My (looong) Kauai Trip Review

[SpartanGirl]

H and I just got back from a 10 day trip (without the kids) to Kauai. It was absolutely incredible. You ladies helped with some suggestions of things to do so I thought I'd come back and give a recap of how the trip went and what we did.

First off, the suggestion to get the Kauai Revealed book was the best ever. The book was VERY useful in planning the trip. Once we were on the island we also downloaded the app to H's iPhone and it was definitely worth the money. It could track where you were and bring up restaurants and activities that were near where you are.

I'm long winded so I’m going to break this down by activity type to make it easier.

Lodging
We stayed at the SeaLodge Condos in Princeville. We were looking for a place that wasn't too expensive (since we did not plan on hanging out at home) and where we could cook our own meals if we wanted. We read a lot of Trip Advisor reviews (and the Kauai book) that said the place wasn't spectacular, the views from the F unit in particular weren't the best BUT that it offered a great value. We loved our condo. We stayed in the F unit (we booked late and there were no other units available) and we were very happy with our views. We could see the ocean from our room (and hear the waves all night) and from our balcony. We even saw humpbacks jumping from the water while eating dinner one night. It's definitely not a 5 star resort, but it was clean, cozy and had a lot of extras (snorkel gear, beach chairs and mats, coolers, hiking stick, washer and dryer, etc). For the price it couldn't beat.

If we went again though we probably would not stay in Princeville. We spent a lot of time driving from place to place and think that Poipu would have been a more centralized location for us. It was also pretty rainy while we were there so we left Princeville a few days in search of sun on the south shores.

Food
We found the reviews in the book to be very spot on (down to the quality of service) so I'll just touch on our favorite places.

Duke's (downstairs) in Lihue had the best atmosphere. On the beach, live music and the food was good. We went there on our first day and ended up back there on our last day.

Pono Market (Kapa’a) - We had the BEST pork and ahi poke here. It is nothing special on the inside (just a tiny food counter) and just a few tables on the sidewalk outside, but it was one of my favorite places to eat.

Pau Hana Grill (Kapa’a) had great fish and chips and cocktails and probably the friendliest service we had during our whole trip.

The Light House Bistro (Kilauea ) doesn't get an "ono" in the book, but we loved it. We went during happy hour (the best we found on the island) and while they weren't serving dinner they did have bar food (smaller portions of a few of their meals) that was tasty and inexpensive. We loved the atmosphere here too. There were a lot of locals during happy hour.

Garden cafe at common ground (Hanalei) – small menu but very fresh, good food. All open air seating.

Village Snack and Bakery (Hanalei) – inexpensive and pretty darn good. We had the chili pepper chicken plate lunch which was a great blend of spicy and sweet.

We also checked out a farmer's market and cooked our own meal one night.

Activities
Hands down the best thing we did on the island was take a helicopter tour. We went through Jack Harter and opted for the doors off tour. It was the most expensive thing we did but worth every penny. We did it early in our stay (2nd day I believe) to give ourselves a better idea of how the island was laid out. If we go ever go back I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

I really wanted to do a luau while we were on the island. I don't think H cared, but he came along and had fun anyway. We went to Smith's Family Luau. It was as cheesy and touristy (and crowded) as you would expect but we still had a good time. I thought the food was just okay though.

Kilauea Lighthouse – worth a visit if you have time. Just before we got there two families of whales were swimming and playing near the lighthouse. It was apparently quite the show. We were bummed to miss it, but there are great views and it’s not terribly expensive.

Hindu Monastery – We were bummed that there were no tours to the new temple while we were there (they happen about once a week depending on the Hindu calendar). You can still tour the rest of the grounds between 9-12. The views are incredible, and the whole place is very peaceful and beautiful.

Kauai Museum – it was interesting, but probably not worth the $10 pp admission. They said they are redoing the whole place so maybe it will improve.

Caves – we visted both the dry and wet caves. They were cool and easy to get to though I admittedly don’t like caves (they freak me out).

Snorkeling – Given the weather (very rainy) and the season (early spring) the waters were really rough. We tried Lydgate which was supposed to be good for beginners, but it was too murky to see anything. Poipu Beach was better, but the best snorkeling we found was at ‘Anini Beach. The water was calm and there were so many fish and sea turtles!!

We also visited some of the “gems” listed in the book – Queen’s Bath (which we saw from a distance because the ocean was so wild), Secret Lava Pools, Spouting Horn, etc.  All were very cool.

Hiking
Shipwreck Beach and Lithified Cliffs – this was an easy hike with great views

Canyon Trail to Waipo’o Falls – a more strenuous hike but worth it for the stunning views of the canyon. If you’re afraid of heights this hike might make your heart race a few times.

Alaka’i Swamp Trail – This one comes with a lot of disclaimers. I wouldn’t hike this if seeing a great view at the end is important to you. I’ve heard that the view is stunning, but all we saw was a thick cloud. Also, expect to get muddy on this hike. Very muddy. It rained a lot while we were there which made this hike much messier. The views through the swamp though are so cool. At the end it almost feels surreal with the small shrubs and cloud cover. I loved this trail, but H was not as much of a fan.

Hanakapi’ai Trail to the Falls – This was our must do hike and with how wet it was during our trip we weren’t sure we were going to make it. We did though on our next to last day (this happened 2 days before we hiked it: khon2.com/2014/04/07/rescue-underway-for-70-hikers-stranded-at-hanakapiai-trail-on-kauai/). The hike was difficult and slippery, and I would NOT have taken kids or non-experienced hikers on it (though maybe it had more to do with the weather/conditions than with the actual trail). Despite that, the views and the falls were amazing, and I’d recommend it to those who have hiked before if the conditions are good.  At the end of our hike we stopped at Ke'e Beach to swim and there was a Monk Seal lying on the beach.  It was a very cool way to end the day.

So that’s my long winded review while it's all still fresh in my mind. It was an incredible trip, and I hope we have an opportunity to go back someday.

[Deleted]

What an awesome review and trip!!!

[aurora]

Thanks for the review! I love Kauai and have done many of those same activities. Re. the Hanakapi'ai hike, it really does feel much safer when dry; I've actually seen people doing it in flip flops, though that seems like a recipe for a broken ankle to me.

[keweenawlove]

Thanks for posting your review. I'm leaving in a month and this got me extra excited to get back there. I agree with aurora on the Hanakapiai hike. We did it on dry trails and didn't feel unsafe at all. We're doing the whole thing on this trip so I hope we get some dry(ish) weather for it.

[SpartanGirl]

I have a feeling that a lot of what we did was colored by the weather. When we saw Queen's bath it was awesome, then we looked up pictures of it in the summer and it was incredible how different it looked. I'd love to go back in the summer when the ocean is calmer to do it all again.