Kauai Trip Review

[keweenawlove]

I knew a few people asked for this so here’s my Kauai trip report. DH and I spend a week on the island with another couple. We had a great trip and great weather the whole time. Hopefully this doesn’t get too long!

Day 1 – We arrived in Lihue at 2 pm after an early morning from Minneapolis so we still had a good chunk of the day to explore. We got our rental car and headed north to our condo in Princeville. We had a 2 BR condo at Puu Poa which is right next to the St. Regis. The condo was beautiful and the view was amazing.

We were all anxious to get going so we right to Hideways Beach which was a quick (but fairly tough) hike down from us. After some snorkeling, had our first dinner out at the Lighthouse Bistro (great food, fairly reasonable prices but you sacrifice the view).

Day 2 – Since everyone was up early, we made this our day to hike the Kalalau (Na Pali Coast) Trail. We got to Ke’e Beach around 7:30 just in time to get one of the last parking spots. The trail was absolutely amazing. I definetely think anyone that goes to Kauai should at least do some of this trail. We made it to the Hanakapi'ai Falls in about 2 hours.


We took a break this to have lunch and swim under the falls (cold!) before heading back. After our hike, we relaxed and snorkeled at Ke’e Beach.

The night we did the Hanalei Colony Luau. This was the only luau we did so I can’t compare it to any others but we really liked this one. We picked it because it was a smaller, more intimate setting. A local family this a majority of the show and it was obvious they cared about their culture and loved sharing it. The one disappointment we had was that it was advertised as a beach luau (the resort was right on the water), we were inside the whole night so didn’t really get to enjoy the beach)

Day 3 – Another early morning. We took a tour of the Na Pali Coast with Na Pali Catamaran. We were on a boat with about 12 other people. The captain (a semipro surfer) and first mate were awesome. They were pretty young but knew what they were doing and made the day fun. We stopped at a few places, including some underwater caves on the way out. Seeing the entire coast really made DH and I want to hike the entire 11 mile trail (next trip!).


We stopped at the end to snorkel which ended up being our favorite spot on the island. We liked other spots but they were generally pretty shallow which made me nervous about hitting the coral. This spot was nice and deep but we still saw more awesome fish. The way back was into the wind and a lot rougher but it made for a fun (and wet) ride.


After our tour, we explore the town of Hanalei a bit. This was our favorite town we visited. They had some cool shopping and casual eating places. After a quick rest, we stopped by Queen’s Bath (cool to see but not super exciting) and Secret Beach. Secret Beach was amazing, our favorite beach by far. There were maybe 10 other people on the whole beach so we had a nice stretch of sand to ourselves. On our way home, we stopped at the Kilauea Fish Market where we got ahi tuna and filet mignon to grill out on our patio. We loved having the patio for relaxing nights like that.

Day 4 – We hired a guide through Kauai Hiking Adventures to take us to the bottom of Waimea canyon to a place on the river called Lonomea. Our guide Dave had lived on the island for 5 years and knew his stuff. We hired him because we wanted to see a place that we wouldn’t be able to find on our own. This fit the bill. We saw one of group our whole day down there. We ended up at these waterfalls on the river.
i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj535/kmjarvey/canyon.jpg [/img]
We played around there including finding a place to slide down the rocks further up the river before heading back. The hike back up was brutal (3000 feet in 2.5 miles) but we made it. We stopped for shave ice at JoJo’s and Tiki Tacos in Kapa’a (best we had!) on our way home which were well deserved.



Day 5 - Our friends wanted to see the Na Pali Coast overlook at KoKe’e State Park but DH and I didn’t want to drive that much so they dropped us off in Poipu. We shopped in the main shopping center there and had lunch at Puka Dogs (the sauces were awesome) before spending the rest of day at Poipu Beach. It was beautiful but felt crowded after being spoiled at Secret Beach.
The night we went to Hanapepe where at the art galleries stayed open late. There was music on the street and a bunch of great street vendors. It was a cool area and everyone just wanted to hang out and talk to you. We guy sitting in his car flagged us down. We thought he wanted money or something but he just wanted to chat with us. He was disappointed because he normally played the ukalale but had hurt his knee.

Day 6 – There was a 5K in Hanalei that DH and I couldn’t resist. The race ended up being a mix of tourists and locals, and was a fun way to meet people. DH won the race and got a gift card to the Beach House. Score!

We had a more relaxing day afterwards. We stopped by the Hanalei Farmer’s Market to get food for dinner that night. Then spend the rest of the afternoon snorkeling at Tunnel’s Beach. We grilled out again that night and had a delicious meal – moon fish, homemade guacamole, sweet potatoes, mangos, and mai tais. That ended up being our favorite meal of the trip.
i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj535/kmjarvey/sunset.jpg [/img]

Day 7 – This was our last full day so we didn’t want to waste it. That morning we snorkled at Hideways Beach and paddled boarded up the river in Hanalei. We also got to see the top of Mount Waialeale which we were told was rare because it’s always so rainy. We spend the afternoon at Secret Beach exploring the Secret Lava Pools (more exciting than Queen’s Bath) and drinking beer (an awesome IPA from Maui).


We had dinner that night at Tahiti Nui in Hanalei. The food was so-so but that atmosphere was fun.

Day 8 – We didn’t fly out until 10 pm so we wanted to make the most of the day. After checking out of the condo, we hiking to Sleeping Giant in Kapa’a which seemed easy after some of the hikes we’d done. We also did the Secret Falls kayak/hike. We ended up having to go to a place further up the river since we were running short on time. This cut our kayaking time down but that was fine with us. We stopped at Lyngate Beach to take a quick shower before dinner (the beach wasn’t very great but had a cool area with a breakwall to make a swimming area for the kids. We had our last dinner at the Beach House which was a perfect way to end the trip.

[Deleted]

Wow, I am exhausted just reading your review! haha, glad you had such an awesome time and love the pics!

[shorty20]

Sounds like an amazing trip!

I'm jealous that you got to race, both times we've gone to Hawaii I've tried to find races to run, and twice I've found ones but they were both the day after we were leaving :-(

[AlpineSlide]

Great recap! Thanks! Sounds like an amazing time with lots of adventures.

[worthyfox]

Ohmy, Puka dogs. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. Can't wait to go back in November, and I'm glad you had (what sounds like) a fantastic time! I love Kauai.

[jchokie79]

Awesome recap, looks like you guys had an amazing time. Also jealous that you got to run a race there. We're getting married in Maui in Sept. and we'll arrive literally a day after their race day. I was hoping that would be my first 5k!

[scout8]

Sounds like a great trip! I love that you did so much hiking. Thanks for sharing.

[mdgirl]

Looks like a fabulous trip! Glad you had such great weather.

[aurora]

So jealous but thanks for the reminders of all the fun in Kauai! Hanalei is my favorite vacation spot in the world.

[daringmiss]

Jun 17, 2012 11:15:05 GMT -5 aurora said:

So jealous but thanks for the reminders of all the fun in Kauai! Hanalei is my favorite vacation spot in the world.

I think it is the loveliest town on the island.

[phillyrunner]

Thanks for the report! Your trip sounded amazing! We went to Maui/Kauai for our honeymoon in Oct 2009, and I just booked Kauai again for the end of August. On our honeymoon, we did a lot of hiking/exploring in Maui but mostly relaxed in Kauai. This time around I'm looking forward to doing lots of hiking, and I'm really excited!! I also am signed up for the Kauai half marathon which is September 2nd, since I have a goal to run a half in every state.

[phillyrunner]

Jun 14, 2012 14:49:45 GMT -5 worthyfox said:

Ohmy, Puka dogs. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. Can't wait to go back in November, and I'm glad you had (what sounds like) a fantastic time! I love Kauai.

I think this is what I'm most excited about when we go in August!! I still think about them since the last time I had one in 2009!