This is our second trip to Oahu. We loved our first stay in Punaluu.
Any suggestions for the leeward side? or do we sttay on the west?
thanks.

I believe if you did a search here you would find several negative replies on staying in Makaha. Bump for Dusty or Melissa or?

Ya know, I'm not really sure how it is in Makaha nowadays. but as hulajake says, you should do a search on the board to find opinions. My initial reaction to your question was that, if you liked Punaluu you should like Makaha....but there's definitely a slower, more isolated pace out in Punaluu. Are you set on Makaha, and why? If you loved Punaluu, why not return?

If you liked Punaluu before, then stay there again or try North Shore or Kailua area.

Some of the homeless camps have been removed from the Leeward (west) beaches, but there is still a lot of crime in the area.

Lots of Oahu info:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=34812564

As Dusty mentioned, I would also recommend staying on the North Shore area or back in Punaluu again if you wanted that slower, more laid back vacation.

I get out to the west side fairly often and although there are some vacation rentals/condos out in Makaha, it's not someplace I would really recommend for your vacation stay.

I currently live in Kapolei on the West side and frequently travel up the coast to visit Makaha and Yokahama beaches. However, I wouldn't recommend staying in Makaha. It's remote in terms of getting to all other destinations on the island and though it does have a nice beach, there are few other attractions or reasons to stay in the area IMO. And by the way, there still are many homeless camps on the West side.

Aloha KandJ,
I have mixed feeling on this, first off my mother(in her late 60's, little german lady) lives out in Makaha at Makaha Surfside. She has for years now and would not move even if I paid her. She walks out her back door and is litterly on the beach. The building she lives in is very secure and they do have alot of vacation rentals (all her german friends that come to visit rent a unit out there) for being right on the beach it's a great price. Now as for the comments here about the homeless in the area, there is alot but they have never bothered my mom or any of her friends that come to stay out that way. It is a long way out and to get into town takes a couple of hours (in traffic). I personally live in Kailua and say that we have the best beach on the island!! (But that's just my opinion) you can find a rental out this way but it's gonna cost you. So I think cost may be the biggest issue. What are you expecting to pay for a weeks stay? here are some sites to visit for rentals
www.lanikaibeachrentals.com
www.hawaiianbeachrentals.com

Mahalo,
Jeanne

Thank you for all the comments.
We do want to be in a quiet area. The year we stayed in Punaluu was the year of the mud slides from all the rain. So we were trying to avoid that. That's not to say that it wasn't still beautiful.
And we loved where we stayed-it's not a cost issue, just thought we would try something different.
It really seems that we did get the best bet on our 1st stay and should stick to it.
Thank you all again for your comments.
It gets a little overwhelming picking something that it is sight unseen.
K