through on his reimbursement promise (though less than what was promised). Regarding the house, I don't know that I have much to add to what others have said- a great place otherwise with truly amazing views from inside the house and on the patios/deck. The snorkeling in the area is great. The diversity of coral, fish, and other wildlife was thoroughly enjoyed. We didn't see dolphins or whales but suspect we may have if we stayed longer. *It's warranted to take safety precautions much more aligned with those necessary in NYC than what might be anticipated in remote paradise (e.g., have everything locked at all times, leave no valuables in the car, etc. even though you are deep into rural Hawai'i). When we return to Hawai'i, we won't be staying in this area given the info provided by the officers.

We enjoyed our stay, mostly relaxing by the ocean. The set-up was great, with a separate apartment on the lower level with a master suite for us old folks, and the upstairs 2 bedrooms for the younger adults. Parts of the house are showing some age, but this is an oceanfront property and the sea air takes a toll after a few years. The property was clean and we had plenty of towels and such. The kitchen was spacious and well-equipped. Access to kayaks & SUPS is thru a property 2 doors down. We paddled across the bay several times & saw lots of fish & dolphins. If you like to sleep in , it's not necessarily a totally quiet environment since the sprinklers come on pretty early and folks in adjacent homes can make some noise. A couple quirky ducks and a goose kept us company, so we were glad for the hoses to clean off the patio. The house is open-air and you WILL get some critters inside, so keep food protected and clean up crumbs right away. The open air was SO nice, since it was hot, but we always had that wonderful ocean breeze in the living area. We BBQ'd fish, ate a lot of poke from local markets, read books and relaxed on the ocean deck, played cards on the lanai. There's a good grocery store in the village of Captain Cook, and the restaurants & markets of Kailua are 30-40 minutes away. Restaurants are all super busy right now, so we ate most of our meals at the house. I would definitely stay here again!

Our family of 6 adults had a wonderful time at this property! It is open to the outdoors with amazing ocean views. We had dinner almost every night on the lovely lanai (which could easily compete with the setting of any waterfront restaurant on the island). We cooked fresh fish from the local market and carried out Poke several times from Reel Aloha Poke in town. The kitchen was fully stocked with everything we needed. We took tours of local coffee farms and beautiful gardens - all within a 15 minute drive of this home. Incredible snorkeling is just off the rocks behind the house and off the beach at a nearby park. We took full advantage of the kayaks and SUPs provided and spent several afternoons paddling around the quiet cove. It is an easy paddle to the Captain Cook monument. We will definitely be back. ** Full disclosure - If you are squeamish about the spiders, bugs or geckos that live in this area, and occasionally make it into the house since it is open, this may not be the place for you. But if you do want to stay in a cool wide-open home in a quiet, naturally beautiful setting - book this home and you will not be disappointed.