My partner and I met up with friends and had three of the four rooms in the house. The fourth room was occupied by two great guys from OH, and all of us got along well. I only state this, as if you are here alone, it could be a very different experience for you.

The house, 3 rooms in the main house (2 share a bathroom*) and a separate, private guest house, is about 30 minutes from Hilo. The house is close to a small black sand beach that is clothing optional, but, it is not a beach for swimming unless you are a very experienced swimmer and are comfortable with a rocky bottom instead of sand. We enjoyed our time on the beach (be aware it is a VERY mixed crowd. We saw men of all ages, many women, kids on weekends) and it is clothing optional. Some people will not feel comfortable with the mixed crowd, but it is a choice and no reflection on the B&B.

If you explore the history of the volcano, you will find that back in 1983, it began erupting and has changed the landscape forever over the past 18 years. The biggest changes is that it dropped the beach shoreline by 10 feet and in some places extended it out. Point being, you cannot enjoy a leisurely day at the beach on this part of the island. The water is rough and dangerous. You can sun and relax, but swimming is only for the more adventurous. Also, you will need to walk a quarter mile and hike down to the "clothing optional" beach from the B&B. It is recommended that you do not drive there and park your rental as break in's all over the island are rampant. Best bet is to never leave anything in your car and leave it unlocked.

As I stated before, we were vacationing with friends and friends of those friends. Our immediate friends had the separate house so we do not know what it was like. We had a room that shared a bathroom with some friends of our friends. We were concerned about this at first, but it seemed to work out fine. The bathroom is very large, with a sink, toilet and huge glassed in shower with two separate shower heads. The only problem was that only one shower head was working while we were there. We did not find this an issue, but others might.

The main house consists of the 3 rooms, a "living room" area, a dining room and the kitchen. The kitchen has a sink, toaster oven, microwave and refridgerator. The fridge is stocked with all the items you need for breakfast (milk, english muffins, peanut butter, local spreads, etc) and there is dry cereal and local fruit. You can use the the fridge and freezer to store what you like. You will want to buy your own bags of ice. Plastic glasses, plates, and utensils are provided, which you are asked to clean yourself. We did not find this a problem, but some might.

The house has a very open feel. There is no TV reception, but they do provide a nice selection of DVD's and books. While Wi-Fi is available....it is VERY spotty. If you need to accesss the internet for anything importnat, you will not be able to do it here. Cell services are almost nonexistent as well. We were on NO SERVICE the majority of the time. Low wi-fi would get us email occasionally.

The rooms in the house are spacious and comfortable. We had the room that opens to the patio. It was noisy in the morning, but it was our friends who wake up at 6:00 and are all very loud. This could be different with other guests, but be prepared if you have the patio room. A sleep mask and ear plugs came in handy. No rooms are dark in the morning. Towels and sheets are only changed every 3 - 4 days unless otherwise requested.

The patio is very open and spacious with a hot tub (no bubbles or jets, just a pool), a swimming pool (see note below) and a nice canopy and chairs. This is a very realxiing space and you can see the ocean in the near distance.

The owner, Didier, lives upstairs and is friendly and helpful. He was very accomodating to our loud group at night and regularly sat in during the morning coffee sessions to hear what we had done the night before and offer suggestions and ideas on what to do that day. You will find that once you walk in, you pretty much have the run of the house unless you have special requests, which Didier will take care of.

Overall, the place and the experience was great. A few things to consider:

You have to drive long distances to get most attractions. If you want nice, calm beaches where you can easily swim, you will need to head to the Kona side of the island which takes 2 - 3 hours each way. Also, this is not Oahu with food and shopping all over. This island is remote and so making choices on food, drink and shopping should be considered before you jump in your vehicle and go.

Food can be found about 10 minutes away in Pahoa, but may not be to everyones liking / price range. There are a Subway and Burger King, but everything else is $10 and up to start.

Lava is a MUST see, but you need to pay $50.00 per person to do it (NO KIDS). Didier has this same info, but our group highly recommends contacting Cheryl Adler & Scott Collamore (LavaCheryl@aol.com, 808-987-3456) for an amazing interactive experience with hot molten lava. There are plenty of folks who will take your money to do this, but we really felt that they made it even more special.

Absolute Paradise is a a great place to stay. clean, friendly, relaxing. We would recommend to our friends with the following notes:

While we were there, the pool had a tear in the lining, which grew to 2 huge tears by the time we left. This is something that needs to be corrected ASAP as it makes the pool unsafe and unusable and really detracts from the setting.

The fridge and freezer were quite dirty. While the benefit of the two are great, the fact that it was clear they hadn't been cleaned in a while was quite disappointing.

The "shared" shower/bathroom needs to be fixed so that both shower heads work. Suggestion would be to also split the huge space in half and make 2 separate bathrooms. It worked for us and friends, but could have been an issue with strangers.

The linens on the bed were obviously old and well used (but in no way dirty). Updating could be a plus for some travellers.


Overall, we would highly recommend Absolute Paradise to any traveller. Both host and accomodations served us well while we were there and it really did feel like our island home at the end of the day.

Thnk you didier and we will be back

Dave and Chris

Excellent in every way, truly is "absolutely paradise." Great place to unwind and enjoy the all the beauty of the big island. Didier is a great host and always willing to go the extra mile for you!

This is a wonderful B&B in a beautiful part of the big island, especially if you're interested in see the flowing lava up close and personal. The black sand beach a five-minute walk away is also a fantastic place to unwind and meet new friends. The host is the best, showing us secret swimming holes and snorkeling spots we would never had known about otherwise. And the morning fresh fruit and freshly baked coffee cake was so good!

My partner and I stayed here for the Thanksgiving holiday. This was our first trip to the big island (we've been to Honolulu) and this is the best place to stay hands-down. Deider couldn't have been more helpful or gracious. He knows everything there is to know about the island, He lent us one of his guide books and snorkle gear! The accommodations are clean and comfortable. You are a 2 minute walk from the only nude beach (very interesting place!), and ten miles from the warm pools and some excellent snorkling. The east side of the island has some of the best attractions if you are feeling adventurous. There were times like we felt as though we were the only ones on the island (the west side is the "touristy area). We highly recommend Absolute Paradise as your B&B and Thanks again to Deider for his amazing hospitality!