Interested in moving to Puna

[leelou38]

I'm interested in moving to Puna, and wanted to know what kinds of people are building on the land? Retirees, small business owners, farmers, etc. What do people do for work? What is the social life like? I'm interested in owning vacation rentals, and wanted to know if tourists are attracted to this area?

Any feedback would be great!
Thanks,
Allyson

[Lee G]

Allyson,
I'm selling my vacation rental business, We are fully booked 90% of the time. Lately most of our guests are people looking for property or building a home and need temp housing for a few months. our website is www.orchidlandvacationrentals.com 808-966-6481
Mahalo
Lee G

[mella l]

Hi Allyson, I'm no expert but my impressions are as follows;

For a social life anything like the mainland you will need Oahu, even Maui pretty much closes down at night, and young adults might prefer that.
The east side of the Big Island is greener, wetter, less resort like, more family oriented in my opinion. All though there is plenty of fun to be had on the east side it isn't oriented like the Kona side. Very casual in my opinion. More homey than Resort. There are arts and music everywhere, the farmers markets, and loads of activities be it gardening, hiking waterfalls, beaches, lava fields and, botanical gardens, volcano's, not to forget the observatories, to canoing. Education for children can be a challenge.

From the forums this one and the Hilo or Fern Acres Commun. Assn. you will find young and old, financially challenged or not. As for jobs check the classifieds, lots of positions go wanting for applicants due to lack of qualifications.

Good luck on your search and I would recommend you spend at the least two weeks scouting around with all your questions as you make your observations. Happy adventures to you. Mella L

PS We purchased a few books for background info and read them thoroughly like the Big Island Revealed, Affordable Paradise (H. Skip Thomsen author)

mella l