Kauai Highlights
We recently traveled to Hawaii for spring break and began our trip on the island of Oahu to watch Carly’s dance team compete at nationals. After five days, we were able to check her out and we hopped over by plane to Kauai to enjoy our actual vacation. I shared our Oahu highlights last Friday and am wrapping up the trip today with our Kauai highlights!
We arrived in Kauai around 1:30 in the afternoon after a quick 45 minute flight from Oahu. There are so many flights available all day long between islands so it’s not hard to island hop if it’s something you want to do.
Chickens are literally everywhere on the island. They welcomed us at the airport and pretty much anywhere else you stepped out of the car you could guarantee there would be chickens running around. After 4 nights, I can tell you we were done with their early morning crowing and decided maybe we don’t want chickens when we retire to the country!
I originally looked into staying at a resort but ended up renting this VRBO on the east shore instead. I figured after being in a hotel room for five days in Oahu we might need a little more space to spread out a little and a washer/dryer was nice. The house had an amazing view from the living area and back patio and was an easy walk down to the bay. The only drawback was no air conditioing which I am going to assume is quite common but I was mentally unprepared at first. Ha!
Day One
Sunrise each morning was one of the highlights for me. If I could start every single day seeing the sunrise with a spectacular view I would. I could literally see the beginning of the sunrise from my bed and of course the roosters had already been crowing for an hour.
While planning our vacation, everything I read pushed a helicopter tour as the first order of business. The West side of the island is mostly private and you can only view from the air or by boat. Carly & I are both a little prone to sea sickness and this time of year the water is a little rougher so we opted for the air. After some research, Blue Hawaiian was the company I decided to go with and I felt so good about my choice when we arrived and saw this full rainbow from the helicopter pad!
Initially I purchased the video and photo package which was about $60 but because they had to end up rescheduling us for later in the day, I received the package for free. While the video of us from inside the copter as we took off has given us some laughs, I will say I don’t really think it is worth it. The way the camera is set up on the front of the helicopter cuts off much of the view and if there is rain (which there often is) you end up with blurry video anyway. I was able to take videos with my phone as well as a few still shots and it was a little tricky due to glare but I definitely was able to capture clearer views than the helicopter video.
The views were incredible! The Napali coast is breathtaking sight and just hard to really grasp from a photo. We saw so many waterfalls and the Waimea Canyon as well. I did feel a tiny bit of motion sickness start to creep in but not until we were already turning to start our trip back to the helicopter pad.
Duriing the time between our originally scheduled tour and the rescheduled tour, we drove to Opeaka’a Falls and Waulia Falls and stopped along the way to view the Waulia River valley. It’s hard to tell from the photo but Waulia Falls is actually a double water fall made famous in the 70s as it was used in the opening scenes of Fantasy Island. People do still hike down to the falls but there is a fence up and warning signs everywhere so we definitely chose to view from the road!
After our helicopter ride, we drove up to Waimea Canyon which is known as the grand canyon of the pacific. Unfortunately it was really cloudy this day and the further up we drove the cloudier it got until we literally had zero visibility. We saw the canyon from the air but were sad we didn’t get another view. I grabbed a few photos on our way back down.
We stopped in a cute little town, Hannapepe for shaved ice. At any shaved ice stand you have the option of adding condensed milk and let me just tell you, do it! I couldn’t quite imagine how this would taste but it was so worth it.
After stoppng off to see spouting horn (sorry I only took video), we wandered around a little market area in Poipu until our dinner reservation at The Beachfront Restaurant was ready. There are markets everywhere with fresh fruit and local items. We picked up some items to bring back to the kids and I was able to find a new hat since I lost both of mine on the way to the airport!!
The Beachouse restaurant is very popular because it has a sunset view and amazing food. We were unfortunate as it was still cloudy and the sunset was pretty much non existent but the food was really good and their mai tais were popular. This restaurant is super pricey and does require reservations as pretty much any restaurant with a view does.
Day Two
Our second day started with another amazing sunrise. The entire sky lit up and it was definitely my favorite of the three mornings. We decided to head to the north shore to check out some beaches and we started at Hanalei Bay. Being surrounded by lush mountains at the beach just has a different feel. The water was calm but a little cold. The beach was busy but did not feel crowded at all. There are also restroom facilities along the beach that are easily accessible.
We rented snorkel equipment on our way and a nice man gave us some tips on a better place to go snorkeling so after we had our picnic lunch that afternoon and grabbed some ice cream on our way out, we headed to Anini beach.
There is a much more public piece of Anini beach with picnic and restroom facilities, we chose to park along the road and use one of the beach access alleys to a little more secluded area. We did a little snorkeling and some napping in this beautiful location.
We had dinner back in Hanalei at Kalypso bar and grill. The reviews were all over the place but the burgers were good and our service was not terrible. We honestly expect a slower pace at a beach restaurant so we rarely get too excited when the service isn’t peppy. There are lots of cute little shops that we browsed through before heading back to settle in for the evening.
Day Three
Another day and one last sunrise! We truly just became the most lazy vacationers ever on our last day and did nothing but relax at the condo. The bay was perfect for snorkeling and the water was warmer here than on the north shore so we spent the morning in the water.
I sat on the patio and did a little reading while sipping mimosas. We actually spent some time in the pool and were able to spot a big group of sea turtles swimming near shore. Keith was able to point out whales spouting far out.
Little miss was a teenage toot every time I asked her about sunscreen on our last day in Oahu as we spent the day at the beach with all her friends. Her sunburn made being out in the sun in Kauai not as fun so you can see her version of laying by the pool. Taking teenagers on vacation can be interesting!
We ended the day walking over to a restaurant, Lava Lava, that was just on the other side of the point from our VRBO. The food was so good and eating right on the beach with a relaxing view. We ended our night picking up Hula pie from Dukes.
There was one big thing I wanted to do that didn’t happen on this trip and that was hiking the Hanakapiai Falls trail. Believe it or not one of the things I do to prepare for a vacation is schedule a visit with my therapist. I am the queen of ruining a good time when I feel like the vacation is not meeting everyone’s expectations and put a lot of pressure on myself to make the vacation perfect. She gave me the best advice when she encouraged me to remember I was on vacation, I was not THE vacation. There may have been multiple times when I literally mumbled this to myself, but it really did help me to not become negative when I felt we had not “done enough” in a day.
Kauai was definitely a dreamy island and if we ever go back I will probably choose to stay on the north shore and be satisfied with all it has to offer. If there is any doubt I relaxed and enjoyed myself, I laughed when I received this notification from my watch when we got on the plane to come home!
