Great Kauai Itinerary

Kauai is perhaps the most romantic, beautiful, and relaxing place we have ever visited. The two of us just returned from our first trip to Kauai and the itinerary we designed worked just great. We were able to experience the whole island without a lot of driving from one side to the other but once.

We were there for 9 nights (10 days with travel), but the same itinerary can be lengthened or shortened.

Three things before you go. First, grocery store food is expensive in Hawaii, so discount cards will save you a lot of money. We arrived with Safeway, Costco, and Makaii cards (available at Foodland stores which are located in the northern half of the island). The Foodland people are authentically generous Hawaiian attitudes and they let us apply for a card by email and we had it with us when we arrived. The southern part of the island has Big Save stores which have no discount cards, or discounts for that matter.

Second, even though some people will tell you that life on Kauai is slow and you don%26#39;t need advance reservations for helicopter tours, car rentals, the best restaurants, etc. - don%26#39;t believe it. You may get lucky, but it only takes a few minutes to make advance arrangements and then you don%26#39;t have to worry.

Third, you should decide whether you want to visit the northern part or the southern part of the island first. If you find a map of Kauai with roads marked, you will see why. The southern part of the island is more commercialized, touristy, and flat, although very beautiful and good for families. People go to the southern part of the island for a busier beach scene and for access to hiking in the Waimea Canyon. There are more well-known restaurants around Koloa. The northern part of the island is more mountainous with more dramatic views of the Pacific, but less commercial and touristy. People go to the northern part to get away from crowds and do some serious whale watching, surfing, and snorkeling. We found that the beaches were best on the northern and north-eastern coastline. We decided to explore the southern part of the island first and the northern part last, but you could just as easily do it the other way around.

Day 1 - Early flight from the U.S. Mainland to connect in Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines to Lihue and arrive before sunset. Five nights at the Marriott Waiohai Beach Resort in Koloa (Poipu) renting a 2BR/2Bath condo. Extraordinary gardens, fountains, and pools and great exercise trails. Right on the beach with very nice sunrises and sunsets. Good base for exploring the southern part of the island. Very good nearby restaurants and shopping. SUV rental from Hertz. (SUV is a good idea on this island because of the almost daily rains and occasional muddy areas.

Day 2 - Drove around nearby and west to scope out the southern part of the island all the way to the end of the highway. Was a great drive with constant ocean views, quaint little towns and villages, and the edge of the Waimea Canyon. We viisited the Kauai Botanical Gardens and historical monuments within walking distance of the Marriott.

Day 3 - Had reservations for a helicopter tour with Blue Hawaiian. I recommend them highly. Very professional and larger helicopters (Eco-Star) with rear row seats raised so that you get great views no matter where you sit in the copter. They made an amazing DVD of our particular trip including, of all things, classy background music. We got close-up shots of Waimea Canyon water falls, secret hidden valleys, Na Pali, and Bali Hai. The pilots love to talk about where various movies were made on Kauai. It was our first time on a helicopter together and was so much fun! To my amazement, we never felt uncomfortable.

Day 4 - Reserved two seats on a large catamaran owned by Kauai Sea Tours and did a 5 hour sunset cruise from Port Allen (SW corner of the island) around north to Na Pali. Whales! Lots of humpback whales! Very close up. We were stunned how close we were to them. We got photos of whales diving (tails up), whales jumping (breaching), and other whales just cruising in and out of the water all around us. Several times we had to stop the catamaran and hold our breaths that a whale which had suddenly appeared didn%26#39;t come up under us. We were comforted that the catamaran was large (48 passengers, and 4 crew). The crew was very professional and fun. The skipper was a young woman who had been in the merchant marine and had steered tanker ships. She was a pro.

Day 5 - Hiked into Waimea canyon long enough to get some great photos. We took our regular mountain hiking boots and they came in very handy with the dust, rocks, and slippery parts of the terrain. (It rains every day somewhere on Kauai.) We returned to Poipu and had dinner at the Plantation Gardens restaurant within walking distance of the Marriott. Their great reputation for good food, good service, and ambiance is well deserved we found.

Day 6 - Drove to the northern side of the island. Along the way we stopped at several amazing beaches, such as Lydgate Beach and Donkey Beach, all of which were really beautiful and fun. Did a little shopping along the way. The local shops have a lot of interesting local crafty things. We had booked a reservation at Secret Beach Hideaway, vacation rental cottages, and stayed there for 4 nights. These 1BR cottages are luxurious with gourmet kitchens, lots of privacy for each cottage, beautiful gardens in a huge estate or park setting, private hot tubs, and right on the cliffs in Kilauea overlooking the Pacific. If you ever stay there, you will never want to stay anywhere else. It is the perfect place to take someone you really love. Please feel free to read my separate review of Secret Beach Hideaway.

Day 7 - We explored all the beaches and surfing communities in the northern part of the island, mostly to check them out, snap lots of amazing photos, and check out good snorkeling spots. We had dinner at the Hanalei Colony Resort, rated as one of the best restaurants on the island. The service was professional, the good very good, and the views of the amazing beach outside were stunning.

Day 8 – We finally had time to do some serious snorkeling at Tunnels Beach. It was so much fun. Very hard to pack up and leave the beach that day. (I do suggest bringing your own snorkeling gear that you are familiar with. It%26#39;s like wearing your own bathing suit, rather than borrowing one.) If you are not accustomed to cold water, don%26#39;t worry about it. The water is not that cold and you should wear 1-2 T-shirts. We tend to be ready for anything, so we also brought neo-preme vests which kept us really toasty and we could stay in the water for hours.

Day 9 - Time to relax and really enjoy the views from Secret Beach Hideaway and the hot tub. The best wine selection is at the Foodland store in Princeville. If you have a Makaii card, you will save a bundle on wine and groceries. Overall, we saved about 20%. There are some great shops in the village of Kilauea, but not a good place to buy wine.

Day 10 - It%26#39;s very hard to say this…..We left.

There is a staffed Fed-Ex shipping location at the Lihue Airport where we dropped off some things we had bought during the trip. We then checked into our flight to Honolulu. Hawaiian Airlines is very serious about 50 pound weight limits on bags and we just made it. But in hindsight, we should have taken less clothes to Kauai and shipped more stuff back by Fed-Ex. We had an overnight flight from Honolulu back to the U.S. and slept on the plane. A kind physician had given us a couple of tablets to help us sleep on the plane and they worked like a charm. We fell asleep as soon as the plane took off and woke up as it was landing.

Since we returned home, we have been unusually relaxed and we dream of our time on Kauai and at Secret Beach Hideaway. We even caught ourselves watching the original movie ';South Pacific'; just to relive the scenery. If it sounds silly, just wait until you come back from Kauai.

I hope this posting is helpful to you.

If you go to Kauai, I hope you take someone you love with you and have a great time together.

Aloha!

Richard Waites

Great Kauai Itinerary

Sounds like you had a great trip. I%26#39;m glad everything worked out for you. I agree with you about pre-booking. We didn%26#39;t book ahead for my step-daughter last week and just barely managed to get her on the helo, the last seat available for the week.

I really don%26#39;t think you need an SUV on the island, though. This question comes up frequently on TA. IMHO, if you%26#39;re somewhere requiring an SUV/4WD, you probably shouldn%26#39;t be there in the first place. SUV%26#39;s are gas guzzlers, too, and gas is expensive here. Speed limits are generally low so you don%26#39;t get the fuel economy of mainland highway driving.

Great Kauai Itinerary

%26lt;%26lt;We had dinner at the Hanalei Colony Resort, rated as one of the best restaurants on the island%26gt;%26gt;

This restaurant is not affiliated with HCR bit shares the parking lot. It%26#39;s called ';Mediterrean Gourmet'; and serves noth lunch and dinner. Excellent.

Also, the SUV is not required, as ';pzp'; mentions. We usually rent a mini-van since we have 2 kids. Before kids, we rented convertibles.

My only other comment is that Poipu is not the ';touristy'; part of the island. It really depends on the time of year. In the summer months, Hanalei and Princeville can be more crowded than Poipu. But a lot of folks stay in Poipu in the winter months since it ';tends'; to rain more in the north in the winter. I reallly don%26#39;t look at any part of the island as ';touristy';. The entire island is fabulous and very laid back!

I really wish we had an edit button!

The restaurant is called ';Mediterranean Gourmet Restaurant and Bar'; in Haena. Here is their wesbite:

http://www.mediterraneangourmet.biz/

I agree with the comment about Poipu not being ';touristy';....if you want ';touristy'; go to Honolulu or Waikiki! We stayed on the south side of the island, due to the winter weather conditions, and loved it! The only place on the entire island that I did not care for was Lihue, just because it was more of a ';big-city'; (in comparison to the rest of the island - not anywhere near mainland ';big cities';). It had more traffic (again - minor in comparison to what we have at home), and I loved the atmosphere of the rest of the island SO MUCH, that it was the only place that seemed out of place to me!!! 16 days was not enough to soak up the beauty and atmosphere of this beautiful island!

We refer to a trip to Lihu`e as ';going to the city,'; to Kapa`a as ';going to town.';

Anahola (well, Duane%26#39;s, Whaler%26#39;s %26amp; the PO)doesn%26#39;t rate a special reference.

Agree with other poster%26#39;s comments about Poipu not being ';touristy'; or busy. I find it no busier than Hanalei or the north shore tourist sites on a summer day. Really not that many shops or restaurants to speak of in Poipu. Certainly comes nowhere near even Kaanapali on Maui or even Kihei. Beaches more crowded in Poipu? Yes, only because there are less options for south shore beaches.

We took my cousin and his wife to Poipu 3 years ago. Their first time to Kauai. After we drove through Poipu proper, about a 5 minute drive, their comment was ';Is this all there is to it?'; They were surprised it wasn%26#39;t larger ,more hopping than it was.