On the Beautiful Island of Kauai!

We’re back in Hawaii… and this time we have found the perfect place!

To break up a long flight we once again decided to stop for a few days in Hawaii, and this time on the island of Kauai. Our flight from New York to Honolulu went without any problems and with a happy Xander. Once in Honolulu we had to wait for 2 hours before our next inter-island flight (only 40min). By this time, Xander had started to get tired and annoyed and it didn’t help that we had to drive another 40min to arrive to our accommodation on the north shore of the island…

Once we arrived…. WOW! We had booked a 2-bedroom condo and were positively surprised when we stepped inside. It offered massive bedrooms, a great kitchen, an enormous ensuite bedroom and also the availability to walk into your condo directly from the garage! We quickly got Xander’s bed in order and he was so exhausted that he collapsed instantly…

The next morning we could start to explore what this island had to offer and drove to the nearby town of Hanalei. The drive there was only 5min but still offered some spectacular views… Hanalei is a small town surrounded by mountains, green lush valleys and it also offers a mile long beautiful beach!

Driving past Hanalei we eventually came to the end of the road and found Ke’e Beach. This is a beautiful beach protected by a reef so although we could see big waves out at sea, inside the reef the water was nice and flat. This suited Xander perfectly and he loved to once again play on the beach and wade into the ocean! Ke’e Beach is also the starting point of the famous Kalalau Trail, an 11 mile hike along the mountains.

As Suz and Xander were playing in the ocean I left to climb the first section of the hike. It took me about 25-30min to climb the first half-mile where I could enjoy some great views over the Na Pali Coastline. There were plenty of other hikers around as well, from all ages, doing the same thing as me. I could see a few that were doing the full hike (hard to miss when they carry more on their backs than I do for a week long away trip). I would have loved to have hiked the entire trail but as it takes about 2-3 days to complete it, it will have to be on a future trip!

Once I made it back to the beach it was great to be able to jump straight back into the ocean for a nice cool dip! This is a great beach to visit, however… the parking situation is not the best. We would recommend not to arrive after 9am if you want to get a decent spot (otherwise you’ll be parking where you’d normally use a 4×4 to get through)!

We had read in some books and heard from some people that one of the must see spots of Kauai is the Waimea Canyon, also called the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific”. This canyon is located on the west side of the island and looking at a map you would think that we were quite close to it…. however, the road ends at the Ke’e Beach so we had to backtrack all the way round the island to make our way there.

It’s a beautiful road up to the canyon, driving through very windy roads with lots of spots to stop at and enjoy the views. The contrast over the lush green valleys and Kauai’s red dirt is amazing. We stopped the Waimea Canyon Lookout which offered some stunning views over deep valleys with some amazing colours. And even here, there were chickens roaming everywhere!

Chickens and Kauai go hand in hand we quickly found out. Apparently wild, free roaming, chickens can be found throught the island which some found to be a pest. To be honest though… as far as pests go, you could do a lot worse!

After the canyon lookout we continued driving along the road and eventually came to the Kalalau Lookout. If we thought the Waimea Canyon was beautiful we were mesmerized by the natural beauty in front of us now. Tall steep mountains, lush green valleys and the beautiful turquoise colour of the ocean is a truly beautiful sight! As we drove to the end of the road (you understand why the end of the road doesn’t reach the other side when you see these mountains) we came to the start of the Pihea Trai and even more impressive views over the Kalalau.

On our way back from the Waimea Canyon and the Kalalau Lookout we stopped over in Poipu on the south coast. This is where the best beaches on the island supposedly can be found and yes, we did spot some great beaches and also some very large resorts in the area. People visiting the island usually stay here in Poipu as Princeville (where we are staying) is “too far” away from everything else. We were however quite happy that we had opted to stay in on the north coast though as accommodation is mostly condos, so quieter, and the natural beauty of the area is outstanding!

During our stay here we also opted to visit and attend a traditional Lu’au. We were given a tour of their gardens, a ceremonial show where the food was uncovered from the earth and lots and lots of food…. and at the end we were also treated to a great cultural show. All in all a great night!

Before we arrived in Kauai there were 3 things that I wanted to do…. One was to visit the Waimea Canyon and Kalalau Lookout, one was to finally get to do a Lu’au in Hawaii and the third was to do a helicopter ride over the island.

Suz and I had tried to figure out the best way to undertake a helicopter tour, we had talked about us doing it one at a time so that one could stay with Xander. When we found out that they actually let toddlers travel in the helicopters (at no cost) we decided to take him with us. On the morning of the tour we were both a bit nervous and excited, would we be able to sit together in the helicopter (they sit you by weight), would Xander wiggle the entire trip and would he be loud and bother other paying customers? I can tell you that when we arrived and saw that there was another couple with a small toddler as well we both drew a deep sigh of relief.

In the end we wouldn’t have had to worry… Xander was amazed by the ride, sights and sounds of the helicopter and sat still for the entire trip. Towards the end of the ride when we reached the ocean we encountered some turbulence which was causing both Xander and Suz to feel a bit queasy.

The sights from the helicopter were amazing. Kauai is an island where you can only really see the very edges from a car and need to see the rest from the air. We saw some great tall mountains, flew past some great waterfalls, rode into an old crater, flew through the Waimea Canyon and ended up flying over the Kalalau Valley and out to sea in order to see the amazing sights over the Na Pali Coast. Towards the end we also flew over Hanalei Bay and Priceville (where we were staying) before heading back to the airport in Princeville.

The helicopter ride exceeded my expectations and was an amazing ride which I would recommend to everyone who visits Kauai! It was a great way to finish up our time one the island and we realised how lucky we had been with the weather as just an hour later there were some heavy clouds surrounding some of the mountains we had flown past earlier that morning.

The beauty of Kauai is difficult to explain and has to be experienced first hand… I can say without exaggerating that this is one of the most beautiful places that we had visited along our travels and we can’t wait to return in the near future!