Kevin Payne
Great community of people. Good leadership and group values. Beautiful location. I very much enjoyed my 2 months at Surfbreak. I rented a single bed room and stayed from mid January to mid March 2023. Communication with Surfbreak staff was very good, and I felt comfortable from the start with the application process. The community was welcoming to me when I arrived, and I ended up making some close friendships. It helps that there was simply so much to do on the island. Being able to rent one of the two Surfbreak cars (inexpensive) was also a major plus. It seemed like every other day there was an open invite to join whoever was going surfing, snorkeling, or hiking. It’s both more affordable and more fun to enjoy Hawaii when you live in community. During my stay, I never had an issue with living in close quarters with the ~20 or so surfbreakers. Quiet hours start at 10pm — weekends are a bit more lax on the rule, but still, everyone is respectful. The common area is big enough and there are enough bathrooms for this size community. Really, they planned this place out well for this sized community. But more importantly, they have built a positive culture that makes this place run smoothly. Shoutout to Daniela for her work in fostering this culture. A couple things you might like to know — you probably don’t want me just saying I HAD A GOOD TIME in various different ways — listed below: - Rooms are relatively small. I didn’t mind this at all. The rooms fit the things I had well and looked good (what more can you ask for?). They also have beautiful windows, all with terrific views. - Even though there are 20ish people and only one kitchen, I thought it worked well. Lots of people eat out, eat at different times, or prepare something simple. I generally meal prepped twice a week and prepared simple stuff for breakfast and lunch. Also nice to have the personal fridge in my room. - Ala Moana beach is the closest walk (~10 mins). The more touristy (and slightly swanky?) beach area is a 20 min walk. Great to have the public bikes, as taking them cuts the time in half. Surfbreak covers the public bike fee for you. It’s especially nice to spend sunset at the beach. Ok, that was my pretty unemotional, hopefully helpful review. Now my emotional review: COME HERE, IT’S THE BEST.