We left Charley's and Paia town to drive up to our digs in Huelo. It's not really a town as much as a place. There is no center and its mostly rural homelots and gentlemen farms spread above and bellow the Hana Highway, all with insane views of the ocean. Most of Huelo is on the clifftops so not a lot of beach opportunites. I had chosen to stay at the Huelo Point Lookout, a cluster of ocean-view cottages with ocean vistas roughly 20 minutes outside Paia.We weren't dissapointed -- the Star Lookout Honeymoon Cottage was an airy A-frame with a loft bedroom and a futon below, a private hot-tub (which can't be used in high winds, which is pretty often here) and a old-style four-footed tub that looked out over a small papaya orchard and down to the Pacific

. The other place we'd stayed at in Paia, Mama's Fish House, was probably nicer in terms of the accomodations. It was also beachfront, although at high tide the beach was definitely not kid friendly. (It was also nice to be able to stagger home after a boozy dinner at the property's restaurant without having to drive anywhere). Very pricey for the beachfront cottages and the gardenview (more like parking lot view) cottages are totally not worth it even at the reduced prices.

Back to Huelo Point. The property had nice- sized pool -- great for kids -- shared by the other cottages on property. We didn't see the owners once and from our cottage you couldn't see any of the other cottages or any other structures. My son ran around in the open field behind our place The unit didn't have a true kitchen but it did have a fridge and a nice area for preparing fresh fruits or other uncooked items. We'd definitely go back and I'd love to return with just my wife to spend a few days reading and eating fresh fruit. Big downer? Seclusion is lovely but driving home after dark on a rutted, unlit, unpaved road was a bit unsettling.

—Alex, 07/11/06