It has been almost a month since we got back from our trip to Kauai, Hawaii but with the closing of our house and then moving into it, March was a bit of a whirlwind month (in a good way). But now we are settled in our house and we’ve got our routine down, I have the time to share details of our trip to Hawaii for my 40th birthday.
I had an amazing trip to Kauai with Craig and my sister, Kristy, and her husband, Nick. The four of us get along so well and truly enjoy each other’s company. Craig and I arrived on Kauai a couple of days before Kristy and Nick got there and had a couple of days at the end of our trip without them as well. We were there for 10 days, and it felt like the perfect amount of time. (Actually, I would live in Hawaii if I could.) I wrote a recap of my birthday in this blog post, but I did want to recap more of our trip, share our favorite restaurants, where we stayed, and what we did.
Lodging
If you remember, we went to Kauai last year around this time as well. Both times we stayed in the Poipu area, which is on the south side of Kauai. March is a rainy month for the island, but staying on the south side protects you from the rains that hit the north side of the island more frequently. We would have short-lived rains throughout our stay but nothing that lasted too long. The only long stretch of rain was one night while we slept, which was ideal.
We stayed in a vacation rental–this one specifically, and it was perfect for us. We got a two bedroom, two bathroom place for the four of us. It was within walking distance to the beach (about a 10 – 15 minute walk), which was perfect. It had two levels, a really nice kitchen, access to a pool, and would be perfect for a family as well. We also had pretty mountain views with gorgeous sunrises.
Restaurants
Here were our favorite restaurants we ate at:
Best overall dining experience: Tidepools
This was our absolute favorite dining experience. It is located at the Grand Hyatt hotel, right off the Shipwreck Beach in Poipu. This was where we dined for my 40th birthday, and I timed the meal to be during the sunset, so we arrived when it was light and then it was dark by the time we ate–so dreamy and perfect. The thatched roofs, fish swimming around in the ponds, torches lit at sunset, and incredible services made it top-notch. We all got fish, and it was literally one of the best meals of my life. I will say you pay for the top of the line food, but it was worth the splurge for a special night.
Best Coffee shop: Java Kai
This was the best coffee shop ever! The Kai Bar (which it appears is an off shoot of Java Kai) is located on the north side of Kauai in Kilauea, so when we drove up north, we made a point of eating here. They had incredible coffee, the best sandwiches, acai bowls, and other snack foods. (We went twice we loved it so much.)
When we were on the south side of the island, we loved going to Dark Horse Coffee shop which is in Koloa. It doesn’t have as extensive as a menu, but the breakfast sandwich I got was incredibly good.
Best acai bowl: Anakes Juice Bar and Wishing Well
Craig and I were split on this. I personally thought Wishing Well had the best acai bowls and Craig thought Anakes Juice Bar had the best bowls. So, I guess that means if you stay in Poipu, go to Anakes Juice Bar, and if you are on the north side of the island in the the Hanalei area, go to Wishing Well.
We only got shave ice one time and honestly a lot of the places taste the same to me, so as long as they put the special cream on top and serve the shave ice over a scoop of macadamian nut ice cream, you’re set.
Other places we ate:
Lava Lava Beach Club- We liked this place, but it didn’t blow us away. The atmosphere was really loud and unfortunately we weren’t able to sit on the beach because it was so windy that night. Craig kept raving about the fish he had here–that was until he went to Tidepools and had even better fish.
Stevenson’s Library – I was craving sushi and so Craig and I did go to get sushi at the Grand Hyatt’s restaurant for sushi. It was really good, and the atmosphere was nice, but it wouldn’t be a place I would have to go back to.
Excursions
We did do a couple of excursions this time and both are ones I would put on a must-do list!
The first one we did was hike the Haena State Park (Napali Coast Trail). Craig and I tried to do this last year, but I didn’t realize that you needed reservations quite a bit in advanced. (I was used to hiking whenever, wherever you wanted in Alaska.) So I made sure to plan ahead and make reservations this time. We ended up hiking nearly 9 miles back to a waterfall. It was an epic hike, and one I will never forget. For half of it, you hiked along the coastline, and I have never seen water so aquamarine blue. Of course this picture doesn’t do justice, but at least you get an idea. The second half of the hike was through the woods back to the waterfall. It was extremely muddy throughout the entire hike, and Kristy and I had to retire our running shoes but beautiful nonetheless. (The second photo in this blog post shoes us at the base of the waterfall.)
Our second excursion was the Mountain Float Tubing Adventure–tubing down the old sugar cane water canals. I was excited about this trip, but the “extras” of this trip blew me away and made it 100% worth the cost. We started by taking a 4-wheel drive, open air “bus” to the start of the water canals and during this portion, our tour guide talked about the history of Hawaii, the foliage/animals, and everything that made Hawaii unique. It was incredibly informative and honestly our tour guide is what made this trip amazing. Once we got to the water canals, we got fitted with our gear (headlamp and helmets) and then into the water. The water was cold, but once we were in the water, it was “okay”–I did get pretty cold by the end though. We floated down the river and water canals, through dark tunnels, and took in the scenery.
Besides, these two things, we didn’t pay for any other excursions, which was fine, give me the beach and sunshine, and I am set! I pretty much lived in my swimsuit most days, and that was perfectly fine with me.
We did do three different hikes during our tip, including the one I mentioned above. Two were along the coastline and then Craig and I did do one other hike on our last day, and it was a nice little hike up the mountain to a 360 degrees view below.
As far as running, I didn’t find any epic trails, per se. I just ran in the Poipu area, which was honestly fine with me. The views are incredible, there’s a sidewalk for a good portion of where I ran, and I saw a lot of other runners out, so I always felt safe. I didn’t go on any super long runs and just stuck to 4 – 8 miles most days. I do like to run while on vacation and explore the area that way, but I also didn’t put pressure on myself to hit any sort of mileage while we were there.
Last year I wrote a blog post titled “Kauai, Hawaii – Our Hawaiian Vacation and Which Island is my Favorite” where I declared I liked Maui over Kauai. And a few people weren’t too happy with my decision and they made sure to tell me in the comments. Haha! To be honest, I did enjoy our trip to Kauai more this year. Last year we did not nail the food, which was one of my biggest “complaints” about our trip last year, but this year I polled people on Instagram and asked friends for recommendations and we had a much better dining experience this time.
Craig says that if you are a family traveling to Hawaii, go to Maui; if you are traveling to Hawaii with your significant other, then go to Kauai. I would have to say that’s a good recommendation. Maui also has more nightlife if that’s your thing and Kauai is more quiet–everything pretty much shuts down when the sun sets at 7 p.m. (Minus some of the restaurants.)
But at the end of the day, no matter which island you go to, you are in Hawaii, which is always pretty epic!
