Day 1 Arrival and dinner
- We arrived at the airport from the mainland. We rented a car and headed towards Princeville to our Airbnb.
- Once settled in, we headed straight to dinner at Cafe Turmeric, located in a food trailer park in Hanalei bay (about 10 min away).
Day 2 Waimea & Kalalau
- Breakfast at Java Kai in Kapaʻa (about 40 min away).
- Headed towards Waimea Canyon with a brief stop at a juice shop in the town just before entering the park (about 1hr 20 min away). Made stops at several look-out points along the way. Stopped at red dirt waterfall area and enjoyed jumping around the red soil and small streams. Further along this road, stopped by at some short trails marked mostly by other cars stopped there. We explored some short trails as well for spectacular views of the canyon. In the Waimea State park area, there are some paid parking lots with paved walkways and platforms to enjoy the views as well. Restrooms are located in these parking lots only.
The grand view of the Waimea Canyon.
- Driving further up this road another 30 min or so are several more look-out points and trailheads. This is Kok’ee State park. The most picturesque of the viewpoints are located here: Pu’u O Kila look-out and Kalalau look-out. In the parking lot of Kalalau look-out, just beyond the metal fence is a pretty sketchy trail with spectacular views of the Napali coast. We only managed to hike for about 10 min before it felt too steep and unsafe. However, that was enough for some amazing views. Pu’u O Kila look-out is the end of the road. From here, we made our way all the way back to Waimea.
The stunning view of the Napali coast from the Kalalau look-out.
- We stopped for lunch at Island taco right across from the juice shop for lunch. After lunch, we made the roughly 2-hour drive back to our Airbnb in Princeville.
- After a brief rest, we headed to Hanalei Bay beach for some beach time.
- We ordered ahead and picked up dinner from Hanalei Pizza Company. Dessert was Jojo Shave ice in the same complex.
Day 3 Surfing & Queen’s bath
- This morning we set out early for a surf lesson with a local company in Hanalei Bay (Titus Kinimaka Kai Kane). The lesson was at the Hanalei Bay beach and lasted about an hour and a half. The water was perfect for beginners. My husband and son both first timers had a great time.
The incomparable Hanalei Bay and it’s boardwalk.
- After picking up the rest of the crew, we headed to Queen’s Bath. The trailhead is located in a residential neighborhood, hence parking is not easy to come by. We just ended up waiting in the little lot for the trailhead, waiting for someone to return to their car. In about 20 min, we got a spot and headed to the trail. The trail is rocky, with sharp branches jutting out in several places. Some sections are steep and the entire trail can become pretty muddy after rain. We were able to enjoy this hike in hiking sandals as the trail was dry. Once down to the Queen’s bath, the swimming was enjoyable as the waves were not high at the time. It is important to monitor the ocean and waves before going for a swim in this area as it can be dangerous.
The Queen’s bath.
- Once back in the car, we headed for lunch at the food trailer park in Hanalei bay. We tried the Thai food for lunch and were not disappointed.
- Next we drove to the Kilauea lighthouse and wildlife sanctuary in the town of Kilauea (about 20 min away). Unfortunately, this was closed when we arrived. We drove to a nearby coffee shop to ask for directions to Secret Beach, which is in this area.
- Once we had directions, we made our way to the trailhead. Although this is not a swimming beach, due to high surf and winds, the area is just stunning. We made it all the way down to rocky, bumpy with tree roots and steep trail down to the bottom. However, my son was having a sort of meltdown as this was not originally part of our plan. Hence, we decided to hike all the way back up and come back another day 🤷🏽♀️ for a closer look.
Day 4 Napali coast cruise
- We had a bit of a later start this morning. We had breakfast and enjoyed the morning at our Airbnb. We began around 10 am to make our way to Big Monster Sushi in Lihue for lunch.
- After lunch we drove to Blue Dolphin Charter office about 25 minutes way. We parked and checked-in for our Sunset Napali coast cruise with snorkeling and dinner. The cruise was fabulous in every way. The ocean is rough when the catamaran gets closer to the Napali coast cliffs. They took us to a great snorkeling spot where my husband and son saw some amazing fish. They provided a good vegetarian dinner for us as well, even though some of us were too sea sick to enjoy it.
Napali coast sunset cruise.
- Once back in port, our tummies settled a bit and we picked up some food to enjoy once back to our accommodation about 90 minutes away.
Day 5 Wailua, Poipu & Shipwreck
- We left after breakfast and made our way to Opaekaa falls in Wailua. This area is beautiful with plenty of parking and restrooms available as well. There are viewpoints on either side of the road.
Opaekaa falls in Wailua.
- Next we drove to Wailua Falls. This area can get pretty busy as the falls are visible right from the side of the road. Parking is on either side of the road to walk to the viewpoint. Although restricted, many people were climbing over a fence to hike to the bottom of the falls. We chose to follow the rules and enjoy the falls from the view point with some fresh juice from local sellers.
- From here we headed to Poipu beach about 35 minutes away. We picked up lunch from Da Crack Mexican Grinds and took it to the beach for a picnic. Parking is available in a lot near the beach. Typically this is a calm beach, great for kids; however we encountered some clouds, winds and larger than normal waves.
- Shipwreck beach was next on our list (5 minutes away). we walked the coastal trail from the parking lot. This trail is not wall marked. It is sandy and involves a fair bit of climbing coastal cliffs. We enjoyed it for a while until we ran out of water. The humidity and heat forced us to head back.
Shipwreck beach.
- We drove to The Shops at Kukui‘ula about 5 minutes away for some snacks and shopping. Here, we enjoyed some snow cones and Lappert’s (a famous ice cream place in Kauai). The macadamia and mango was amazing.
- On our way back to Princeville, we stopped for dinner at Shivalik Indian Restaurant in Kapaʻa. The food was mediocre and the restaurant looked dated.
Day 6 Beach, Monastery & Train
- After breakfast, we began our morning with a hike down to the beach behind the Sea lodge condos in Princeville (5 minutes from our airbnb). This is a hidden beach accessible by a roughly 1 mile hike over rocks and muddy patches. Parking can be tricky and it is recommended to look up parking restrictions before heading out.
Sea lodge beach.
- After freshening up back at our Airbnb, we headed to the Kauai Hindu Monastery about 45 minutes away. This temple is beautiful. It boasts it’s own Rudraksh tree grove. The Rudraksh seeds are free to collect and take along.
Rudraksh beeds from Kauai Hindu Monastery.
- Next, we headed to the Kauai Plantation Railway. We had pre-booked the 2pm train ride around the plantation.
Kauai Plantation Railway.
Day 7 Hā’ena, Kalalau, Ke’e & Kīlauea
- We had reservations for the Hā’ena State Park in the morning slot (30 minutes away). We arrived around 8am, began the morning with a hike to the first view point along the Kalalau trail. This trail goes further to a waterfall and a beach as well and even further beyond that for a multi-day hike. Due to the level of difficulty and the time we had at this park (we had to leave by 12pm), we decided to keep it short.
- After the hike, we changed into our swimsuits and went for a swim in Ke’e beach. This was one of the most beautiful beaches in Kauai. Restrooms, showers and changing rooms were on-site.
Ke’e beach in Hā’ena State Park.
- From here we headed to Nourish Hanalei for some lunch and a gorgeous view of the Hanalei beach and cliffs.
- After a brief break at the Airbnb, we headed back out to the Kīlauea area to make a second attempt at secret beach. We drove back to the parking lot and hiked the rocky trail with lots of huge tree roots jutting out. This took about 20 minutes before we were down to the beach. This is definitely not a swimming beach due to high surf. After spending about an hour here we headed to dinner.
Kīlauea area secret beach.
- We had pizza at Kilauea Bakery & Pizzeria. The food was amazing and the complex in which the restaurant is located is really cute with a few other shops and food places as well.
Day 8 Surf, garden & beach
- We were back in Hanalei bay beach park this morning for another go of surfing practice.
- After lunch we checked out the Limahuli garden and preserve located about 20 minutes away.
Limahuli garden and preserve.
- After the garden, we stopped by a beach park on the way back towards Hanalei bay. Parking was hard to find in this area. We had to wait for someone to leave.
Day 9 Heading southward & airport
- After packing up and checking out, we headed to donkey beach. There is a designated parking lot with a restroom. From here we followed the mostly shaded trail down to the beach. The beach is not for swimming due to high surf, but we enjoyed exploring different parts of the beach.
Donkey beach.
- From here we got some food from an Indian food truck in Kapa’a and ate it at a picnic table overlooking the ocean.
- We walked around the shopping area in Lihue just to kill time before it was time to head to the airport.