Kauai Island, Hawaii USA (1/20-1/29/2020 & 2/8-2/18/2024)
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| Beach at Allerton Gardens - Kauai |
There are
many reasons we find the relaxed laid-back 'Garden Island' of Kauai so wonderful such as: 1) relaxed causal lifestyle (no need to pack big bags), 2) no high rise buildings (by law nothing can be higher than the tallest
coconut palm tree), 3) oldest Hawaiian island so more land and beaches have been
created with a beautiful lush green environment (especially in the north) - Movies such as Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean, Raiders of the Lost Arc, South Pacific, and The Descendants were made in Kauai, 4) 28 beautiful
tropical beaches with warm ocean water – many not crowded, 5) numerous fun excursions and activities to please all, 6) nice dining, and... WE HAVE FUN!
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| Mountain Tubing - Kauai |
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| Deserted Beaches - Kauai |
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| Amazing Helicopter Tour - Kauai |
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| Map of Kauai |
We
recommend splitting your stay in Kauai
between the South and North (and maybe East) Shores to best enjoy the features of Kauai. Walmart in Lihue (near the airport) is a good place to stock up on groceries, supplies, and souvenirs at good prices. Boss Frog's offers beach gear rentals - located in Kapa'a and Koloa.
Top Rated Beaches in Kauai
Poipu Beach Tunnels Beach
Maha'ulepu Beach Ke'e Beach
Hanalei Bay Kalapaki Beach
Polihale Beach Anini Beach
Best Kauai Beaches for Swimming (see below for best time)
North Shore South Shore East Shore
Hanalei Bay Poipu Beach Lydgate (Great for
Ke'e Beach Kiahuna Beach children)
Anini Beach Salt Pond Beach
Best Kauai Snorkeling Beaches
North Shore South Beach East Shore
Tunnels Reef* Poipu Beach Lydgate
Ke'e Beach* Beach House
Anini Beach Note: * Not during the Winter months
Here are some of Kauai's outstanding highlights to enjoy on this beautiful
island...
Wonderful Kauai South Shore Attractions
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| Tree Tunnel to Poipu |
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| Poipu Beach - Kauai |
Poipu Beach is predictably sunny and Kauai’s best all-around beach
for tourists on the South Shore. Many would say Kauai's best beach overall (see
photos). Nice wide and rather long beach with a grassy park next to it overlooking
a beautiful post-card ocean scene. Because a reef protects it, normally the
waves are small making it great for swimming, snorkeling, and safe for
supervised kids. There is good parking and Brennecke’s
is a nice restaurant there that also sells food, drinks, and beach rentals for the beach.
Try their smoothies – great.
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| Turtles on Poipu Beach - Kauai |
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| Beautiful Poipu Beach - Kauai |
A better
place for swimming at Kauai’s Poipu Beach (see photo) due to fewer rocks is to the right (just before the Marriott). Do be careful because less doesn’t mean no
rocks. Get some water shoes and you can swim with less worry.
Down the
road a few miles, there is another popular Kauai snorkeling place just to the
right of the Beach House restaurant.
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| Waimea Canyon - Kauai |
Driving up
Kauai’s Waimea Canyon State Park is
a wonderful excursion (see photos). If you don’t start too late, you can have a day with the
afternoon spent at a wonderful Kauai beach – paradise! Waimea Canyon extends 14
miles long, one mile wide, and more than 3,600 feet deep. The Waimea Canyon
Lookout provides panoramic views of crested buttes, rugged crags and deep
valley gorges. The grand-island vistas go on for miles (see photo).
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| Amazing Waimea Canyon - Kauai |
Stop at the
lookouts ($5/day parking fee) and let your nature loving begin. Don’t miss the Waimea Canyon Lookout with
a parking lot marked with a sign just past mile marker 10. Walk up the few steps
and let it all in. If you want an early glance of beautiful Kauai’s Walmea
Canyon, you can pull to the right of the road between markers 3 and 4 and enjoy
a wonderful view.
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| Map of Waimea Canyon - Kauai |
We also
liked the Puu Ka Pele Lookout in Waimea Canyon (see map) and the view to the ocean at the
Pau o Kila Lookout at the top. We found the Kokee Museum (pass marker 15) to be interesting for nature lovers
like us. Next door is Koke’e Lodge
serving lunch. For the best route to view Kauai’s Waimea Canyon use highway 540
up and back starting at Waimea. Some wonderful hikes are located here.
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| Pat at Allerton Gardens - National Tropical Botanical Garden |
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| Spouting Horn - Kauai |
Love
beautiful gardens? A guided tour of Allerton
Gardens in Kauai’s National Tropical
Botanical Garden should be very highly considered by nature lovers – we
loved it! Your admittance fee helps them preserve endangered trees and plants
helping them take a slow march back from the edge of extension. We felt the guided
tour was interesting and well worth the price - knowing it goes to a very good
cause makes it even better. Movie lovers will also like the many nature scenes
of movies and TV series filmed in Kauai. Bring bug spray. Nearby Spouting Horn (see photo) is delightful for a quick stop.
South Shore
Restaurants... We
liked Kauai’s The Shops at Kukuiula, a popular modern shopping and restaurant
center. Good restaurants there
include Merriman’s Fish House, Eating House 1849, Bubba Burgers, and Living Foods serves a nice breakfast. Other good south shore restaurants are Keoki's Paradise and the Beach House Restaurant (great for sunsets). A stop for Lappert's Ice Cream is a crowd pleaser.
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| Tidepools Restaurant at Grand Hyatt Hotel - Kauai |
Just down the road in the Poipu Shopping Village, Keoki’s Paradise offers good food with an
interesting ambiance. One of the best and romantic restaurants on Kauai’s South Shore is Tidepools in the Grand
Hyatt Hotel – worth the extra cost (see photo). A walk around Grand Hyatt’s beautiful property should
be included in your visit there. We loved the sunset dinner cruise out of Port Allen Harbor offered by Capt Andy's Sailing Adventure. They also offer great snorkeling and whale watching cruises.
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| Poipu Bed and Breakfast Inn - Kauai |
On Kauai’s South Shore, we enjoyed staying at the Poipu Bed and Breakfast Inn (see photo) located just
a few miles from most of Kauai’s south shore attractions. Nice relaxing place
with just four rooms offering a more authentic Hawaiian experience. A joyful
relaxing experience is having breakfast provided outside on the lanai with the
river flowing nearby enjoying the songs of exotic birds – now this is the
Hawaii we love. Good restaurants, shopping, and a Long’s Drug
Store at the The Shops at Kukulula
(mentioned above) are a 5-minute walk away – very nice!
Travel Planning Tip: There is a seasonal pattern on
Kauai. During the winter more rainy season (October through April), there is a
better chance of sunny days in the South Shore – although we were lucky having
glorious weather in the north during January. Summer season (May through
September) has a better chance of sunny weather. Big waves can make ocean
swimming dangerous. Generally, waves in Kauai are bigger in the North and West during
the winter and in the South during summer. There are many beaches protected by reefs where
the waves are small providing safe swimming all year.
Wonderful Kauai North
Shore Attractions
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| Lush Green North Shore of Kauai |
When you
drive through Kauai’s North Shore (see photo) you
can’t miss how lush and green it is – so beautiful! Beaches are wonderful and the
mountains in the background provide an exquisite Jurassic Park like atmosphere
you will long remember.
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| Hanalei Town - Kauai |
Spending
time in Hanalei is fun. Located a few minutes west of Princeville below beautiful
green tropical mountains, you will discover a serene Hawaiian
experience. Kauai's Hanalei is a lovely small town (see photo) with
characteristic restaurants, bars, and shops selling Hawaiian apparel and local arts and crafts. The
historic one-way bridges along the way add to the charm of this area.
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| Ke'e Beach - Kauai |
The beaches on Kauai’s north shore
are lovely. Two of
our favorites are Ke’e and Tunnels (see photo). Both can have large dangerous
waves in the winter. Also, all year due to their popularity, access is limited.
Ke’e Beach now requires a reservation for parking or shuttle service. You can book parking or shuttle reservations to Ke'e Beach in Kauai's Haena Beach Park at gohaena.com 30 days in advance.
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| Animi Beach - Kauai |
Not to
worry if you visit Kauai during the winter, don't have a reservation for Ke'e, or can't find parking at Tunnels... Anini Beach (see photo) is beautiful
and protected by a reef making swimming safe all year with some good snorkeling
opportunities. Very long Anini Beach also has lots of free parking available and plenty
of natural shade provided by trees. Tip: Go to the end of the main parking area before the campground for the best part of the beach (see photo).
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| Hanalei Beach - Kauai |
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| Haena Beach Park Tunnels & Ke'e Beaches |
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| Napali Mountains & Coastline |
From Kauai's Ke’e Beach you can get a nice view of the
beautiful Napali mountains and
coastline (see photo). Because the number of visitors became too much to preserve
its uniqueness, daily limits are enforced and reservations are necessary.
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| View from the Kilauea Lighthouse |
Some other
Kauai North Shore highlights include: The views from the Kilauea Lighthouse as well as the Hanalei Valley Lookout are wonderful and worth a stop (see photo). During Kauai's summer months, adventure lovers should do a catamaran tour of the beautiful Napali Coast with snorkeling - lots of fun!
North Shore Restaurants... Don't miss the fun and picturesque town of Kauai’s
Hanalei. It has some nice dining options such as: Bar Acuda, Hanalei Dolphin Restaurant, Chicken in a Barrel BBQ
(causal dining), Tahiti Nui (for
causal fun with music), and Wishing Well food truck and Jo Jo's for shaved ice with macadamia nut ice cream (yum!).
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| Pool at Hanalei Bay Resort - Princeville, Kauai |
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| Tropical Drinks in Heaven at Happy Talk! |
We stayed
at the lovely Hanalei Bay Resort (see photo) in Princeville and so glad we did. The
beautiful grounds with large pool and heated spa surrounded by
waterfalls and tropical plants make for a relaxing place to return to after a
day of exploring Kauai’s North Shore attractions and beaches. The on-site
restaurant/bar Happy Talk with music most nights is very nice with a view to iconic Hanalei Bay. The rooms are very comfortable (many with a kitchen) and nice furnishings. There is a concierge on site to
help you with booking fun excursions while in Kauai. You can walk down to the beautiful Puu Poa Beach for snorkeling and have lunch at the Sandbox restaurant at the luxury 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay resort... or if
you feel a bit lazy (easy to do in Kauai), just call and they will take you and
pick you up with a golf cart.
Travel Tip: There is much more to do in Kauai such as great hikes, excursions, surfing, golfing, camping, and other activities. We found the Kauai travel book "The
Ultimate Kauai Guidebook – Kauai Revealed" by Andrew Doughty to be an
outstanding resource and greatly enhanced our stay in Kauai. The recommendations for Kauai were spot on.
Kauai East Shore Attractions
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| Kauai Shores Hotel |
Kauai's East Shore has some nice restaurants. In Kapa'a, we loved the macadamia nut crusted sea bass at the Lemongrass Grill. The Bull Shed and the Lava Lava Beach Club on the ocean are well rated. Kapa'a Kountry Kitchen is highly rated for breakfast. If you want to spurge, make a reservation well in advance for JO2 - amazing! For ambiance and history try lunch or dinner at Gaylord's Restaurant at the Kilohana Plantation and here you can enjoy the fun Kauai Plantation Railway train ride.
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| Wallua Falls - Kauai |
Like waterfalls? A couple of very nice ones along
Kauai’s East Shore can be accessed by car. We recommend visiting
the most accessible 151-foot Opaekaa Falls from
highway 580 and the 173-feet Wallua Falls
(our favorite - see photo) from highway 583. Both are beautiful.
The Smith Family Garden Luau is a favorite with its beautiful garden and good food. For a kayak adventure along a beautiful river... Kayak Hanalei offers kayak adventures up or down the Hanalei River and Kayak Adventure Kauai takes you up the Wailua River. When passing through Kapa'a, look inland to see
the Sleeping Giant outline in the
mountain.
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| Beautiful Rooster on Kauai |
Something
that adds some ‘fun’ in Kauai is the wild chickens with incredibly beautiful roosters (see photo). You will hear their
sound everywhere – local residents will encourage you to take some home. In 1982 Hurricane Iwa destroyed chicken coops sending the birds all over the island.
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| Cheeseburger in Paradise! |
Enjoy Kauai – we do!
Some Useful Hawaiian words while in Kauai:
Aloha (ah-low-ha) - hello, goodbye, feeling of kindness
Mahalo (mah-hah-low) - thank you
Kane (kah-neh) - male
Wahine (wah-hee-nay) - female
Keiki (kay-key) - child
Pupu (poo-poo) - appetizer
Luau (loo-ow) - Hawaiian feast
Lua (loo-ah) - restroom
Makai (mah-kigh) - towards the sea
Mauka (mau-kah) - towards the mountain
Lanai (lah-nigh) - porch, veranda
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