Pono Kai

We visited the Pono Kai last week in Aug, 04. Overall it was a good experience. We have a 4 yr old and found the place to be very family friendly. It's a good location for budget travel because it is close by to the few discount supermarkets on the island and inexpensive restaurants. It's also centrally located on the island between the more desireable north and south shores.

The 1 bed room unit was spacious and had a couch along with a murphy bed, plus a full kitchen. The master bedroom had a double bed. It also had a free washer/dryer in the unit, but we learned that these only come with the Sunterra-managed rooms.

The only negative is that we found it to be a "no frills" resort - which is fine because we paid accordingly. The grounds are nice and the location is OK, but it wasn't the kind of place we wanted to spend the day during the trip. The reason is that the pool is very small for a resort of that size and was crowded. Also, the beach was small and not very inviting. The town of Kapaa is also a bit seedy.

So we ended up getting in the car every day and driving to nicer parts of the island like the Hanalei Bay. It would have been nice to stay on campus more and avoid the lengthy drives. We visited a few other resorts that had much nicer beaches and pools like the nearby Beachboy resort and the Radisson. But of course these are also priced higher

So overall, I'd say the Pono Kai is a good value-oriented vacation. It gets you to the most beautiful Hawaiian island inexpensively and gives you the basics.

This place feels like your home away from home with all the local flavor and aloha of Kauai. There is so much to do close to the condo. It’s within walking distance of grocery stores, restaurants and shops. There is a beach bike path right outside the property for exploring miles of beaches along the eastern coastline. It’s also centrally located for access to the North Shore area as well as Poipu and other points of interest to the south.