Last month, I was blessed to be able to spend a few days in Kauai (Hawaii) with family. The island is green, tropical, and beautiful.
We stayed at the Grand Hyatt in the south side of the island. The resort was great and there’s plenty of things to do on the south side. Around Koloa/Poipu, where our hotel was, there were lots of great things to eat. We enjoyed shaved ice at Waikomo Shave Ice, where they use fresh fruit. Puka Dog was good, since they combine a hot dog with fruity relish & Hawaiian mustard. Puka Dog is famous since Anthony Bourdain ate there.
On the day with the best (relative) weather, we drove up to Waimea Canyon State Park. The view from the canyon lookout was great, but weather & visibility changes fast. As we were taking photos of the canyon, the area fogged up and we couldn’t see much. We drove to the nearby Kōkeʻe State Park, but we couldn’t see anything due to the fog & rain. As we drove down the mountain, the weather improved and we were able to get decent views from roadside lookouts.
Leaving Waimea Canyon, we stopped at the town of Waimea for lunch. There were plenty of shops, and we enjoyed the Shrimp Station. Heading back towards our hotel, we also stopped at the small town of Hanapepe. Hanapepe’s main street was small, and there was cool Lilo & Stitch art among the shops. Unfortunately, the Hanapepe Swinging Bridge was closed on our visit.
The next day, we went up to the north side of the island (by driving along the east side). We stopped by Opaeka’a Falls along the way, and it was worth it since the double waterfall is easily accessible near the parking lot. We checked out Kilauea Lighthouse, which is cool for bird enthusiasts. The lighthouse was windy and packed with visitors.
After the lighthouse, we headed to Hanalei. The Hanalei Valley Lookout was definitely worth stopping along the highway for a nice view. Hanalei was a cool town with lots of restaurants and shops. Unfortunately it rained a lot while we were there. We ate at Hanalei Bread Company and Wishing Well Shave Ice. Hanalei Bread Company was really popular, but they seem to run out of things. Wishing Well Shave Ice was really good, but we had to dodge the rain. I wish we stayed longer in Hanalei to browse the shops, but the weather was too much. We left to check out nearby Princeville, but Princeville seemed very hostile to visitors as there’s no public parking?
Besides driving around the island, we were able to enjoy our hotel pool & beach. We weren’t able to spend much time exploring the east side, but we did enjoy a plate lunch from Mark’s Place (get the Korean Chicken!). Having stayed on the south side, I would definitely recommend the south side. Kauai was fun, and there were wild chickens everywhere.