[normtrum]

My wife and I are leaving for Kauai in a few weeks for our anniversery, staying in a beachfront house near Kapaa. I'd love to hear some suggestions for some restaurants, activities, and shopping. We're there for 8 days. We're already signed up for a kayak trip up the Wailue River, and I'm playing golf at Princeville. We'd like to stay away from helicopters and sailing. I am not familiar with any of the towns at all, other then what I've seen on the internet. Since we'll be in a great house (good size, new, secluded, beachfront), we don't need a ton of things to do, but I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thx.

[rwwong]

Kauai is great. Check out the Princeville Sunday Brunch it's the best there is, There is also a nice restaurant in Poipu, I can't remember the name, but it was right on the water. We didn't find the restaurants as great as other islands, so go with that in mind. We spent a lot of time exploring the island since it is so small. There is a beach called Secret Beach, it's not listed on any of the tourist maps, so you have to do some local research to find it. If you do, you'll be rewarded. It's beautiful. Sorry I can't help, it's been a while. Stay clear of the Fern Grotto tour, it's lame! Have fun!

[Asiann]

Kauai is very quite and peaceful. Kapaa is where this little town lights up with good food and shopping to do. Travel on Kuhio Road. The ABC store has pretty much everything you need from sunscreen, beer to gifts from Hawaii. Princeville is nice and has a pretty good lunch menu at the resort. Poipu Beach is a nice place to take the kids or just the two of you and was voted best beach by the Travel Channel. Drive up to the awesome Waimea Canyon, the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Pic is at the bottom. Opaekaa falls just down the road from Lihue is what there is a large water fall (pic below) where Fantasy Island is partly filmed. Be sure to pick up a Kauai booklet which also has a map at the airport. Have fun! Aloha!

[Asiann]

Secret beach is off the road and can easily be missed if not paying attention. Head east [left] out of Princeville on highway 56. Take the 2nd instance of Kalihiwai road [after climbing out of the big canyon made by Kalihiwai River] at mile post 24. Turn north [left] on Kalihiwai road and then take a quick [about .1 mile] right onto a dirt road. Follow the dirt road .5 mile to a small parking lot at the end. Park in the lot or along the dirt road using care to remove all valuables from your car. The trailhead is at the north west corner of the parking lot. Follow the trail for about 7 minutes as it descends 180 feet and traverses 1/3 mile [about 500 steps] to the beach. Enjoy the varied plant life along the way. Be aware that this is not a place for children because of strong currents and the nudist that flock to this beach but will dress if you are offended. You will be about 300 ft from the next person so you can have intimacy and privacy as well. Here are some pics and a map so you should have no problems finding it.

[normtrum]

Thanks for the great ideas, with special kudos going to Asiann for the the pics and directions to secret beach. I will definately be going there!

[cheaptrick]

I always stay at Best western in Kapaa. Don't go in water at kapaa--- rip tides. Wife and I rented Kayaks in Kapaa and did wailua a BLAST. Lost our map at end of river and got lost. Walked an extra 2 hours! Like the L & L in Kapaa for local food cheap. Resturant on highway with tiki torchs and second floor seating next to Jungle Girl has good seafood at nice price. Price course is a bear bring plenty of balls. Enjoy Cheap

[bartman32]

My dad has a house on the north shore in Hanalei. http://www.kauaibeachzenhouse.com/ Some links are out dated as I haven't updated this in a LONG time.

Some suggestions - Get yourself a good trail map. There is a trail at the end of the road (only 1 main road on the island) on the north side. It's not to be missed! GREAT views of the Napali coast! The trail head starts there at the end of the road - Napali Coast trail. It goes in 2 miles to a secluded beach that you can only get to by hiking or boating. Very nice beach but it can have a rip - tide so watch out. Bring lunch and plenty of water it's a good hike. Than another 2 miles in and you get to a beautiful waterfall in a giant pool. Lots of fun. The trail itself goes in 13 miles where you can camp if you get a camping permit. I've never gone the full 13 miles but the 8 miles (2 to beach, 2 to waterfalls and back) can be done in about a half to 3/4 of a day. The waterfalls hike is probably too dangerous for young kids but the beach hike is good and fun. I've been doing it since I was 8 or 9. There is also a good hike on sleeping giant and lots of hikes around Waimiea Canyon that someone mentioned up above.

As for Resturants Kauaii has 2 of my favorites. The Dolphin resturant is in Hanalei which is north of Princeville. AWESOME teriyaki Ahi!!! Then there is Duane's Ono Burgers (ONO is a fish but also means great and in this case it is great). It's in Anahola which is on the west side not too far from Kapaa.

Canoing is fun too! Have a great time and relax a lot! I'm so jealous! I haven't been there in a few years.

[bartman32]

All of these were shot on Kauaii. 1st and 4th on Napali trail. 6th in Princeville

http://www.pureemotionphoto.com/Hawaii/index.htm

[normtrum]

Thanks guys, great stuff - I'm glad I asked. Bartman I will definately check out the hike to the waterfall/pool that you mentioned. It sounds great! Just the "off the beaten trail" type of thing I was looking for.

Cheap - good call on the extra balls for the Prince course. I'm a 12 handicap, so I plan on choping it up a bit!

[rwwong]

Oh and hey, watch out for the chickens!

[bartman32]

Originally Posted by rwwong

Oh and hey, watch out for the chickens!

lol and the dead frogs....

[bartman32]

So how was the trip?

[normtrum]

Originally Posted by bartman32

So how was the trip?

Sorry about that - I meant to post some comments and pics.

We had a great time, as you would expect. The only thing that I wasn't prepared for was the amount of traffic. It was awful! Traffic barely moves past 25 mph on most parts of the island. It would take us 1 your to get from kapaa to Poipu. Other then that, it was great!
Great suggestion to go for that hike on the Napali Coast. We made it as far as the beach. I had a great swim there, although you were right, it was a bit rough! We did a kayak trip up the Wialua river (sp?) which was great, but I won't do it with a tour group again. Princeville golf was outstanding (Prince course), shot a 86 with rental clubs. Some of the "target holes" on the back were incredible!

We had our best dinner at the Beach House on Poipu our last night. They gave us a water side table (I told the guy it was our anniversery) which made it even better.

If anybody ever needs a rental house, let me know and I'll e-mail the info. The house was the highlight of the trip. Secluded and quite beachfront house that was about 20 steps to our own private beach. Freaking incredible!

The only thing we didn't do was the hike up the canyon. I talked my wife into doing a heli trip on our last day, but once we got there she chickened out! By that time, it was too late for a hike. Oh well, next time.

Thanks to Bartman and the other posters for helping us have a good trip!!

I'll post a few pics when I get my camera back from my son.

[OC Guy]

Suggestion:
Don't feed the jellyfish.