I’ve looked at the price of RE in Hawaii, and it blew my flip flops off! Expect to pay $500k for a one bedroom dilapidated condo. No go. 
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I was looking at Maui real estate just a couple of days ago and the cheapest place I would want to live was about $1.2 million and it was a 1 BR condo. A little too much downsizing for me, although the view would be great. $700+ HOA fees didn’t help either.
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Both HI and most places in the Caribbean are quite expensive TBH. What can help offset the cost is using them as rentals when we’re not there. When/if we decide to buy, we’ll be crunching numbers a bit. Right now when we travel we help other owners out.
It’s true, condo monthly fees and special assessments are onerous. If you plan to rent, check out fees and taxes and any restrictions. There is some talk about trying to cut back on short term rentals in the state of HI.
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Last time we were on Maui with the ‘kids’ was 2019. We always pick up those real estate magazines. DS said…hmmm…not to expensive here, I’m surprised.
We/he are from the SF Bay Area. I guess it’s all perspective . HA
Also so much is location, location, location. Because prices of housing in other areas are high, HI doesn’t seem as crazy expensive any more, relatively.
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That’s actually one thing that makes me a little bit apprehensive about investing in real estate overall right now. Are we at another peak that will go down? We’re definitely waiting a couple more years - mainly to explore places as we can - but also even if we could buy right now, I’m not sure I want that risk.
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The place we stayed in Hawaii 2 years ago, 2br 2b with a view of the ocean, corner condo, was a bit less than $2 million, it’s not cheap, it’s owned by a lady in SF.
with Austrailia reopening, what do they mean, by double vaccinated. Does that mean you have to also be boosted? Or if you got JnJ you need to get a 2nd vaccine , and the two vaccine sequence of the others is good.
Its tempting as its on my bucket list, but likely will wait still.
My concern about a place the AU that just reopened is what happens if you’re there if/when they close sgain. What does that mean for visitors? Are they sent out? Kept in?
SF messes with your perception when it comes to what is cheap and what isn’t in real estate
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We snorkeled Secret Harbor this afternoon and saw oodles of large fish of various types (more parrotfish, tangs, snapper, grouper, etc), some new coral, a couple of pieces of coral that appear to have survived the storms of the past few years due to being in really protected large rocks, two rays, an octopus, and more squid. I have some fish to look up as I don’t recall seeing them before. One had a blue head with the rest of the body being white/black sort of zebra striped.
It feels really good getting into the water again after almost 3 years - 2019 in the Dominican Republic was our last time diving/snorkeling.
It’s funny. Even as a kid I never liked pools, lakes, or “just” swimming. I only enjoyed water parks with slides and similar. Everything else was more “work” than fun with getting ready to go and cleaning up afterward. But once I learned to snorkel, then dive, I love getting out and swimming in a fish tank or looking at shipwrecks (St Lawrence River). I don’t like quarry diving though (what we have in PA), so it’s only on trips that this love gets fulfilled.
Next week we should be able to get over to St John as I’m told the best snorkeling is over there. First kids arrive Wednesday and we’re going ziplining on Thursday, diving Friday/Saturday.
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We love to snorkel. That sounds great!
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I agree! I don’t like swimming at all. But I love snorkeling and scuba diving. 
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I’ve heard they have clear bottom kayak rentals for folks who want to see the underwater with fewer of the issues of gearing up. That sounds attractive as a potential option.
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We used glass-bottom kayaks when we went kayaking in a bioluminescent bay. It was very cool to see the “light” under our kayak.
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Just looked up the fish I hadn’t seen before. It was an Indigo Hamlet. Super pretty. Wish we had been able to get a picture!
It sure does look pretty. This is a photo from Wikipedia.
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Yeah, the pics don’t really do it justice, but it’s enough to identify it. The head was a gorgeous blue, then stripes looked black/white on the one we saw. The black could possibly have been a dark blue, but the head was definitely a spectacular looking blue. We had wider white stripes on ours too, but that’s typical variation. The center large black stripe sealed the identification. Apparently people can buy them for larger salt water tanks, but I don’t recall ever seeing one in an aquarium either.
