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 Isle of Kauai so wonderful such as: 1) fewer crowds and still some ‘real’
Hawaii here, 2) no high rise buildings (by law nothing can be higher than the tallest
coconut palm tree), 3) oldest island in Hawaiian Islands so more land has been
created creating 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) beautiful
tropical beaches with warm ocean water – many not crowded, 5) great dining, and... 6) we have FUN!
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| Amazing Helicopter Tour - Kauai |
Kauai also
offers adventure-seeking visitors
snorkeling & scuba diving, whale watching late December through mid-April, surfing, hiking, kayaking, biking, ATV trips,
camping, fishing, zip lining, horseback riding, amazing helicopter rides &
boat tours, and more. Relaxing spas are available for those who have some pampering
in mind. If your budget affords it, a helicopter tour of Kauai (see photo) is amazing!! We went with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters and loved it.
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| Map of Kauai |
We
recommend dividing 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.
Here are some of Kauai's outstanding highlights to enjoy on this beautiful
island...
Wonderful Kauai South Shore Attractions
Kauai’s South Shore has become more developed with nice
accommodations and more upscale restaurants. It is a better bet for sunshine,
especially during the winter, because it rains more in the north.
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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. Tropical sun is strong so be sure to use plenty of reef-friendly waterproof sunscreen.
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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 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.
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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
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. Nearby Spouting Horn is delightful for a quick stop (see photo).
South Shore
Restaurants... We
liked Kauai’s The Shops at Kukuiula, a popular modern shopping and restaurant
center. Good restaurants there
include Eating House 1849, Merriman’s Fish House, and others. Living Foods serves a nice breakfast.
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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.
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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. Great beds yield some of the best sleep we have had and beach
gear is available to borrow. 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 that seems to be lost in time. 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 reservations to Ke'e Beach in Kauai's Haena Beach Park at gohaena.com.
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| Animi Beach - Kauai |
Not to
worry if you don't have a reservation or can't find parking at Tunnels... Animi Beach is (see photo) beautiful
and protected by a reef making swimming safe all year with some good snorkeling
opportunities. Very long Animi Beach also has lots of free parking available and plenty
of natural shade provided by trees. Beach lovers will discover many more lovely
beaches on Kauai’s North Shore to explore.
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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: Hanalei Dolphin Restaurant, Kalypso Island Bar & Grill (for
local atmosphere), Chicken in a Barrel BBQ
(causal dining), Tahiti Nui (for
causal fun), 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 is very nice with a view to iconic Hanalei Bay. It has comfortable
rooms (some 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 luxury 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay... 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: 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 |
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| Pat at Lydgate Beach |
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| Wallua Falls - Kauai |
Like waterfalls? A couple of very nice ones in along
Kauai’s East Shore can be accessed by car. We highly recommend visiting
the most accessible 151-foot Opaekaa Falls from
highway 580 and 173-feet Wallua Falls
(our favorite - see photo) from highway 583 – both are beautiful.
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 residences will encourage you to take some home. In 1982 Hurricane Iwa destroyed chicken coops sending the birds all over the island.
Golfers will like the many beautiful
courses to be enjoyed on Kauai. Try some shave ice served around the island –
it’s delicious.
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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