We arrived in Hawaii to the island of Kauai. We are so glad we came as Hawaii lived up to the hype. There was the occasional travel hiccups (like waiting for a rental car for 45 minutes) but being back in the US and able to communicate effectively, those were more annoying then stressful. We spent a number of days on Kauai before moving to the Big Island to meet-up with family.
The weather was also amazingly warm!
Na Pali Coast
We took the plunge and booked a guided boat tour of the Na Pali coast. We had originally booked this back in 2020 before COVID and they still honoured our original booking. It was such an amazing tour and the pictures don’t do it justice, in part because the sun was shining over the cliffs making the picture taking more difficult.
The power of the waves crashing into the cliffs was pretty amazing. This of course has some spectacular caves and arches along the shore which our skilled boat captain would back into. There were some pretty large swells and our captain called it “washing machine” waves because it all gets churned up. Here is a short video of what that is kind of like.
When we originally booked this we would have been there in the spring and it was advertised as a tour with snorkeling. Since we were there in the winter, the waves were higher and therefore we couldn’t safely snorkel close to the shore. Instead we took a quick swim further out and then went searching for dolphins and whales instead, which we found!
I apologize for the unsteady video. It is difficult with the rocking boat and zoomed in. This is a pod of humpback whales.
Kokee & Waimea State Parks
The Kokee Park is basically the Na Pali coast but from the land side. Some spectacular views and some pretty intense hiking. We passed on the hiking this time since most were more than 5K and some were multi-day hikes.
Waimea Canyon Park is on the opposite side of the road from Kokee towards the interior of the island and is accurately nicked named “Little Grand Canyon”. Having been to the Grand Canyon a few years ago with the girls and my parents, we can testify that it is an appropriate nickname, though we also dubbed it the “Green Grand Canyon”. The views were absolutely stunning and we did do a bit of hiking along one of the fingers of the canyon towards the waterfall you can just make out in the picture below.
We wish we could have spent more time in this area!
Hanalei
The town of Hanalei is on the north side of Kauai and is famous for its jungle mountain scenic overviews and its surfing beaches.
Fern Grotto & Luau
Right down the road from our AirBnB was the Wailua River with a river cruise up to a fern grotto and a Luau afterwards.
The Luau included the traditional uncovering of the pig cooked in lava rocks and buried in the sand. Afterwards we had a lovely dinner and a nice outdoor show which showcased dances from the many different ethnics peoples that have made Hawaii home over the years. The grand finale was the fire dance!
Waterfalls
On our last half day on Kauai before we flew to the Big Island, we took drives up to two different waterfalls: Opaeka’a Falls and Wailua Falls.
