Kauai – the GARDEN ISLAND is a bucket list destination to many travel enthusiasts due to Napali coast’s extraordinary natural beauty. With lush green tropical vegetation in every parts of the island, numerous pristine beaches, gorgeous waterfalls it is truly a tropical paradise. We spent 5 days in Kauai exploring as many parts of it as we can. I’d love to share my travel experiences, places we visited that may help other fellow travelers to this island.
Suggested Itineraries
- Day 1 – Waimea Canyon, Kalalu look out, Kalepa Ridge Trail
- Day 2 – Poipu Beach, Maha’ulepu Heritage Trail, Napali Coast boat trip
- Day 3 – Princeville, Anini Beach, Hanalei Bay
- Day 4 – Kilauea Lighthouse, Tunnels Beach, Kapa’a beach
- Day 5 – Wilua river, Secret Falls, Wailua Falls
Day 1 – Waimea Canyon, Kalalu look out, Kalepa Ridge Trail
We began our day 1 adventure in Kauai with a drive to Waimea canyon. We had taken a rental car at our disposal and this is the most convenient and independent way to explore Kauai. Waimea Canyon, known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, is a stunning natural beauty. The drive to the Waimea Canyon is very picturesque. On the way we stopped at Red Dart waterfall. It is a small, less popular place but a good stop on the way to take some pictures. It rains on and off in Kauai. So we skipped the Waimea Canyon as it was raining and head to Kalalu lookout.
Kalalu lookout is gorgeous lookout point with easy access as it has a parking lot just feet away from the actual lookout. By the time we reached here it was sunny with some gush of white cluods covering the Napali mountains sometimes. We wanted to hike the unofficial trail known as Kalepa Ridge trail. But the access point has been permanently CLOSED with fencing all around. There are a number of other popular trails in the area. We went to Pu’u O Kila Lookout and took the trail from there. It was a muddy trail but the view was getting unfolded as you continue in the trail.
We came back to Waimea Canyon lookout later in the day but could only see white clouds. We waited for about 45 minutes before giving and up and move on.
In the afternoon, we came back to Waimea town. On the way back the sky was clear on the other side and got some good view of Waimea valley. We roamed the Waimea town and have SHAVE ice, a popular ice cream kind in Hawaii. We spent rest of the day in a near by beach Salt Pond Beach Park. We soaked sunlight, walked on the sandy beaches before calling off the trip of our first day in Kauai
Day 2 – Poipu Beach, Maha’ulepu Heritage Trail, Napali Coast boat trip
Day 2 morning we headed to the a place known as Shipwrecks Beach. The plan is to hike he Mahaulepu Heritage Trail which start from the Shipwrecks Beach. This trail wanders the coastline for a couple miles to the Makauwahi Cave. This is very easy trail with lesser elevation gain and a good hiking place with families. When we hiked this place it was too sunny but the trees on the trail provided some shades to escape from the heat. The downside of the trail is it is not marked very well and has many parallel trails. One can continue the hike upto The Makauwahi Cave which is the largest limestone cave in Hawaii. We returned back much before that point and headed towards Poipu beach.
Poipu is the most popular beach on Kauai’s South Shore. There are many popular resorts around this pace. This part of Kauai is also sunnier compared to the Northern part. The beach with turquoise ocean is mostly busy with tourists. It is a good place for snorkeling as well as chance to see sea animals. We saw a number of Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles (Honu) and few Hawaiian Monk Seal resting in the beach.
In he afternoon we went for Na Pali Coast tour with Holo Holo Charters! The Na Pali Coast is truly one of the most beautiful places in he world. It’s a long stretch of Kauai’s coast with jagged cliffs and ridges, beautiful water, remote waterfalls, caves, and secluded beaches. This is such a surreal experience you need to do once in your lifetime. Much of the coast is only accessible by air, boat, or by multi day hiking. We had a sunset tour which provided snacks, drink and dinner. We watched whales many times during our trip.
Another great experience is to see the Na Pali coastline from above. There are a number of helicopter tour options that you can choose from.
Bonus – We had some time before the boat trip and we went to a nearby Glass beach. It is an unpopular place but it was a great surprise for us. The glass like sand beach with lava rock really blowed our mind.
Day 3 – Princeville, Anini Beach, Hanalei Bay
Hawaii weather is unpredictable! We saw that in our past two days in Kauai and also saw that it changes every hour. But today was different. The downpour that started in the morning continued until afternoon. We had started the day in the morning and headed towards Anini beach. Hoping the weather will turn good anytime, we waited patiently in the car. But after an hour of wait we gave up. Before leaving the spot, we took some pictures of the Anini beach. It is really a hidden gem and could imagine how beautiful it’ll look on a sunny waether.
We headed towards Haena State Park from Anini beach. The drive through the lush green vegetation made us feel that we are in Jurassic era. We reached Haena state park with the hope to explore the park, famous for the unique vegetation that grown in this area, some of the popular beaches such as Tunnel’s beach and the famous Kalalu trailhead. To our surprise, we got to know from the visitor center that we need a prior booking to visit the park and no booking was not available for the next seven days. One need to make a reservation in gohaena.com. We were disappointed and returned back to the nearby Haena beach which is right outside the park (and does not require reservation!). We also visited Maniniholo Dry Cave just opposite to the Haena beach.
Later in the day, we drove to Hanalei bay. It was still raining but the intensity had reduced. We took some awesome pictures of the Hanalei Bay pier. Hanalei Pier is located at the mouth of the Hanalei River. This place is also popular among the surfers.
There are plenty of food trucks and restaurant options near by. We had our lunch in one Thai food truck and the food was amazing. We also enjoyed some shave ice.
Later in the day, the weather turned better. We wanted to visit the Queen’s bath. But we realized that it is CLOSED to visitors. The drive around Queen’s bath area is nice and posh which provided a pleasant driving experience with some nice photo stops along the way.
Evening was also cloudy and rainy. We tried to catch a glimpse of the sunset and what we could see only some glowing sky. Overall, it was not a very productive day as we could not cover what we thought we’d cover.
Day 4 – Kilauea Lighthouse, Tunnels Beach, Kapa’a beach
After a day of thunder and rain yesterday, today was a sunny day. We decided to go on beach hopping today. We went to the North shore of the island near Haena State Park and found a random beach named Kahalahala beach. It was nice beach with rocks and we we saw many surfer’s also in the beach. We did some snorkeling also. Later, we went to another beach nearby named Tunnel’s beach. This provides a jaw dropping view of the ocean with hills in the background. Picture perfect!
In the afternoon we went to visit Kilauea Lighthouse. There is an entrance free of 10 USD per person in the park. This is place is popular among bird watchers. There are different types of Hawaiian birds sitting on the cliffs and on the hills. It was a spectacular view. One need to come well prepared with a good binocular to watch the birds at distance. The surrounding cliffs and the lighthouse is also a worth visit if some one is not an enthusiastic bird water.
In the evening we came to a beach named Kapa’a beach near our hotel. This place is also popular for snorkeling. We witnessed the sunset from here as we did some snorkeling in the designated snorkeling area.
Day 5 – Wilua river, Secret Falls, Wailua Falls
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