Kauai Magic

I arrived in Kauai 10:30 am and my sis (Brenda) was flying in at 1:30. It was raining. Went to the cottage and dropped off my stuff and went back to pick her up. More rain. Kind of a preview of what was ahead.  ‘Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… it’s about learning to dance in the rain!’ So that is what we did. We either outran the rain or learned to dance in it.

Day 1 in Kauai—Pulihale Beach, Salt Pond Beach, Spouting Horn Blowhole and Snorkeling at Beach House

We were headed to hike in the Waimea Canyon on the first day but as we were driving up the canyon to get to a hiking trail it was raining harder and harder and also was completely fogged in. It was obvious that we were going to get soaked and weren’t going to see a thing if we went on any hikes, so made a U turn.

Headed to Pulihale Beach at the end of the road and then a little further. It was an absolutely beautiful beach. 17 miles long. Right in the middle there is a military post so you can’t walk the entire 17 miles even if you wanted to. We walked about 5 miles along the beach. There was also an area called Queen’s Pool. There must have been a lot of frikin queens in the day since there are queen’s pools and baths on every island. Hahahaha The pool was huge and honestly the only place along the beach that you could get in the water. There were rocks and reef enclosing the area and keeping the surf from crashing on you. The waves and swells at Pulihale were huge…… We didn’t even walk along the shoreline in the water as the current was very strong. Been there, done that. Hahaha Loved the walk and picked up some pretty shells. It started sprinkling, so headed back to the car. Downpour started right before we got to the car. Headed on to the next beach.

Stopped at Salt Pond Beach next. No rain there yet. Right next to the beach were fields where they still process sea water into salt. The beach was protected by a reef and enjoyed walking around it. There was a big Hawaiian Monk Seal sleeping and signs saying, ‘just leave him alone, he’s not dead. He’s just taking a nap.’ Too funny. I would have thought he was dead if there wasn’t a sign. I asked the lifeguard (one of the few beaches with one) how long he had been there and he said just arrived this morning. He said volunteers walk the beach every morning and if they see a seal they put up the signs and yellow tape around the area. Must be a place where they frequent. Rain was on it’s way so hopped in the car to the next stop.

We went into Po’ipu as Brenda had been there a couple of years ago. We went to the Spouting Horn blowhole. There were actually two holes and one spouted water and the other made a noise like it was yelling at you. Yikes. Angry little guy.

My nephew had spotted eagle rays at a spot near the Beach House restaurant while snorkeling there and since I missed them at the manta ray night snorkel thought I would take the chance. It was very hard to get into this area because of the rocks, but managed. Didn’t see much of anything and for sure not a ray of any kind. But I always love me a snorkel so it wasn’t wasted time.

We had long day of walking on beaches, snorkeling and visiting a blowhole. Only got rained on at Pulihale. Dodged it all day. YOOO HOOO

Day 2— Sleeping Giant and Lydgate Beach Snorkeling

Rainy overcast day again. We were headed up north but all we saw were rain clouds….. lots of them. Decided to stay nearby and if we got wet, could go to the cottage and change and go back out. Went to Sleeping Giant to hike and see the views. Started out a nice hike but as we kept walking it started raining more and more. Pretty soon it was a downpour and the trail was muddy as hell. We ran into a guy coming down and he was like, you aren’t going to see anything and it gets muddier. Turned out butts around. But at least got an hour hike out of it. Since we were already wet, went snorkeling at Lydgate Beach Park. Saw a barracuda, first one since hitting Hawaii. Very cool.

Day 3—Kileaua Lighthouse, Hideaways Beach, Hanalei Bay and Anini Snorkeling

Today the North looked like it would be our best bet to stay dry so headed there to find beaches, a queen’s bath and enjoy the scenery. Stopped to see the Kilauea Lighthouse and a cute stone church.

My niece had just left Kauai and said there is a turtle cave that you can hike to. I didn’t want to miss that. She said it started at the Cliffs condos where she was staying. We snuck into the resort but could not find the trail. Maybe next time. BOO HOO

Drove to the end of the road in Princeville to the Princeville Resort Kauai. Wanted to find Hideaways Beach and do some snorkeling. Ran into a guy who said the waves there were way too big for that so to go through the resort and go to their beach. Snuck in to the resort and snorkeled there, but not much to see. Decided to hike to Hideaways Beach anyhow. Very cool hike. Was a beautiful beach. Loved it. But he was right, waaaay too big of waves to even get in the water although there were some hardy souls out there. Was nice to relax and take a nap on a hanging surfboard. YOOO HOOO

Next we headed to the Queen’s Bath….. I love a nice soak in calm water. Found the parking lot but no place to park. Brenda was going to hike it first, then me, since someone had to stay with the car to move it since we were parked behind folks. She came back in about 10 minutes as she had seen some folks leave and thought we could hike it together, but they had all walked in from their respective condos. She said the trail was muddy and so we decided to go to the next stop.

Drove to Hanalei Bay which is as far as you can drive now. The road to the north end of the NaPali coastline has been closed for a year now so you cannot get to the hike of the NaPali coast. Still trying to get it open although locals say not until next year. Hanalei Bay is a cute town and we bought a shaved ice, saw some waterfalls on the hills above town and turned around to head back and stop at Anini Beach to snorkel.

Anini is supposedly the largest reef in all of the Hawaiian Islands. I was out there for quite a while and surely did not see even close to the entire reef…. It was huge. Saw the usual suspects and of course, a honu. YOOOO HOOOOO Was just about to get out of the water when a paddleboarder said her husband was yelling that he found one. She paddled and I snorkeled over. Guess who got there first? Hahahaha Anyhow he was a cutie as they all are. A young girl was trying to grab him with both hands, I assume to get a ride. I was yelling NO, NO….. (which underwater probably sounded like nothing, haha) she came up for air and I told her never to touch a turtle….. Guess I am now the Honu Whisperer and Protector. Egads… Long awesome day.

Day 4—Waimea Canyon

Today we figured that the Waimea Canyon had a couple of days to dry out and no rain in sight, so headed southwest to do some hiking. Some parts of the canyon were fogged in, but looked like it would be a great day of hiking. Stopped at many overlooks and snapped some pictures. It is a beautiful canyon, with reds, greens, yellow in it. Couldn’t wait to hike to the Pihea Vista and then on through the Alaka’i Swamp trail to the Kilohana Lookout. The further in you go the more beautiful it is supposed to be and even driving to the lookouts the views were awesome. All rested up and ready to go. YOOO HOOO The trail was awesome (as you will see from pictures) with huge steps through vertical rocks. Loved it. But, in the areas that were lower there was anywhere from 1- to 6” of mud to walk through. I was trying really hard not to get too muddy, but once you succumb to it, just easier all the way around. Haha A little bit of mud never hurt anyone. Yikes. I LOVED this hike. But Brenda finally got tired of the mud and at about the ¾ of a mile point, decided to sit it out. I felt bad leaving her, but had to make it at least to the Pihea Vista. Made it to the Vista and it was fogged in. Couldn’t see anything. I knew that was going to be the case, but couldn’t stop. Started down the Alaka’i Swamp trail and it was a boardwalk after a while. Sooo easy compared to the Vista hike. Went about ½ to 1 mi but I didn’t want to leave my sis sitting on the trail, so turned around. Plus, it was still fogged in so figured once I got there, wouldn’t see a thing like at the vista. If it had been clear, I’m sure I would have gone for it. Brenda had a great time sitting on the trail as she talked to everyone who hiked by and eventually another woman gave up and joined her in conversation and then another younger lady. She was probably bummed when I showed up and she had to leave them. Hehe

After that we thought we’d try the Canyon trail that heads to some waterfalls. After a while we were walking in mud again and it was like, OK, we’ve already done this, so we turned around. Probably got about 5 mi. of hiking in and honestly, I was ready for a nap and it was getting late, so we headed back to the cottage. Another great day in paradise. I’ll be back to hike these trails and the NaPali coastline. It is something I have to do, if I can. We were told that all of the beaches are more swimmable in the summer as the waves calm down and that the trails aren’t as muddy. Note to self, come back in May sometime. Summer is for waterskiing, wakeboarding and surfing……. May should be a good month on Kauai.

Day 5—Na Pali Coast Boat Tour Extraordinaire—YOOOO HOOOO

OMG what a wonderful day for a boat ride and what a wonderful boat ride it was…….. The swells and waves were pretty large today so rather than snorkel out by the NaPali coast we snorkeled somewhere closer to the wharfs. Glad we did. There was more coral on the reef than I have seen anywhere in all of Hawaii. Mostly brain and cauliflower coral, but still pretty. Some purple, pink, white, green. YAAAAY. Lots of fishies were hanging out around our boat bottom so you didn’t have to go very far to see fish. I was calling for the Honu to come out and play and sure enuf, one all of a sudden came out from hiding. Followed him for a while and then again, this time a lady was trying to grab ahold of him. Again, I’m yelling NO NO…. I can’t believe that someone older doesn’t have more sense than that. After I got out of the water another turtle was catching air at the top and floated for a while. By the time I got my camera and ran over, he was just taking his last dive to go back underwater. Oh well, saw one up close and personal.

Onward toward the NaPali coast. On the way we saw LOTS of spinner dolphins. There were in sleep mode so they weren’t jumping and spinning but they were swimming along with the boat. I had my zoom lens on and didn’t realize it until they were almost gone. Most of the pictures looked like blobs in the water since I was probably taking a picture of their eyes or blowholes…. Hahhaha next time look to see what lens you have on dumbass. Oh well. Onward. If you have never been to the NaPali coast then I will tell you that it is probably one of the prettiest places on the face of the earth. If you have been there, you already know that. The valleys and pinnacles and spires in the valleys look like they are covered in green velvet and the ground is red and brown. If I had finished the swamp trail hike at the Waimea Canyon yesterday, I would have ended up on the top of one of these canyons. I was in awe of the views. That’s when I decided that I do have to return to walk those valleys and see the spires up close. It is my mission.

I do want to mention that the pictures I took and will post are pretty bad. The boat ride is in the morning and facing east so the pictures are taken looking into the sun. There are sun spots and glare on the pictures, but hopefully you will be the idea of what NaPali is like. I need to purchase a lens hood or polarizing filter. Crap.

About the time we were at the other end of the NaPali coast, another pod of spinner dolphins started swimming with us. This time a few of them were awake and jumping and spinning. It was soooo cool although I didn’t get a single picture of the spinning. It was fun to watch them again.

The trip was over and we were headed back. All of a sudden there was a whale. OMG turtles, dolphins twice AND a whale. It was soooo awesome. He waved at us a few times with one of his pectoral fins. I didn’t see that on my whale tour in Maui so this was the icing on the cake. OMy I was so excited to see that. He breached too. He waved goodbye a few times and then took off. By now we are very late getting back to the wharf and others were waiting for their trip….. our captain probably got in trouble, but he made us all on the boat so very happy. We tipped him well……

Day 6—Beach Hopping

The first beach we came to was Maloa’a Beach. Awesome horseshoe shaped beach that we walked from one end to the other. Walking beaches is a favorite pastime and great exercise.

I don’t know the name of the next beach we found. Maybe Donkey Beach. Walked this beach all the way too. Forgot to take pics. I have to say though, that Kauai has some of the most beautiful beaches ever. No need to know the names of them all. That’s my excuse. Haha Maui has beautiful beaches too, but always lots of folks. I love these beaches with only a few peeps. You have to hike to most of them and I think folks prefer the drive-up ones. YAAAAY

Secret Beach was next and very cool. Nice hike. So many beaches and hikes and not enuf time. You could see the Kileaua Lighthouse from the beach. Again, there were maybe 2 folks there.

Wailua River Waterfalls was next on our way home. Pretty waterfalls and way easy. Just drive up to a lookout and take pictures. I prefer a hike and a payoff for taking the time, but it was the end of the day and easy peasy.

Day 7—Waterski the Wailua River, Opaekaa Waterfalls, Wailua River Overlook and Lydgate Beach and Snorkel

Got up in the morning and last chance to have a ski run on the Wailua River. YOOOO HOOOO. I skied it the last time I was on Kauai 20+ years ago and had to do that again. I didn’t know if I would get up as the ski was not a double boot and was much wider than my ski. But had to give it a try. The first pull I almost got up, but he started out slow. I like the boat slammed into full speed right away. Told him and the next pull, got right up. YOOOO HOOOO It was the squirreliest ski I have ever skied on, seriously. Every turn I felt like I was going to biff it. Egads. Finally got a feel for it and skied to the narrow part of the river where he turns around and then skied back. Fell shortly before we were back at the dock….. it was great fun and I was wearing my GoPro so you could see. I accidentally deleted the video dammit. A lot of the video was of my arms, but also plenty of the jungle along the river and the boat. Guess I’ll have to do that again someday to get another video. Hehe What an invigorating way to start the day!

Next went to Opaekaa Waterfalls. Got a couple of pictures and then crossed the road to see the Wailua River than I had just skied. Very pretty river, much like the Sierpe River in Costa Rica. The Wailua River is the only navigatible river on the Hawaiian islands. The Sierpe River is the only navigatible river to the ocean…..

Went to Lydgate Beach Park for some more snorkeling. Last chance before I head home…… dropped Brenda at the airport to fly out that evening. I went back to the cottage and packed to leave early in the morning……

My trip to Hawaii was a wonderful, memory-filled trip. I loved that Hunter, Michaela and Brenda made it to join me in some of the fun. I enjoyed every minute and hope to return to Kauai for unfinished hikes……. Aloha and Mahalo Hawaii

I was happy to share my adventures with you. See you all soon!

Joie de vivre 

XOXO spank