Vacation Rental Management
Vacation Rental Management in Kapaʻa, HI
From the condominium resorts along Kūhiō Highway between Wailua and Kapaʻa town, Fairly runs vacation rentals on Kauaʻi's east shore end to end: listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com, pricing built around the island's winter peak, guest messaging, and a caretaker who lives nearby.
4.8
Average review in Kapaʻa, HI
Fairly is an Airbnb Superhost, and our homes average 4.84 stars across 21,000+ guest reviews. 87% of those reviews are five stars. Better reviews attract better guests, at higher prices, maximizing your revenue.
Kapaʻa market overview
Kapaʻa and neighboring Wailua make up the heart of Kauaʻi's east shore, the stretch known as the Coconut Coast. It sits a short drive north of Līhuʻe Airport, between the island's resort areas at Poʻipū and Princeville, so guests base here for day trips in both directions. Close by, Wailua River State Park takes in the river valley, the Fern Grotto and the ʻŌpaekaʻa and Wailua Falls overlooks, and a paved coastal path follows the shoreline north through Kapaʻa town.
Demand peaks in winter: top-rated rentals here book most of their nights from January through March, when mainland travelers escape the cold. Summer is the second season and holds steady from April through July. September is the quiet month, and bookings pick back up in October and over the holidays. Nightly rates move far less than occupancy across the year, so the season shows up mainly in how many nights a home books.
What homes earn in Kapaʻa, HI
The chart follows the top-performing whole-home rentals in Kapaʻa and Wailua on Airbnb and Vrbo: listings with a review score of 4.8 or higher that were available or rented at least 300 days of the year. Those are the homes a well-run, fully committed rental competes with, not the market average, and the months show how sharply bookings follow the winter and summer seasons. You can customize a projection for a specific home.
| Month | Total rent | Occupancy | Avg. daily rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | $7,507 | 81% | $360 |
| Feb | $7,038 | 87% | $362 |
| Mar | $7,798 | 81% | $372 |
| Apr | $6,708 | 75% | $349 |
| May | $7,285 | 75% | $347 |
| Jun | $7,041 | 76% | $378 |
| Jul | $7,327 | 78% | $376 |
| Aug | $6,631 | 69% | $354 |
| Sep | $5,008 | 56% | $335 |
| Oct | $6,459 | 71% | $342 |
| Nov | $5,360 | 62% | $349 |
| Dec | $6,165 | 68% | $351 |
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This is based on properties listed on Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com with an average review score of 4.8 out of 5 or higher, limited to homes available or rented at least 300 days a year. Earnings vary based on the unique amenities and qualities of each home.
A guaranteed $5,000 increase in earnings
We guarantee that homeowners coming from self management or other managers will make an extra $5,000 in their first year with Fairly.
Vacation Rental Taxes and Regulations in Kapaʻa, HI
Can my Kapaʻa home be a vacation rental?
Yes, if it sits in the Visitor Destination Area or already holds a nonconforming use certificate. Hawaiʻi has no city governments, so the County of Kauaʻi's zoning code governs every home in Kapaʻa and Wailua, and it allows stays under 180 days only inside its Visitor Destination Areas. Here that is the Wailua–Waipouli area: the resort and condominium strip along Kūhiō Highway from just north of the Wailua River through Waipouli, plus a few resort parcels at the south end of Kapaʻa town. Condominiums and other multi-family rentals there are allowed outright. A single-family house inside the area registers with the county before its first guest, posts a small sign with its registration number and a 24-hour contact, and carries that number in every listing.
Outside that strip, including Kapaʻa town's residential streets, a home may rent short term only under a nonconforming use certificate, issued to rentals already operating when the rules took effect. The county no longer accepts new applications. A certificate carries over on a sale if the new owner files that year's renewal, and it lapses with no grace period if a renewal is missed. The Planning Department publishes the list of certified homes, and the county's zoning maps show the Visitor Destination Area boundary.
State law and the county's authority
Hawaiʻi law lets each county phase out transient rentals through its zoning. Kauaʻi's code today confines them to the Visitor Destination Areas and to certificate holders, and any change would come by county ordinance.
Lodging taxes
The state Department of Taxation administers two taxes on every stay: the 11% transient accommodations tax, and the general excise tax at 4% plus Kauaʻi's 0.5% county surcharge. A home registers for both on one state application, and the transient accommodations tax applies to the whole guest charge, mandatory cleaning fees included. The County of Kauaʻi adds its own 3% transient accommodations tax, reported on the same state returns and paid to the county Department of Finance. The state registration certificate, with the name and phone number of an on-island contact, must be posted inside the rental.
How Fairly handles it
Fairly registers your home for the state general excise and transient accommodations taxes, collects all three taxes on every booking, and files the state returns and the county payments. For a single-family home, we also assist with the county registration or, for a certificate holder, each annual renewal.
Operating a vacation rental in Kapaʻa, HI
Operating here means keeping a home guest-ready through a long winter peak and a busy summer, with few slow weeks in between. The east shore is windward: trade-wind showers pass through most days, and salt air works on lanai furniture, door hardware and air-conditioning units, so small repairs come up often. A condominium rental also answers to its association's house rules on parking, pool hours, check-in and quiet hours, and those rules bind guests as much as owners.
Hawaiʻi requires every transient rental to post the name and phone number of a contact on Kauaʻi inside the unit. With Fairly, your caretaker is that on-island contact: they live nearby, handle every turnover and walkthrough themselves, and know the property well enough to catch a problem early. You keep final say over your home, and you can change caretakers whenever you want.
Frequently asked questions
Fairly charges a flat 20% commission on rental revenue, paid only when your home books, with no long-term contract and no hidden fees. It covers listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com, pricing, guest messaging, and collecting and remitting Hawaiʻi's and Kauaʻi's lodging taxes. Your caretaker earns the cleaning fee guests pay plus a share of that commission.
Yes, inside the Wailua–Waipouli Visitor Destination Area: the resort and condominium strip along Kūhiō Highway from just north of the Wailua River through Waipouli, plus a few resort parcels at the south end of Kapaʻa town. Elsewhere, including Kapaʻa town's residential streets, only homes holding a county nonconforming use certificate may rent for under 180 days, and the county issues no new ones.
Every stay carries Hawaiʻi's 11% transient accommodations tax, the general excise tax at 4% plus Kauaʻi's 0.5% surcharge, and the County of Kauaʻi's 3% transient accommodations tax. All three are reported on state Department of Taxation returns, and the county tax is paid to the county. Fairly registers your home for the state taxes and remits all three.
Winter. Top-rated rentals here fill most of their nights from January through March, and summer holds steady from April through July. September is the slowest month, with bookings picking back up in October and over the holidays. Nightly rates stay fairly even across the year, so the difference between seasons is mostly how many nights book.
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Fairly Vacation Rental Management
Serving Kapaʻa, HI and neighboring areas
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