Tropical 2 acre farm like setting, minus the animals except maybe for some wild chickens running around. Coffee plants, bananas, loquats, pineapples, liliquoi, 5 kinds of citrus, ground cherries, dragon fruit, and more... (fruit is not available year round so please dont be upset if things are not ripe) Usually we pick whats ripe and place it in the house for guests. Also note that there are many Jackson Chameleons running around if you can spot them. Please be careful if you pick them up and place them right back where you found them. Normally there are 4 to 5 running around. Things near by: 1)Punalu u beach- 39 minute drive south east- Black sand beach, turtle spotting and okay snorkeling 2)Papakōlea Green Sand Beach, Naalehu, HI 96772 36 minute drive, south and you pass by south point for the adventurous cliff jumpers... I ve not seen a more beautiful area to cliff jump! 3)Ho‘okena Beach Park, 86-4322 Mamalahoa Hwy, Captain Cook, HI 96704- 57 minute drive West to a Grey sand beach and camping area, great for turtles and dolphin spotting 4)Two Step, Captain Cook, HI 96704 46 minute drive, west, for great snorkeling spot, beautiful coral, fish and sometimes dolphins 5) Captain Cook, Hawaii 53 minutes north west, to coffee, kayaking, snorkeling spots, shopping, restaurants and more 6)Ali i Dr, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740, 1 hour 14 minutes to Alii drive for everything from beaches, shopping, snorkeling, diving, golf resorts, restaurants, luaus, and more 7) North of all that is the airport, fancy resorts beaches and marinas for boat charters for fishing, whale watching, diving... Highly recommend snorkeling or diving with the Manta-rays! You will never forget it. 8)Farmers markets- some are 20 minutes from the house and some are an hour and a bunch in-between... always worth checking out! 9)I'd like to point out there are a ton of other things to do but some should be discovered on their own! In-fact we have come up with a new extensive list of things to do and research on the island.... Ask me to email it to you! ***Weather- due to the elevation of this house at 3200 feet its a little cooler in the mornings ( sleep better at night) and is usually above 70 degrees by 9am. Also it can be cloudy/rainy at the house and sunny and hot by the ocean or vice versa! so be prepared for anything. In fact the weather can change 4 times in a day and you can sit outside and watch a cloud float by! its sunny, drizzly, rainy all at once sometimes its like living in the clouds. *** use caution when walking around the property since you are on an old lava flow and active volcano. small lava tubes are regularly being found, its one of the things we like about the big island! plus there are occasional grumbles/quakes. If you have concerns you can sign up for text messages from the Hawaiian civil defense... its a great and fairly accurate way to be informed. I signed up last during last Mays eruption and always get notices of road closures, quakes anywhere around the pacific rim, tsunamis and general alerts.