Top 10 things to do in Kauai

I know I’m not a travel blog but I’ve had so many friend ask about our itinerary for Kauai that I thought I’d do a top 10 list.  Believe me we did a lot of research with our close friends, websites and books and this is what our little dream vacation looked like in a nutshell.

1. Swimming with the turtles (tunnels beach)

Hello can’t tell you how dreamy this was!  I loved tunnels beach it was the perfect beach.  It had shade trees tons of sand that went on for miles  perfect easy snorkeling and farther out you could kite surf or kayak.  We saw about 20 turtles they were all over the place on the north part of the beach.  Most people that I’ve talked to have seen turtles there so bring your go pro and keep it on!!

2.Hiking Hanakapi’Ai trail
This is a hard hike and as we were hiking our 8 miles round trip I said this is not a hike for the little kids.  We had our keen shoes on which was a good way to go because of all the rivers you cross.  I did get a few blisters on the way back probably because this was the first time wearing my keens this year.

lol  But the water fall and the views are so breathtaking its worth the 5 hour trip. (that included eating lunch at the beach halfway through the hike. 

3. Capt. Andy’s Napali coast BBQ and Snorkel
I love boats and if I don’t go below deck I rarely get sick.  This boat had those fun mesh trampoline things attached to the front.  I sat there the whole time, but look out when they go fast you bounce around like a Disneyland ride.  (my ribs were kinda sore the next day cause we were laying on our stomachs holding on for dear life)

 We saw dolphins and turtles and they took us snorkeling were they feed the fish needless to say we saw a ton of beautiful colorful fish. and then up the coast to the Napali.  It was stunning!!

4. Ali’I kayaking adventures
This was an absolute blast.  I was told that you don’t need a guide and that if you rent kayaks they will give you a map and you should be fine.  We wanted to have a guild so that we didn’t have to worry about anything going wrong.

 I loved Justin our barefooted ukulele playing guild.  Seriously serenaded us the whole time and we were all singing along  supper fun. Secret falls was a beautiful waterfall after a fairly easy hike.  I think if it was raining it would be a different story but pretty easy for kids.

5.Eat shaved ice
this is a must, and I don’t know if its because you are on a vacation or that its hot and you’ve played all day, but the shaved ices are so much better than the snow shakes here!!  Our favorites
  Jo Jo’s      Ono Ono      Lampperts (loved their ice cream)

6. Beach cruisers
Every time we go to a beach town on a vacation we like to rent beach cruisers.  I loved riding the short easy bike trail along the coast in Kuhio.  We were relaxed and stopped at a few beaches to relax and walk and just enjoy the beach. 

7. Luaus
there are several luaus on Kauai but the two that I heard about the most were the Smith family luau and the Luau at Gaylord’s.  We went to the one at Gaylord’s even though we were planning on the smith’s, because it was going to rain and Gaylord’s is all coved. I’m sure they are all spectacular and yummy but remember they all coast around 100-20$ per person so if you have a family its kinda pricy. 

8.Desert and dinner at Dukes
huge yummy and a million calories nuff said!

9.Beaches
That’s why you go to Kauai right?  My favorites were Secret (Kauapea) beach because well it was empty!  and it was beautiful.  we had shade and sand and a view to die for.  Donkey beach was so fun to walk along and watch surfers.  But be carful with the kiddies we did two people who going all natural!! The most fun we had on a beach was tunnels, why because we saw like 20 turtles and the under water tunnels and caves were absolutely amazing!

10.  Waimea canyon drive
this was a fun drive absolutely gorgeous, now I live in Utah so I know huge beautiful mountains but this was so fun being up high looking down in like the grand canyon.  At the very top there were clouds rolling in,  and while we were eating lunch in our jeep the cloud would go right through the car.  I have never experienced anything like that before it was so amazing!!

 
 Ke’e  beach and the rock creations that  people would make and leave behind