Arriving at the Charley Young Beach House after a long flight, the
first thing I like to do is to walk down to Charley Young Beach with
Katelyn, my 4 year old daughter and go for swim. We splash around in
the warm gentle surf, catch some waves with the boogie boards, and
then build sand castles for an hour. After the beach she loves to
cross the street and cool down with some mango flavored shaved ice
before we walk back to the house. I get a fish taco from Maui Taco’s
next door. Then we sit back and relax to the local beat of Hawaiian
music in the comfort of our brand new air-conditioned, private 3-
bedroom, 2-bath home on a 1/4 acre. She looks up at the high vaulted
ceilings says “Look Daddy a baby gecko! That means good luck, right?”
Next we step out onto our private lanai, to enjoy the cool breeze
sipping Mai-tais and milkshakes and barbecue Mahi-mahi while watching
humpback whales spout, and the sun set over a palm tree laden beach
on the Pacific Ocean. My wife Susan is still soaking in the Jacuzzi
tub in the master bathroom while the baby sleeps soundly in his own
room downstairs. Her parents are quietly napping in the attached but
completely separate guest house down below getting ready for another
fun filled day in paradise. Sometimes we go swimming at community
swimming pool one mile north, but most everyday we just walk down to
the beach. There are three great things I love about this home:
location, location, location. It’s walking distance not only to some
of the best beaches on Maui, but also shopping, restaurants, and
entertainment. Kamaole Beach Park 1 for swimming and snorkeling is 3
½ blocks, Cove Park for surfing is 3 blocks; Kalama Park is 4 blocks
away. There are lots of little shops for swim suits, souvenirs and
suntan lotion. On the mornings we don’t cook breakfast we walk down
to the Kihei Café. Evenings when her parents baby-sit, we walk down
to the sports bar for nachos and beer. There are great golf courses
in Wailea which is about 4 miles away. You can fish or snorkel near
the reef at Charley Young Beach. Many of our friends and guests like
Kihei because it’s centrally located: only 20 minutes from the
airport, not too far from Haleakala Volcano, and only 10 minutes to
Turtle Town or Maalea harbor where the boats leave for snorkeling,
dinner cruises and fishing expeditions. After acquiring this property
in December of 2003, Susan spent the next 6 weeks searching the
Island for everything she would need to equip our dream home with
every modern convenience imaginable. With a penchant for interior
design, Susan selected a Tommy Bahamas theme and shopped till she
dropped everyday for 6 weeks. She found sold teak furniture from the
Container Store where imported hand crafted furniture from the island
of Bali adorns every room. For bedding she picked the high quality
Sealy Posturepedic Mattresses and topped them with 300-thread count
Egyptian designer sheets and soft pillows that even a princess would
applaud. Floral bedspreads and colorful local art adorn every
bedroom. At night we watch TV in the King sized bed while Katelyn
sleeps downstairs in the queen bed and Ryan sleeps in one of the 2
twin beds in the other guest bedroom. There’s night light in the
bathroom just incase Katelyn has to get up in the middle of the
night. Susan thought everything furnishing this home, even a rug in
front of the washer and dryer which are located in the two-car
garage. For electronics we supplied TVs, Alarm clock radios, and
telephones for just about every room in the house. The living room
has a CD stereo and DVD player. The home comes with Time Warner Cable
extended movie channels and high speed wireless Internet access. The
kitchen has everything needed to cook and serve a gourmet Christmas
dinner for 8. There’s only one bad thing about this place, leaving.
No matter how long we stay, it’s never long enough. We are never
quite ready to leave, and it’s always a sad day at the Kahului
airport. The only consolation we have is that we’ll back, soon. A one-
bedroom ohana may be rented separately. Ohana means family in
Hawaiian and usually refers to a mother-in-law-house or guest-house.
This is a common architectural feature in Hawaii designed to
accommodate large extended families. The Ohana is professionally
designed as a completely separate dwelling unit. It's attached to the
main house on the garage wall. The entrance is on the opposite side
of the main house so that if you don’t rent the Ohana and someone
else does you probably will not even know that they are there.