"Hale PUA" Volkswagen


13 reviews

(4.8)

Doug D.

5November 2023

The experience was great! Very easy to pick up and drop off. Highly recommend and may be renting from them again!

Ruben B.

5October 2023

Me and my brother had an amazing experience. We drove one of Bills westfalia vans along the coast, camping and surfing along the van. The van drove very smooth and felt super reliable. It had everything we needed and more. We’re already planning our next trip with one of these amazing vans.

Martha P.

5December 2021


Alex K.

5September 2021


Toby K.

5June 2021

Loved it! Highly recommend Vintage Surfari Wagons, and will definitely rent with them again!

Alex D.

5May 2021

I can't recommend renting "Hale Pua" (or just renting from Vintage Surfari Wagons in general) enough! It provided an unforgettable week, and was everything I could've asked for. Bill and his wife were extremely friendly and were a pleasure to meet, and gave me a full rundown of the van before leaving. If you're not sure about renting it, DO IT!

Matthew P.

5April 2021

Loved the Van. Great way to tour Joshua Tree National Park. I would love to see a sounds system installed to interface with iphones but other than that it was a great experience. Thanks for providing such a great service!

Melissa M.

2March 2021

I am giving this two stars because of customer service. I would rate the van and the experience of it all five stars. The van was great and I had no issues with it. If you want to get the Westfalia experience, you should definitely rent here. The thing that wasn't great for me was the customer service. When it came time to return Hale Pua, no one was at the shop. I called a few times but did eventually get a call back within a few minutes. Bill had said he thought I was returning the following day, and he was not there, he was 45 minutes away. He then proceeded to tell me the gate code so that I could get my car that was locked in the back. At this point, I had just sat in traffic for four hours and I was tired! I still had an hour drive home from Costa Mesa. The last thing I wanted to do was play car shuffle with a bunch of old vans that are not mine so I could get my car out of their lot. I was frustrated and Bill was not helping the situation. He was not apologetic at all and he made me feel like it was my problem. At one point I told him that I was frustrated and I wasn't prepared for this. He responded by saying...oh really, so if I would have told you this was going to happen you wouldn't be so upset. Something along those lines. It was so belittling. Anyway...I wanted to get home, so I opened the gate (which was weirdly complicated) and then I see my car is blocked in by a VW van. Bill tells me there are keys in the ignition and I need to back it up to get my car. I go ahead and do this but I am worried because the van is super close to the gate and I don't want to scratch the car. Meanwhile Bill says "don't hit anything" (This statement angered me). As I get closer to the street, the car dies. Then I restart it and it dies again. This happened a few times. At this point, I really don't feel comfortable, and Bill says he will be there in 45 minutes. This might not sound bad at all, but I really couldn't believe they would have a paying customer go through this. I was doing their job for them at this point and I received no apology or anything. Again, great van experience, poor customer service at the end. Upon arrival, when they were at the office, they were kind and offered me some water.

2 Photos submitted by Melissa M.


Michael B.

5January 2020

Unbelievable experience! Wonderful company that made for one of the best vacations I’ve ever had.

Bronwen H.

5August 2019

Simply marvelous. Wanna get away from everything, slow it alll down and just be with your friends and family? Wanna experience the sheer mesmerizing beauty of California? We drove around for 5 glorious days in "Buttercup" - real name "Hale Pua" and we all fell deeply in love with her. My 70 something mom, my husband and I and my two teenage daughters. Such a comfy ride, everyone gets a brilliant view, brought our dog, made tea along the way, camped 4 nights, loved all the special touches Bill and his wife provided, everything you need. Can't wait to book again. Simply can't recommend it enough. Slow down, enjoy your life, get away, take your time going through towns. Your soul will thank you.

Rachel A.

5May 2019

We literally had the best time of our lives! This was an adventure that we'd meant to take for many years, and it was very worth the wait! We drove up along the coast to wine country and had an amazing time camping along the way there and back right alongside beaches and animal preserves. It was magical!! We can't wait to take another trip again in the future, and want to make it a tradition now, it was such an amazing experience :)

Jeff A.

5March 2019

We had the best time in Hale Pua and would highly recommend renting from Bill. He knows these beautiful machines so well and has put heart and soul into each van. We felt like we were driving a Cadillac up the coast. Hale Pua with the Subaru engine took the hills like it was nothing. We cooked in the van with ease with everything they provided and found lots of adventures along the way. If you're looking for a great experience in a VW Van VW Surfari is the right way to go. Now we are on the hunt for our own Hale Pua to cruise around the country in.

John W.

5February 2019

I had a tremendous experience from the start. Even though the initial Vanagon I chose was out of commission, I was provided an Identical van, but different color. Bill was really cool, and he gave a great tutorial on everything I needed to know prior to my departure up the 101 and into Big Sur. The Vanagon ran perfectly and it definitely gets a lot of looks and will certainly start a lot conversations along your adventure. Very important to know when renting these old gems is that you made need to contact Bill in the case of possible malfunction of the van, but I can assure that when you call him for advice with the problem he was only one phone away and I was back on the road immediately. I can’t wait to rent again for a new adventure