Kauai’s Quiet Beauty

Jun 19, 2012 by Judy

If what your looking for is a quieter Hawaiian experience, then Kauai is your place. We found it to be a place of true relaxation. In fact in our quest for the perfect beach to while away the hours in wonderful repose, we pretty much wore ourselves out. It’s tough but, hey, somebody has to do it and we worked very hard at it.

If you love the outdoors and the water, there is no end to the things you can do while in Kauai. There are wonderful snorkeling opportunities at every turn and if the surf conditions are safe, you can snorkel at any beach anywhere since there are reefs everywhere with beautiful coral and fish to see. We were lucky enough to observe sea turtles swimming freely near us on our first snorkeling adventure there. There is excellent surfing at most of the beaches or a full day of hiking at the 230-acre Ha’ena State Park. A couple of us went on a tubing expedition with Backcountry Tubing Adventure. If you have the chance to go on this tour, do it! The crew is nice and you learn about the island while tubing down old irrigation canals. There are even tunnels involved. It is a blast! Another outstanding adventure is the snorkel sail cruise of the Na Pali coast with Holo-Holo Charters which was a great choice. The crew was incredibly nice and helpful. As we sailed the coast the crew explained history of the island, the Na Pali coast, and the sea life. We had the chance to see turtles and spinner dolphins. The breakfast and lunch served was fresh and actually really good.  There wasn’t enough wind to sail so we missed out on that part but it was fun to lay on the trampolines at the front of the boat.

We found fantastic, fresh locally grown food options at both restaurants and roadside stands. In Hanalei you’ll find a wide assortment of restaurants for almost every taste and price range. Grab a quick burger and fries at Bubba Burger or Polynesia Cafe, a full lunch or dinner at Kalypso, pizza at Hanalei Pizza, Bar Acuda, where ate dinner, served local foods served as Tapas. The cocktail was delicious with fresh local  mint. Try the skewers with honey chipotle oil.  The atmosphere is nicer than other restaurants in Hanalei bay with a nice outdoor patio. If you are lucky like we were, they may even seat you on the back patio with the view of the mountains! May want to make a reservation on the weekends. You may like the fresh fish at Hanalei Dolphin, a plate lunch at Hanalei Juice and Taro or sushi at Bouchons to name just a few. The town also has one of the best organic food stores on Kauai, the Harvest Market where we picked up lunch almost daily. Also, there are any number of accommodations in the area. We stayed at the Pali Ke Kua condos which offered us a great view but be sure to looka at the pictures of the rooms. Some are more up to date than others as we found out but both condos were clean and comfortable.

As you can see, there’s no end to the adventures to be had, so indulge the scout within you and I hope you have as good a time as we did. Please share with us any unique finds you come across in your travels there. Aloha!