Ask HN: Best beach to work for a week? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Best beach to work for a week?

10 pointschasb22 comments

I'm leaving my job in August and have been working night and weekends on a prototype for a few months now. I know I'm going to be busy starting a company after I quit, so I'd like to take a week to sit on a beach and code, swim, repeat.

So I'm looking for suggestions on where to go. Anywhere in the world is fine. I just need wifi, sand, and water.

(Or, if you want to tell me what else I should be doing instead, I'm open to that...)

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I'm in Hawaii, and can give you some recommendations for out here.

Your best bet for a little bungalow is http://www.vrbo.com

On Oahu (main metropolitan island):

North Shore - Historic surf breaks, but summer is the off-season, so you might find a good deal on a house. Not sure about grabbing WiFi from the beach, but a hotspot would surely work.

Kailua - Quintessential beach town. Good food, a bit expensive and not necessarily "authentic Hawaii". No waves, but lots of opportunity for kayaking and swimming. You should probably be able to find a spot close to some wifi depending on where you go. A computer on the beach would be pretty typical here.

Waimanalo - This will give you a bit more of a secluded feel, but areas of it can be fairly low income. You would be very out of place working on a computer on the beach here. Hotspot will be necessary here.

Maui (more resorty, less metropolitan)

Paia - Awesome small town off the beaten path. Not sure what kind of wifi you'll get from the beach. Really great small cafes and coffee shops all over maui.

I'll look into Kailua, thank you.

There are quasi-legal beach rentals just off Kailua beach.

I'd second the North Shore of Oahu. We took a family vacation there a few years ago and stayed in Honolulu but we spent a couple days up there (Haleiwa and that area) and it was a fantastic place.

I know you'll be "working" and all, but here are a few highlights:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/sharks-cove-pupukea http://www.yelp.com/biz/waimea-bay-beach-park-haleiwa http://giovannisshrimptruck.com/ http://www.yelp.com/biz/laniakea-beach-haleiwa

Good food in Kailua? Where? Buzz's, sure. Where else?

(There is free WiFi at Starbucks and Morning Brew in Kailua town, but that's a 3 mile walk from the beach.)

Waimanalo: there are sections of the beach where they'll steal your computer. (Though Ewa is worse.)

No mention of 'da Big Island', or Kauai, eh?

Breakfast in Kailua is awesome. I'm a Cinnamon's fan myself, but I know a lot of people are Boots and Kimos guys.

I really love Kalapawai (both locations) and the morrocan place is a pretty nice spot. Kailuans (?) seem to have a soft spot for Pizza Bob's too.

I've sadly (and shamefully) never been to the big island so I couldn't speak to that. I've also only been to Kauai briefly to hike the Na Pali coast.

Are you talking about Ewa or just Ewa side? Ewa to me is just a bunch of suburbs and military familys. Heading out to Maile/Nanakuli/Waianae is more similar to some Waimanalo areas.

1st place:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Beach%2C_San_Diego

2nd place:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahaina,_Hawaii

3rd place:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nice

Why Mission Beach over Hawaii?

The people are generally more fun. It is far less humid and almost never rains. The tacos are better. The sea food is cheaper. The bandwidth is better. You can take a train to the happiest place on earth, TJ Mexico. Or up to Disneyland.

Maui's sand is nicer and the water is warm, but there is no surf. Same with Nice, FR -- however the beach is topless(!).

Check out the geography of MB: http://goo.gl/maps/9KVDG

If money is no object stay at the Hyatt Regency in Maui.

I will second Mission Beach.

We rented a beach house there and it had great high speed via Comcast and a nice flat screen TV. Great coffee shops nearby if you want a change of scene.

One thing though, you will need a car to get around and parking is a total bitch! Beyond that, I would go back anytime for a week of coding. My wife and I were even contemplating getting a vacation home there if we ever strike it rich.

Take a bus or cab to the Old Town Transit center. From there light rail, trolley, and Amtrak are available. But the buses are not very nice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Town_Transit_Center_%28MTS...

I like South Beach in Miami as the beach is actually really great for just chilling, there are a lot of attractive people there, the hotels are nice, you can get pretty good food easily, there are usually inexpensive deals, etc.

Waikiki is similar but more a Japanese/Pacific Islander vibe instead of latin/south american. I'm sure more savvy Hawaii promoters will LOL at me for suggesting Waikiki, but I actually think it's nice to be able to go do something else if you get bored of lounging at the beach.

Outside of the USA I've only been to beaches in Mexico, France and Australia. I recommend Australian beaches but it's a long way to go and expensive to get there and stay there. Mexico I'm not so sure about anymore as there's been a lot of serious crime reported recently in the beach areas I'm familiar with. Nice is great but I thought the available accommodation was either super expensive or cheap, but disgusting.

I'm stuck at WiFi,

I think it might be better to just get a portable hotspot or tether your phone as most places offer cheap top up unlimited plans nowadays (Although they don't usually offer tethering)

Domestically, that's true. Globally, wifi is the deal-killer.

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua is spectacular. For something a little more remote, Cahuita, Costa Rica is great too and is not far from the surfing mecca of Puerto Viejo. I bet you can find wifi in either spot, at least in San Juan del Sur and Puerto Viejo. There's some beautiful spots in the Philippines as well. Try El Nido or Dumaguete (great diving and both definitely have wifi).

Awesome suggestions, thanks.

Np. Would love to hear about your travels. Feel free to ping me for more ideas/details. I've traveled pretty extensively in Central America and Southeast Asia, and a bit in Europe.

I just got back from two weeks in Puerto Viejo. It's a nice area. All the establishments speak English and a few are fully owned by Americans. Half the time it didn't even feel like living in a foreign country. Though, if you walk on the street a few hours after sunset you will get held up at gunpoint. Don't take your phone or more than 5,000 with you in the evenings.

Beds are $8 to $10 per night in a hostel (La Ruka was great. Don't stay at rocking j's or hotel puerto viejo.) I had a reliable 2 Mbps-down wireless signal at La Ruka.

It was a great trip, but I'm enjoying being back in the land of air conditioning and large grocery stores.

Huh. Never had any trouble there and I stayed out every night. Maybe I just looked like a enough of a sloppy backpacker, although I don't think I was traveling with valuables and it's hard to store a laptop in board shorts and a v-neck. I'm pretty big too, so even having lived in rough areas and wandering around in the "bad" parts of cities/the world, I've never had any trouble.

If Thailand is an option I would go for The Library at Koh Samui. http://www.thelibrary.co.th/

Just out of the way enough to avoid the drunk losers passed out on the beach at patong etc

I would have suggested some quiet beaches in the west coast of India, but Internet connectivity can be a bit of an issue.

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