Kauai? Anyone?

[sonnyjane]

For all of you planning your Kauai trips, you MUST visit the Na Pali coast. It is out of this WORLD. We did the "Day Excursion" zodiac trip with Captain Andy's here: http://www.napali.com/tours/

We went in late April - saw TONS of whales, dolphins, and sea turtles and went into the sea caves as well. The views are amazing...

 

[Tinkermommy]

For all of you planning your Kauai trips, you MUST visit the Na Pali coast. It is out of this WORLD. We did the "Day Excursion" zodiac trip with Captain Andy's here: http://www.napali.com/tours/

We went in late April - saw TONS of whales, dolphins, and sea turtles and went into the sea caves as well. The views are amazing...

Thanks for the recommendation. This was on my list so I will check out Captain Andy's.

Do you have a luau you recommend? I was looking at Smiths.

 

[sonnyjane]

Thanks for the recommendation. This was on my list so I will check out Captain Andy's.

Do you have a luau you recommend? I was looking at Smiths.

That is one thing we did NOT do. We got married on Maui and then also did this last trip to Kauai. For Maui, we paid $90 per person to reserve the luau and then ended up getting a hotel room overlooking it so we had to listen/see the luau every night and decided it was most definitely NOT worth $180 lol! All the books I've read (the Maui/Kauai Revealed books and Frommer's guides) say they are all a little hokey and tourist trappy.

 

[Bonnie40]

That is one thing we did NOT do. We got married on Maui and then also did this last trip to Kauai. For Maui, we paid $90 per person to reserve the luau and then ended up getting a hotel room overlooking it so we had to listen/see the luau every night and decided it was most definitely NOT worth $180 lol! All the books I've read (the Maui/Kauai Revealed books and Frommer's guides) say they are all a little hokey and tourist trappy.

We went as a group to the Smith Family Luau - it was awful! I guess my expectations were too high, but it felt like you were part of a cattle herd.....hundreds of people! Food was mediocre and the show was terrible! I took the opportunity to have a nap and couldn't wait for it to be over! Total waste of time and $!

 

[LuLuO]

Check into a helicopter ride with Jack Harter and ziplining with Kauai Backcountry. We also visited Allerton Garden on our last day. Lovely.

 

[Tinkermommy]

That is one thing we did NOT do. We got married on Maui and then also did this last trip to Kauai. For Maui, we paid $90 per person to reserve the luau and then ended up getting a hotel room overlooking it so we had to listen/see the luau every night and decided it was most definitely NOT worth $180 lol! All the books I've read (the Maui/Kauai Revealed books and Frommer's guides) say they are all a little hokey and tourist trappy.

We went as a group to the Smith Family Luau - it was awful! I guess my expectations were too high, but it felt like you were part of a cattle herd.....hundreds of people! Food was mediocre and the show was terrible! I took the opportunity to have a nap and couldn't wait for it to be over! Total waste of time and $!

Well, I guess I will save the money then. I have always loved anything Hawaiian Polynesian since I was little (Always wanted to stay at the Poly) and a Luau seems as Hawaiian as you can get!

But while I don't mind some touristy stuff, it's too much money to spend not to be amazing!

 

[soccerchick]

We are staying in Lihue. It has a nice sheltered bay, and we liked the vibe when we were there on the cruise ship.

Threadjack - has anyone stayed at the Marriott Resort?

Yes - we've stayed there twice - one was a "Vacation within a vacation" and another was a short stay on the way home. You can read my review from last summer on TripAdvisor - search vasoccerchick or title of review "short stay before airport."

Lihue is a good base for seeing the entire island and convenient to the airport, Costco, inexpensive restaurants. Whenever staying at resorts vs. condos vs. house, decide if you will stay at the resort and have a resort vacation or if you will be out enjoying the sites.

Kauai, for me, if a get out and explore island. I love to beach hop and hike. We "do" something every day - whether free, like the beach or hiking, or paid, like ziplining. Expensive resorts, for me, are for places where I wouldn't perhaps be out enjoying the rest of the island because of safety. Also, Kauai is VERY quiet. Not during the day, but at night there is little night life, even in the resorts. Tourists have definitely found it as our trip last summer was packed with people. We've never seen the island so full.

YMMV.

We've also stayed at the Sheraton in Poipu. Beach location is very nice.

I've been to the island many times over the last 14 years. We stay in and prefer the North Shore. Stay in a house near Queen's Bath in Princeville. Hanalei is my favorite spot.

Captain Andy's was good and I echo a previous poster about seeing the NaPali Coast. I would not recommend the NaPali coast tour in the winter. We were jostled around pretty well in calm seas; I can't imagine doing the boat trip in big swells. Also as an FYI, you'll see whales in the winter, not the summer. You can see them breach from the shore (preferably from a high spot - easy to find in the north). Very cool to see from a helicopter too.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Sonnyjane, your trip to Kauai sounds like my kind of trip to Hawaii.
I would love to do that trip up the coast!

Where exactly was your resort located, and how did you get to the boat tour?

Not that we can plan a trip like this in the near future, but a girl can dream!!!!!

 

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks for all of that great insight, soccerchic!

 

[sonnyjane]

Sonnyjane, your trip to Kauai sounds like my kind of trip to Hawaii. I would love to do that trip up the coast! Where exactly was your resort located, and how did you get to the boat tour? Not that we can plan a trip like this in the near future, but a girl can dream!!!!!

We rented a car for the week, which was perfect bc we could explore on our own and also could easily go to town for groceries (muffins, snacks) that helped keep food costs down a little. The resort was in Poipu, I want to say 30 min from the airport? Then we just drove about 45 min. to the boat landing that morning.