Kalapana Seaview Estates is a neighborhood in lower Puna where I bought a lot in 2004, and completed building my home on in 2008. It was created in the mid 1970s less than 20 years after the area was covered by a 1955 a’a lava flow. Other parts of the neighborhood are in the jungle, on a lava flow from 1790. For years it had no electricity and it still has no water, but it rains enough that people survive on catchment systems. It has been slow to develop, but many newcomers have moved in and started building homes in the past few years. The neighborhood is about 4 miles down the road from where the town of Kalapana lies buried under a 1990 flow. Much of the neighborhood has an ocean view, and it’s slightly less than a mile from the entrance to Kehena beach, the nearest beach. Most of the lots are relatively small for the Big Island, at around 8000 square feet. Homes include everything from a house built to look like a castle, to yurts, to a school bus, to even just shacks and tarps in the jungle areas. Residents are an eclectic mix of hippies, new agers, gays & lesbians, retirees, and urban escapees. The area is one of the driest in Puna, getting about 80-100 inches of rain per year, most of which is at night or early morning. Temperatures vary slightly throughout the year, with it rarely being over 85 and rarely under 60-65.

Seaview is located here. You can see it from the air here. They also have a community association website. It’s also on Google Street View.

Immediately west is Puna Beach Palisades, a neighborhood of half acre lots and some amazing modern homes designed by San Francisco architect Craig Steely. Further west is Kehena Beach Estates which has some homes which are built right on the cliffs above the ocean. About a mile east is Kalani retreat center which is where I stayed during my first time in Puna in 1997.

Many of the pictures in this collection are of my lot and from the rental I used to stay at.

Site last updated in 2009.