Best Glamping near Pu'u O Umi Natural Area Reserve, HI

My family and I visit Hawaii every other Christmas. I know, spending Christmas without snow may seem weird to some people, because we always have a white Christmas where I am from (Washington State). But honestly, we love going this time of year because it isnt as busy. We love either camping, staying at my families condo, or doing a combo of both. We visited Kolekole Beach Park when we came last Christmas, and it was great. It was super clean, which we really loved. There was also some great small cliffs that we could jump off of- the whole family loved doing this. It almost feels like you are in a "jungle" only because of the greenery and trees. Not to mention the weather is pretty muggy. My family and I had a picnic here, and played in the water for the day. They didnt have any life guards on duty just FYI. Weirdly, there were a lot of cats around? Not sure why? but thought this was interesting. The park is a little hard to find, we drove past the sign and had to turn around. It's a pretty small, spray painted sign. We hiked in the morning before we came here, which was beautiful hike overlooking the water. Highly recommend!!

This guest house offers a wide array of lodging opportunities, but the most unique are their hammock cabanas. These elevated, screened and tented porches offer one a pleasant and inexpensive (for Hawaii) night’s sleep. Rather than providing a bed or cot, each tent has two sleeping hammocks, a small cooler, secure gear locker and some basic lighting and electricity.  Note, the power goes off at 10pm, as the whole compound runs on solar power and batteries. It was raining buckets the night we stayed there, but we were dry and comfortable, although torrential rain on any small structure might make sleeping a challenge. 

The guest house at the top of the property has a great covered back porch with some great cooking, food preparation, and washing up options. Also the bathrooms and showers are lovely, especially if you’ve just come from a backcountry trip in the National Park!  

The guest house also welcomes the small herd of local stray cats to roam around outside and get an evening meal. It’s so cool if you like cats, but could be a bit of a nightmare if you do not. These furry guests are not allowed inside so no worries there, but they will investigate your food bag and meow like crazy should you be trying to make dinner outside.

I found this place on Craig’s List. It was for sale when I arrived and has been updated since then. It is such an amazing spot.

Surprisingly there are few places to camp on this side of the island. Unless you have a car it's almost impossible to get to them with your luggage. Hot showers, wifi, and plenty of common areas for eating, relaxing, etc. Children under 7 not allowed. No stores or restaurants in walking distance. So many birds and other loud creatures singing all night long. Overall a great stop but not quite what we were looking for.

There was a coffee farm within walk distance, the church, peace gardens and just nice little area.  Lots of pets, the cow! and baby goats.  City of refuge and Captain Cook Monument are amazing to  hang, and a few private beaches only for people who stay here