Aquaponics vacation rental??

[Chris Smith]

On our farm, Coastview Aquaponics, we have a rental unit. We are located on the Kona coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Our renters informed us recently that they are going to vacate the unit by the end of August. We have been kicking around the idea of making it an aquaponics vacation rental. We would offer an affordable alternative to the expensive hotels on the Big Island. We would offer personal aquaponics training to those who want it. The unit is surrounded by 5 independent systems from media, towers, wicking beds, and a commercial system hybrid. People who come to stay would be able to get into aquaponics and do all the regular tourism activities with a house as a base instead of a room in a hotel. We would also be able to offer Kona style fishing trips for ahi, mahi-mahi, and ono. My wife is an esthetician with a salon on the property and can provide facials and waxing for those who want a little pampering. We would also include fresh produce directly out of the system daily. We can also offer tours of other aquaponic farms in the area(and there are many).

Before jumping into this with both feet and spending money to furnish we are looking for a little input from the community. Does this sound like a good idea?? Is there any interest in something like this?? Any ideas and input would be greatly appreciated.

[Annika Wallace]

i definatly  would be intereste

[Jon Parr]

I'm in exactly the same boat, Chris, here in Santa Cruz, Cali. I think it's a great idea, any notion on cost yet? Hey, if nothing else we could house swap. :)

[Raychel A Watkins]

Hey Chris What a wonderful Idea.  I think you should go for it.  You know how they are into Agratourism over here.  What better place than an aquaponic farm.  You have such a beautiful place.. I am a little late in saying thank you for your tour when Kirsten and I visited.  We were blessed to get to see your place after a couple years of talking on the computer.  We sure enjoyed the veggies and the Azole is feeding our fish eceyday.  Mahalo for being such a nice guy.  Good luck in your adventure.

Raychel

[Maggie Terzaghi]

Chris- Great idea! My questions are how much were you looking to charge for the unit and can you please post photos with available dates?

Maggie

[Chris Smith]

Yes Raychel the agratoursim is really growing here in the islands. You are welcome for the tour. It was great to finally meet you and Kirsten.

A far as rates I think we may offer two options. It is a one bedroom house so we could rent it out whole or as a studio. As a studio it could have a few futons to double as seating/sleeping. As a house it would have a big bed in the room as well as the additional sleeping in the studio portion. We  are thinking that as a studio we may charge around $100 and the whole house $150 The lowest end hotel here costs more than $100 a night.

Once we make the final decision to do this we will make a page on our site with an availability calender and lots of pictures. Our renters will not be out until the end of August so we will not be able to offer it before Labor Day weekend. We have to paint and furnish the unit first.

[Jessica Johnson]

Hi Chris,

Don't know if you ever went further with this idea but using www.airbnb.com is the way to go! Its very user friendly and has worked really well for us. Best of luck!

-Jessica

[Sonja Martin Young]

Wow, Chris great idea. We would plan our next trip to hang out there and learn from you! I'm in! Sonja

[Eric Warwick]

Is this still happening? I would be very interested.

[Lori Weber]

This is an awesome idea.....one that I have also decided to put into action! We are just starting out...but the plan is for our guest house/B&B will offer aquaponics info if desired. I bet it will be a big hit! Good luck!

[Japan Aquaponics - アクアポニックス 日本]

Great idea Chris... I think you could be on to a winner with that....  put me and my family down for a week!

[Gail Panzitta]

I think it's a great idea! Please keep us posted as to what you decide.

[Meg Stout]

Super cool idea! For what it's worth, I know more and more people are turning to AirBnB. I just looked at Kona:

https://www.airbnb.com/s/Hawaii--Kona

This would let you reach audiences that wouldn't come through aquaponics channels as well as provide an easy reservation interface for those of us who would love to spend our vacation surrounded by aquaponics (with tours,  fishing trips and facials...). I certainly hope you do this!