Ian S
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
We visited Kauai for the second time this past May. I think you will find a lot has changed since your visit many years ago. Traffic can be quite a headache from south of Lihue to north of Kapaa and beyond. Last time we stayed at the Kauai Inn in Lihue, this time we stayed further south at a short term rental in Kalaheo. There's a great little restaurant in Kalaheo called the Kalaheo Cafe and Coffee Company. We loved it and ate a number of meals there.
We did a Holo Holo catamaran sunset dinner sail up the Napali coast from Port Allen and thoroughly enjoyed it. The ocean can be a bit rough so if you're prone to sea sickness be sure to take meds to prevent it.
We had previously toured Waimea Canyon with a group but did it again this time on our own. Drove on up past Kokee Lodge and Restaurant (where we had lunch) all the way to the end of the road at the Kalalau lookout. Most enjoyable and at our own pace.
One day was spent doing the first 2 miles of the Kalalau trail (4 miles total.) These days you have to make reservations well in advance and for day hikers, your best option is to snag a shuttle ticket. You park in a lot a dozen miles or so from the trailhead and take a shuttle bus into the state park where the trailhead is. Even with the limits on hikers, it's still a busy trail and facilities on the trail are very limited and not terribly well maintained. In September there was an outbreak of norovirus that mostly affected campers at the 11 mile point. Ugh. Anyway, the beauty is spectacular as shown by this picture below that I took.
We also really enjoyed a visit to Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge on the north shore. Peaceful, beautiful and with interesting wildlife. Get reservations in advance for that too.
Unfortunately, we were somewhat disappointed in our Allerton Gardens tour. There was considerable flood damage so parts were off limits. Also a lot of the time was spent actually getting there and back. It didn't help that there were a couple of kids acting up on the tour. In contrast, when we toured the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden north of Hilo on the Big Island, we thought that was spectacular.
We did a Holo Holo catamaran sunset dinner sail up the Napali coast from Port Allen and thoroughly enjoyed it. The ocean can be a bit rough so if you're prone to sea sickness be sure to take meds to prevent it.
We had previously toured Waimea Canyon with a group but did it again this time on our own. Drove on up past Kokee Lodge and Restaurant (where we had lunch) all the way to the end of the road at the Kalalau lookout. Most enjoyable and at our own pace.
One day was spent doing the first 2 miles of the Kalalau trail (4 miles total.) These days you have to make reservations well in advance and for day hikers, your best option is to snag a shuttle ticket. You park in a lot a dozen miles or so from the trailhead and take a shuttle bus into the state park where the trailhead is. Even with the limits on hikers, it's still a busy trail and facilities on the trail are very limited and not terribly well maintained. In September there was an outbreak of norovirus that mostly affected campers at the 11 mile point. Ugh. Anyway, the beauty is spectacular as shown by this picture below that I took.
We also really enjoyed a visit to Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge on the north shore. Peaceful, beautiful and with interesting wildlife. Get reservations in advance for that too.
Unfortunately, we were somewhat disappointed in our Allerton Gardens tour. There was considerable flood damage so parts were off limits. Also a lot of the time was spent actually getting there and back. It didn't help that there were a couple of kids acting up on the tour. In contrast, when we toured the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden north of Hilo on the Big Island, we thought that was spectacular.