Dream Trips to Kauai

Island Name - KAUAI Why we like it? Beautiful place to relax. Small-ish island, so you have enough time in a day to drive around and then come back and relax. Lots of beautiful vistas! Nice places - 1) Na Pali Coast 2) Kilauea Lighthouse 3) Waimea Canyon 4) Wailua Falls 5) Shiva Temple 6) Opaekaa Falls 7) Hanalei Drive 8) Spouting Horn There are some secret spots too, which are EXTREMELY beautiful. But if you can cover these places mentioned above, you will have done pretty well. To give you an idea of some of the stuff I have mentioned, here are some links: http://www.holoholocharters.com/boats/holo.html This is a pretty expensive tour. But make sure you take it. Its worth every penny (And more!). They will tell you about the 'Forbidden Island' of Niihau. While that sounds very adventurous, its not! Its just a private island bought over by a family in the 1800s and now no one (except the US Navy) is allowed to land there and no native is allowed to go out and settle on other isles. But apart from that nonsense, the trip is awesome. They take you by the Na Pali Coast - a jagged coastline, with sharp drops. It has several secret beaches that can be accessed only by rafts or a 16 hour hike recommended only for very experienced hikers. Also has several waterfalls. You will also see a lot of sea life (We saw a killer whale, hundreds of spinner dolphins, turtles and fish) on the way. There are reefs to be seen, as also sea caves. They take you to a marine bird sanctuary - which is an extinct volcano - in the middle of the sea. There, if you want, you can snorkel. We did and found it worth it :). There was about 100 feet of visibility when we went there. But since we were first timers, we only went upto a place where the water was 20 feet deep. The undersea life is amazing and very very colorful. PS: There are two trips. One in the morning and one a sunset sail. I would recommend the morning one for two reasons (a) More sea life can be seen in the early morning (b) The Na Pali coast consists of high mountains which get covered by dense clouds afternoon onwards. So, you won't be able to take in the entire beauty of it, if you take the evening sail. Also, I have been told that the sea gets rough towards the evening. PS2: If you have sea sickness, you have to be careful about this trip. The catamaran rolls a lot on the journey back, though summertime shouldn't be bad. (We have summer most of the year in Hawaii!) Winters are rough. You can check with the tour company. There are a couple of other tour companies too, which do this tour. But Holo Holo Charters is what we took. Capt Andy's is also supposed to be pretty good. Kilauea Lighthouse - We gave this place a miss the first time we went to Kauai. We thought, "What is there to see at a lighthouse!" But we couldn't have been more wrong. The lighthouse is on a cliff. While the lighthouse itself didn't hold my interest, what we saw there did! The cliff that holds the lighthouse and some of the other cliffs nearby form another marine bird sanctuary. We saw THOUSANDS of white birds(Sea gulls and other species).... it was beautiful! We saw got to see the rare Hawaiian Goose - the Nene. And the sheer view, from the park.... is awesome! I have attached some pictures here, for you to look at. Waimea Canyon - Mark Twain called this 'The Grand Canyon of the Pacific' and when you see it, you realize that he didn't exaggerate. It is a canyon unlike the Grand Canyon in many ways. You actually climb up the mountains to reach the top of this canyon and unlike the yellow,brown and red desert hues of the Grand Canyon, this one here is all red soil and lush foliage.It is not a sight or a trip to be missed. Hanalei Drive - Driving in Kauai is like a dream. If you drive north - towards the pretty town of Hanalei, you will come across numerous one lane bridges. You have to wait to let others pass before your chance comes. But there's really no hurry.... enjoy the scenary around you while you wait. You'll almost be sad that your turn to move on arrived :). You will cross the Wailua river several times and if you are interested in canoeing, they say, this river is the perfect place for the activity. Even if you are a starter, there are trips and canoes available :). Iravian Shiva Temple - http://www.himalayanacademy.com/ssc/hawaii/iraivan/ This is a Shiva Temple. It is in a beautiful locale and has a Rudraksh Garden of its own. You can pick up as many Rudraksh as you want... Its a unique experience :) Places to stay - Give Kapaa a miss if you want something out of the ordinary. We stayed at Princeville, which is a resort town and quite extraordinary in luxury. Sitting in our outdoor hot tub, we could look out at the ocean (The town is built on sea cliffs)... it was an awe-inspiring experience. But if you are cash-strapped, Kapaa gives you many budget places to stay at (there are also a lot of shopping places nearby), but do make your enquiries before you book the place. Hawaii can be very expensive and you should explore different options before you finally book. Food - Make sure that you eat soon enough :). Most places close down by 8.00-8.30 pm :).