We’ve been blessed to visit the Hawaiian Islands a number of times, but this January we enjoyed our first trek to Kauai. 

Most of our Hawaii trips go something like this: sleep in a bit, board a late morning plane in Anchorage, endure a bit of de-icing, and happily land in Maui six hours later. This time we flew on a red eye flight to Portland, hung out in the airport for a five hour layover, and then began the six hour jaunt over the Pacific to Kauai. Perhaps someone needs to fire our travel agent? (Oh wait, I am the family travel agent.)

I fully redeemed myself once we finally arrived on the island. We rented a condo on the east shore in Kapa’a because it was the most “affordable” area (note: nothing in Hawaii is truly affordable) and it provided a centralized location for road trips to the north and south shores. There was a great walking trail right outside our door, and the nearby Coconut Marketplace was filled with shops, restaurants, and a grocery store. It even had a farmer’s market twice a week. We’d stay in Kapa’a again without question. (Maybe next week?)

Our location was indeed great for road trips. We decided to surprise the kids and rent a convertible, but it turned into a gift for Clark when we ended up in a Camaro! The cool factor did come with a price, because climbing in and out of the vehicle required some contortionistic moves that were less than attractive. Also, the lack of a trunk on beach adventures wasn’t terribly practical. But as you can see, we persevered:

It didn’t take many drives before we fell in love with this beautiful island: the mountains, the beaches, the canyons, the farmland. The million shades of green. The slow pace, the quiet, the calm. We explored the canyons in the west, the fields in the north, and the beaches in the south. Don’t ask us to pick a favorite: we loved it all!

Clark and the kids put their scuba certifications to use and went on four separate dives. They descended 80 feet deep to explore underwater tunnels, rock formations and coral reefs as they swam with turtles, eels, octopi, and countless varieties of fish.

While they were busy diving, I made my way to the Allerton & McBride Botanical Gardens, where I saw the enormous roots of the Moreton Bay Fig trees. These trees were in the Jurassic Park movies, and they even hid some dinosaur eggs for the little ones on the tour.

Robert Allerton and John Gregg lived on the property and designed the gardens as an extension of their home, with a variety of outdoor “rooms” – because of course living in Hawaii makes a person want to spend most of their time outside. I enjoyed my time at the gardens amongst the bamboo, waterfalls, flowers and statues. But mostly the trees!

The winter surf in Kauai is a force, but we still explored its various beaches. We spent the most time at Hanalei Bay in the north and Poipu Beach in the south; some days were spent swimming, while others we simply strolled in the sand.

The absolute best surprise was sharing a beach with sleeping sea turtles and monk seals. I could have watched these critters for hours. (Oh wait. I did watch these critters for hours!)

We also took a few easy hikes. The north shore Stone Dam “hike” was more of a lumbering stroll through a forest, and ended at a swimming hole with a rope swing.

The Ho’opi’i Falls trail was a muddy, rooty mess and I’m grateful none of us fell. Slipping on the trail would have been one thing, but falling on the slick rocks overlooking the falls could have been deadly. We didn’t linger there for long because there was a bit of a crowd – and it did not feel safe. Sam declared, “I guarantee someone has died there!” The falls weren’t really the highlight for us anyway, as we preferred the the rocky stream and rainforest foliage.

The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook got it right when describing Lumaha’i Beach: “If you’re looking for a huge, picture-perfect stretch of sand on the north shore, Lumaha’i shouldn’t be missed. If you’re looking for safe swimming, Lumaha’i shouldn’t be touched.” It was mesmerizing to watch the power of the ocean crash over the rocks, and there was a cool trail to get down to the beach as well.  Bonus: more wickedly cool tree roots!

Of course no trip to Kauai would be complete without seeing the iconic NaPali Coast. We boarded a boat with Makana Charters; it was blindingly bright with smooth seas on the outgoing trip, but weather moved in and made for a rocky ride back to the harbor. Highlights were the pod of dolphins that played in our wake, and the captain stopping for lunch so everyone could jump in the ocean with the stunning NaPali backdrop. (Side note: a highlight for Sam was his double decker PB&J, despite Clark chastising his choice of sandwich.)

This was one of the best vacations of my life, and worth every cent and every minute of the 15+ hours it took to travel there. It was ten days filled with sunshine, sand, scenery, exercise, real fruit, relaxation, family time, wildlife watching, college football bowl games on a tiny TV screen, early bedtimes… and everything felt so darn easy. 

There is so much more to see and explore on Kauai, so I’d better put on my travel agent hat once again. We need to go back!