We are planning a 1st trip to Kauai next year. Leaning towards the North Shore and prefer something more private than a condo in a complex - perhaps a private home, cabin, room, etc.

While ocean front was our first choice, after thinking about what we really like (privacy, flora, etc) and reviewing budget ($1500 week) we think something more private with mountain views or more secluded might be more up our alley.

Has anyone been to Kauai and done both (ocean stay and more private, mountains, etc)? What did u prefer, pros and cons? Have a fave location or rental?

Appreciate ur thoughts!

Have enjoyed both views many times over the years. Anywhere else - I would probably say get the Ocean view - but on the North Shore of the Gardne Isle - the Bali Hai/mauka view is great - and if you are there after a rain - there are many waterfalls cascading down the hills.

I would take the lesser expensive place - and next time - maybe get beachfront house - out beyond Hanalei - toward Ke'e - Haena Beach Park.

For a base price - check the Cliffs Club - where we own a timeshare - and also check Songdoc's blog - under Hawaii - as he stays at the Sea Lodge? - and loves it. Both are up on the plateau at Princeville - just before you head down into Hanalei town, and there is a nice shopping center in Princeville.

We've never stayed on the North Shore, only in the Poipu area with a partial ocean view. I recommend saving the money and using that towards doing something spectacular, such as a helicopter tour or private sail around the island to see the Na Pali coast. you won't be spending too much time at your rental anyway, so if budget is a concern, go for the mountain view and put the cash towards a fabulous experience. the North shore is so lush and beautiful, it will be nice no matter what! don't forget the earplugs in case of crazy Kauai roosters!

Have a great trip!
Jeanie @ http://www.vacationdaydreams.com

Some suggestions--

http://www.aloha.net/~seek/ Moon Beach cottage--we stayed there a few years ago.

Here are some cottages I found on VRBO when contributing to another Fodor's thread

http://www.vrbo.com/900

http://www.vrbo.com/108600

http://www.vrbo.com/384277

Thanx all. Marty, All of those fit the bill, but none in the budget unfortunately.

I like the idea of a sail around island.

Try this realtor out. Some of their properties are not on vrbo and other sites.

http://www.napaliprop.com/vr1.html

Thanx Lookin glass. Found some potentials!

feel free to email me from my profile page

martym.....the cottage at secret beach is stunning but way beyond the $1500 week budget for Austin.... but a very special place for someone else.

Sorry, Shar (and Austin), I didn't check the cost - I had found those listings for someone else who posted that money was no object and didn't think to re-check the cost before I re-posted them. But, yes, they all looked wonderful! Hope Austin can find something that's wonderful and within budget .

I went back to vrbo and found these listings for the north shore of Kauai--and they're within budget!

http://www.vrbo.com/7782
http://www.vrbo.com/52010
http://www.vrbo.com/59132
http://www.vrbo.com/125965
http://www.vrbo.com/95823

The above vrbo look really good as we are also looking in Kauai. The jungle is so intriging! But martym, what kind of creatures will be crawling around? Spiders? I do have a phobia to creepy crawling things.

Those are all exactly what we are looking for. (actually found the first one a couple weeks ago and even called the owner!)

Thanx Marty!

Those are cute looking places. We prefer to stay in Hanalei town so we can walk to the beach and the restaurants. We have rented places in town from NaPali Properties and have used vrbo.com as well. There are many affordable (in your price range)places for rent on the mauka side of Weke Road. There are also some guest cottages on the large estates on the beach that are for rent in your price range. Here is one that I have had my eye on for some time.

http://www.kauaivacationrentals.com/...481&User=alpha

Someone i know had suggested that the mountain/jungle greenery in Hawaii suggests humidity and Mosquitos. Is that correct?

Critters: Geckos are your friends. They will scurry around the ceiling of your rental or out door lanai. They will chirp. They will keep away the bad bugs. You will either learn to love them or stay in a more homoginized environment.

In our experience, mosquitos are mostly by rivers or standing water. Of all the rentals we have stayed they were never a problem - even in Volcano Village with windows open, no screens during the rainy evenings and mornings.

Cane spiders. Of all our trips we only encountered one in our bathroom in Hawi, on the big island. It was big - say 2 inches? in our bathroom. I screamed, left the lights on and slammed the door and forgot about it. However Mr_Glass had trouble sleeping that night.

Whoa. Thanks for the heads up. Luckily the cane spider is relatively harmless and good to have around. Still....

Really, I've never encountered anything but geckos in Hanalei. And I absolutely adore them. I talk to them as if they were my pets! Crazy, huh? And one of my favorite things about hiking in hawaii is the lack of snakes to worry about encountering! Fear not! Just trying to keep it real.

In 19 trips to Hawaii (mostly to the island of Hawaii--never staying in a hotel) we have seen one cane spider and that was on the Big Island in a funky ocean-side rental with open windows and no screens and the spider ran and disappeared as soon as we tried to corner it. And mosquitoes are almost a non-issue, as Lookin Glass says. If you are hiking somewhere wet, use insect repellant.

Tiny, tiny, really tiny ants will show up if you leave dirty dishes out or don't wipe up food spills on counters.

It is sort of hard to know before hand, but the particular rental's orientation to the tradewinds helps the mosquito issue quite a bit. We stayed in a place once that was surrounded by pretty dense foliage. It was pretty and private, but made it hard for the breezes to penetrate. The mosquitoes at that place, mainly in the evenings were out in force. We wear repellent in the evenings.

The dreaded cock-a-roach has never been a real problem for us in the various rentals we've stayed in over the years. I must say that one time a roach the size a small carrot creeped the hell out of us as it crawled out of the folds of the recliner chair we'd been sitting in for two weeks. Good thing it happened on our last day! It was gigantic.