Kauai - what to see/do

[steady saver]

Hello,
I posted a response re: Hawaiian travel in another thread but wanted to start a separate one here.

DH and I are currently in Hawaii for the month of January. We're in Oahu and truly love coming back here. That said, we'd like to spend a few days in Kauai...we have only been there once, many years ago, and only for 2 nights. We LOVED our time there...it is so peaceful and laid back.

Since we likely won't stay more than 3 nights, I want to make sure that we see and experience some neat things that others have fond memories of. If you've spent time there, can you suggest things to do, places to eat, places to stay? Maybe what areas of the island to visit or stay in with only 3 nights? We are pretty low key people - we enjoy natural beauty, coffee shops, family businesses (we love a good tour, ha!), like to walk (gentle to moderate hikes), etc...

Thanks for any suggestions you might have. Big things, little things...Just would love to hear your thoughts.

Mahalo!

 

[Koolau]

I live on Oahu but have only visited Kauai once - and that was before Hurricane Iniki so I have no idea about things like restaurants or places to stay.

Go to a local bookstore on Oahu and buy the Andrew Doughty book on Kauai to see what is available. His books are very accurate in my experience.

Amazon.com

 

[steady saver]

Thank you Koolau!! Will do. I was just at Barnes and Noble yesterday, ha...

 

[CO-guy]

We spent close to a week in Kauai pre-Covid and split our time camping on Polihale Beach on the Western (dry) side of the island and at the Grand Hyatt in Poipu on the garden side of the island. We also drove up Waimea Canyon for hikes and to Princeville where we spent a day on the beach in Hanalei Bay.

While it was a wonderful trip -- both the camping and the fancy resort -- one thing that absolutely blew our socks off was a tour of the Allerton Garden.

Allerton Garden - National Tropical Botanical Garden

Allerton Garden is a living masterpiece transformed through the currents of time. Book your tour of Allerton Garden today.

ntbg.org

 

[cathy63]

We love Kauai. Last time we were there we stayed in the south near Poipu, and we really liked it there, but we've also stayed on the east side at Wailua.

Things to do:
- drive up Waimea Canyon
- take a sunset cruise to the Na Pali Coast
- bird sanctuary at Kilauea Lighthouse
- one day we downloaded the Shaka Guide app and did a driving tour with audio narration stopping wherever we felt like
- rum tasting at Kilohana Plantation

If you want more active things:
- kayaking in the Wailua river -- somewhat strenuous if you're paddling into the wind on the way back
- mountain tubing tour in the irrigation ditches at a sugar cane plantation -- this is not strenuous at all, the water is cold but it was a lot of fun

 

[audreyh1]

Our best long trip to Kauai (almost 30 years ago!) we stayed at Hanalei Colony Resort which was a great north shore location. Very scenic even though it’s quite a drive to the destination. It was walking distance to some great beaches including Tunnels Beach. Short drive to the Kalalau trailhead and Limahuli Botanical Gardens and probably the best area snorkeling at Ke’e Beach. We did a kayak trip from Hanalei Bay. Hanalei is the nearest town and has some restaurants, groceries, etc.. Also love visiting the Kilauea Point National Wldlife Refuge which has great ocean birds including Red-footed Boobies and Tropicbirds. A 30 min scenic drive from HCR.

But still other sites well worth visiting such as a good all day trip to Weimea Canyon State Park. Huge dramatic canyon and overlooks to the wild north Napali Coast of Kauai. If you are lucky you’ll even catch a few native Hawaiian birds at Kalalau Lookout, otherwise extirpated most areas of Hawaii.

 

[steady saver]

We love Kauai. Last time we were there we stayed in the south near Poipu, and we really liked it there, but we've also stayed on the east side at Wailua.

Things to do:
- drive up Waimea Canyon
- take a sunset cruise to the Na Pali Coast
- bird sanctuary at Kilauea Lighthouse
- one day we downloaded the Shaka Guide app and did a driving tour with audio narration stopping wherever we felt like
- rum tasting at Kilohana Plantation

If you want more active things:
- kayaking in the Wailua river -- somewhat strenuous if you're paddling into the wind on the way back
- mountain tubing tour in the irrigation ditches at a sugar cane plantation -- this is not strenuous at all, the water is cold but it was a lot of fun

Thank you! All good ideas. The Shaka Guide sounds fun!! I'll keep all of your ideas as we plan our time there.

 

[steady saver]

Our best long trip to Kauai (almost 30 years ago!) we stayed at Hanalei Colony Resort which was a great north shore location. Very scenic even though it’s quite a drive to the destination. It was walking distance to some great beaches including Tunnels Beach. Short drive to the Kalalau trailhead and Limahuli Botanical Gardens and probably the best area snorkeling at Ke’e Beach. We did a kayak trip from Hanalei Bay. Hanalei is the nearest town and has some restaurants, groceries, etc.. Also love visiting the Kilauea Point National Wldlife Refuge which has great ocean birds including Red-footed Boobies and Tropicbirds. A 30 min scenic drive from HCR.

But still other sites well worth visiting such as a good all day trip to Weimea Canyon State Park. Huge dramatic canyon and overlooks to the wild north Napali Coast of Kauai. If you are lucky you’ll even catch a few native Hawaiian birds at Kalalau Lookout, otherwise extirpated most areas of Hawaii.

How fun! Thanks for all of the ideas; I'll check them out.

 

[steady saver]

We spent close to a week in Kauai pre-Covid and split our time camping on Polihale Beach on the Western (dry) side of the island and at the Grand Hyatt in Poipu on the garden side of the island. We also drove up Waimea Canyon for hikes and to Princeville where we spent a day on the beach in Hanalei Bay.

While it was a wonderful trip -- both the camping and the fancy resort -- one thing that absolutely blew our socks off was a tour of the Allerton Garden.

Allerton Garden - National Tropical Botanical Garden

Allerton Garden is a living masterpiece transformed through the currents of time. Book your tour of Allerton Garden today.

ntbg.org

I am looking up Allerton Garden, thanks! Exactly what I'm wanting to hear...something that blew your socks off!!

 

[Texas Proud]

Of course do the 'Grand Canyon'....

But our best time was a helicopter ride around the whole island... it is a bit under 1 hour and you see a LOT..

Do not know the name of the famous beach up north... we saw it the first time there... 2nd the road was closed so we could not get there... the last time we found out you need a reservation!!!

We went to some garden close to it and it was nice..

 

[SecondCor521]

My daughter and I did one of the helicopter tours which was expensive and touristy but really nice. I'd never been on a helicopter before, so that was part of the motivation. We landed on the southern point of the island at the falls that were in one of the Jurassic Park movies.

The helicopters do crash every so often so I tried to pick a tour company that had a good reputation for not crashing. Obviously it worked.

On the same flight we saw Waimea Canyon, the Napali Coastline, and the waterfall that was in Fantasy Island.

On that same trip we did a dinner / Napali Coast / sunset tour on a big boat. If you're lucky, you might see some whales breaching. They start at the harbor on the southern part of the island (near Poipu I think). That was also enjoyable.

The Princeville area is beautiful I think.

I've done the Wailua River kayaking, and it's almost guaranteed to be strenuous one way or the other. Fun if you're younger and active and interested in a workout. Otherwise, meh.

 

[skyking1]

I'd say that time in Hanalei is priceless. We were there a long week about 15 years ago with my aunt. We stayed in Wailua at Waipuli Beach Resort. It was a nice property.
We did all the aforementioned things, the trip to the grand canyon, bummed around on various beaches etc.
One thing that we did is no longer in business. There was a guy named Bob with a custom built catamaran that sailed out of Hanalei bay to the Na Pali. His business was Captain Sundown, as Captain Bob was taken by the big snorkel gear chain all over the islands.
It was a magical trip. You met in town and got in a pickup truck and drove out to a beach landing spot, got in a raft and motored out to the Cat at anchor. It had a pair of big Hondas on lifts but they were not down long. We were sailing and at the Na Pali in a fraction of the time of the motored trips out of the south shore.
When we got back and bummed around Hanalei I fell in love with that.

 

[DrRoy]

Some of things we did on our Kauai trip in 2012:

Took the Pihea trail at the end of the Wiamea Canyon road
Hiked the first 2 miles of the Kalalau trail
Zodiac boat ride to the Na Pali Coast
Helicopter ride

 

[anethum]

Years ago, I bicycled up to the top of Waimea Canyon. A tour bus passed me during my climb. When I got to the top, the passengers were outside of their bus and they gave me an ovation. It turned out they were all from Italy.

I also hiked out a few miles on the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali coast. It's one of the prettiest places I've seen anywhere on the planet, as shown by DrRoy's gorgeous photos above.

 

[audreyh1]

We really enjoyed the hike in from the Kalalau trailhead. Approximately 2 miles gets you to the secluded Hanakapai Ai Beach (considered very dangerous to swim there). It’s a really awesome trail because you hike though all sorts of vegetation as you go up and down, and so lush. We were warned that the trail is usually muddy, so expect your shoes to be a mess. It wasn’t actually that muddy when we hiked it, but our shoes were still a mess. Also carry plenty of water - no water on the trail. So a 4 mile round trip hike gets you seeing a lot of beautiful wilderness.

 

[steady saver]

We spent close to a week in Kauai pre-Covid and split our time camping on Polihale Beach on the Western (dry) side of the island and at the Grand Hyatt in Poipu on the garden side of the island. We also drove up Waimea Canyon for hikes and to Princeville where we spent a day on the beach in Hanalei Bay.

While it was a wonderful trip -- both the camping and the fancy resort -- one thing that absolutely blew our socks off was a tour of the Allerton Garden.

Allerton Garden - National Tropical Botanical Garden

Allerton Garden is a living masterpiece transformed through the currents of time. Book your tour of Allerton Garden today.

ntbg.org

Just made reservations for the guided tour for Allerton Garden. Thanks so much for the recommendation. It looks really neat.

 

[steady saver]

My daughter and I did one of the helicopter tours which was expensive and touristy but really nice. I'd never been on a helicopter before, so that was part of the motivation. We landed on the southern point of the island at the falls that were in one of the Jurassic Park movies.

The helicopters do crash every so often so I tried to pick a tour company that had a good reputation for not crashing. Obviously it worked.

On the same flight we saw Waimea Canyon, the Napali Coastline, and the waterfall that was in Fantasy Island.

On that same trip we did a dinner / Napali Coast / sunset tour on a big boat. If you're lucky, you might see some whales breaching. They start at the harbor on the southern part of the island (near Poipu I think). That was also enjoyable.

The Princeville area is beautiful I think.

I've done the Wailua River kayaking, and it's almost guaranteed to be strenuous one way or the other. Fun if you're younger and active and interested in a workout. Otherwise, meh.

I am SO tempted to do the helicopter ride but so nervous about the crashing part. Sadly I've had two friends on two different occassions die in small plane crashes so the fear is there, even though one is a small plane and one is a helicopter. All airborne and little...darn it. Maybe I can get past that...

 

[GalaxyBoy]

We love Kauai. Last time we were there we stayed in the south near Poipu, and we really liked it there, but we've also stayed on the east side at Wailua.

Things to do:
- drive up Waimea Canyon
- take a sunset cruise to the Na Pali Coast
- bird sanctuary at Kilauea Lighthouse
- one day we downloaded the Shaka Guide app and did a driving tour with audio narration stopping wherever we felt like
- rum tasting at Kilohana Plantation

I second this list, although I haven't done the rum tasting.

One thing I really enjoyed was "tubing the ditch," a float trip down one of the old sugar cane plantation irrigation ditches. Part of it was through a tunnel, which was amazing.

 

[steady saver]

We really enjoyed the hike in from the Kalalau trailhead. Approximately 2 miles gets you to the secluded Hanakapai Ai Beach (considered very dangerous to swim there). It’s a really awesome trail because you hike though all sorts of vegetation as you go up and down, and so lush. We were warned that the trail is usually muddy, so expect your shoes to be a mess. It wasn’t actually that muddy when we hiked it, but our shoes were still a mess. Also carry plenty of water - no water on the trail. So a 4 mile round trip hike gets you seeing a lot of beautiful wilderness.

How beautiful, wow what a great memory you have there.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Oh, I forgot. My favorite place on Kauai was Hanalei. If you saw the movie "The Descendants" with George Clooney, part of is was filmed there.

 

[steady saver]

Some of things we did on our Kauai trip in 2012:

Took the Pihea trail at the end of the Wiamea Canyon road
Hiked the first 2 miles of the Kalalau trail
Zodiac boat ride to the Na Pali Coast
Helicopter ride View attachment 53685View attachment 53686

These photos are gorgeous, thanks for sharing. I can't wait to get back to Kauai...my memory of our last short visit was just how lush and beautiful it was...and all of the amazing waterfalls.. The Zodiac boat ride sounds fun!

 

[steady saver]

I'd say that time in Hanalei is priceless. We were there a long week about 15 years ago with my aunt. We stayed in Wailua at Waipuli Beach Resort. It was a nice property.
We did all the aforementioned things, the trip to the grand canyon, bummed around on various beaches etc.
One thing that we did is no longer in business. There was a guy named Bob with a custom built catamaran that sailed out of Hanalei bay to the Na Pali. His business was Captain Sundown, as Captain Bob was taken by the big snorkel gear chain all over the islands.
It was a magical trip. You met in town and got in a pickup truck and drove out to a beach landing spot, got in a raft and motored out to the Cat at anchor. It had a pair of big Hondas on lifts but they were not down long. We were sailing and at the Na Pali in a fraction of the time of the motored trips out of the south shore.
When we got back and bummed around Hanalei I fell in love with that.

Wow, how wonderful was that?? You painted a great picture of the catamaran experience. What a neat memory that is. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[steady saver]

I second this list, although I haven't done the rum tasting.

One thing I really enjoyed was "tubing the ditch," a float trip down one of the old sugar cane plantation irrigation ditches. Part of it was through a tunnel, which was amazing.

"tubing the ditch"....I'm going to have to look that up!! And thanks for confirming cathy63's list too.

 

[steady saver]

Years ago, I bicycled up to the top of Waimea Canyon. A tour bus passed me during my climb. When I got to the top, the passengers were outside of their bus and they gave me an ovation. It turned out they were all from Italy.

I also hiked out a few miles on the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali coast. It's one of the prettiest places I've seen anywhere on the planet, as shown by DrRoy's gorgeous photos above.

The Kalalau Trail sounds like a nice one to check out, thanks. And I LOVE the visual of the bus full of Italian toursists giving you an ovation. How priceless!

 

[mountainsoft]

We last visited Kauai back in 2008. Wow, I can't believe it has been that long.

VIDEO: Apr 25, 2008 - Our second trip to Kauai

This was our second trip to Kauai.

www.watsondiy.com

We really preferred the lush green north shore. Just sitting on Ke'e Beach watching the sunset along the Napali coastline is worth the trip. It's also a great place to snorkel, though it can be a bit crowded at times.

Another favorite was Hideaways beach in Princeville. It was a steep hike getting down to it, but it was great snorkeling with very few people. https://www.tropicalsnorkeling.com/snorkeling-hideaways-beach/

We really enjoyed the quaint little town of Hanalei on the north shore, much more so than the larger towns.

Queens bath was a lot of fun, but I thought I heard it might be closed now?

Really, any place on the north shore is great. Each beach has it's own vibe.

Waimea canyon is also worth the drive, even if you're staying on the north shore.

I'm sure much has changed since 2008, so no guarantee any of this is still applicable...