Hawaii is my favorite place on the planet, and while every island is special, Kauai’s blows them all away. It’s stunningly green and blue and beautiful, it’s small enough to get everywhere, and it’s not quite as resorty as some of the other islands.

In January I flew to Kauai for 8 days. It was the perfect amount of time on the island — enough beach bumming time and a handful of hikes and activities.

The one downside was that parts of the North Shore are currently closed due to extreme flooding in the spring of 2018. The road to access Kalalau Trail, Kee Beach, and some of the other spots past Hanalei is closed, so sadly we didn’t get any Kalalau hiking in.

Here’s what we did, ate, and where we stayed:

Where to Stay

One of the most common questions I get is, what side of the island should I stay on? My typical answer is, if you can swing it and don’t mind a hotel change, do half your trip on the North Shore and half on the South Shore.

The North Shore (Princeville, Hanalei, etc.) is heaven on earth. It’s mountainy, it’s lush, it has some great food. It’s also home to my favorite beach in the world: Hanalei Bay. But it also can be rainy, and in winter the waves can be big.

The South Shore (Poipu, Koloa, etc.) on the other hand is more consistently sunny and has beaches that are more protected so are better for winter swimming (especially if you’re here with kids). It’s also more convenient to the boat tours from Port Allen and the web of hiking trails in Waimea Canyon and Kokee State Park.

If you’re on a budget, or are only here for a short trip, look at the East Side (Kapaa, Wailua, Lihue). It’s much more central — easier to get to any part of the island, and there are some less expensive options.

For this trip, we actually stayed 3 places: Lihue for a night (friends graciously let us crash at their hotel when we got in), Princeville, and Poipu. I also saw 2 places that I’m obsessed with and need to come back and stay in:

Kauai Marriott Resort: Lihue as a town isn’t that exciting, but this resort is very nice. It’s right on Kalapaki Beach, where you can swim and paddleboard and walk to a handful of restaurants. The highlight of the resort (in my opinion), is its stunning pool, and the parrots/wildlife garden in the middle of the lobby.

Princeville Resort: Formerly the St. Regis (it recently changed hands), this is one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed in, simply because of its location and its views. (The hotel itself is a tiny bit dated, but they’re redoing it, and also who cares because those views though.) It’s perched overlooking Hanalei Bay, so expect to spend a lot of time staring at the edge of the water…

Poipu Kapili Condos: For our South Shore leg, we rented this condo on VRBO. It was perfect for 2 couples: plenty of space, great views, and almost constant whale sightings — in one case they were only about 100 yards offshore!

The Palmwood: A little jungle hideaway up in the hills of the North Shore. I didn’t get to stay here but came for an afternoon and am itching to get back there. The house has 3 units, and a stay comes with incredible breakfasts. You get sunrise and sunsets over the mountains and it’s an oasis of zen and island calm.

Gillin Beach House: When I walked by this Mahaulepu beach house, I took a picture to post in my cubicle as a “work hard to retire and buy a house like this” reminder. Welp, it turns out you can rent it! It’s the only house for miles around, has amazing beach, whales, and sunset views, and in the scheme of rentals isn’t too expensive.

Getting Around

You need a car on Kauai (on any Hawaiian island, really). I rented a small SUV on Priceline which cost a little under $600 for 7 days.

Once we got to the checkin they upsold us to a Jeep for an additional $136. Jeeps aren’t necessary for most things but if you want to get to Polihale, Mahaulepu, and some of the Waimea Canyon hikes it makes the off-roading drive easier. (Though technically some of these spots aren’t covered in your rental agreement so you don’t wanna blow a tire.)

Super glad we got the Jeep but I’ve done Kauai in a sedan in the past and it’s fine.

What To Do

Day 1: Arrival and Lihue

Landed around 6 pm (moments before the sun set – first Hawaiian sunset yay!). The airport is tiny so it’s easy to pick up your car etc.

Two friends had space in their room at the Marriott Vacation Club at the Lihue Marriott so we crashed with them. Had we not, probably would’ve driven straight to the North Shore, but after like 20 hrs of travel and 5 hrs time zone change, staying in Lihue was nice and easy.

Food:

• Dinner: Dukes on Kalapaki Beach: right next to the Lihue Marriott, this Hawaiian restaurant is a good entry into island life -think outdoor dining, tiki torches, drinks in pineapples, etc. The bar menu is a bit more casual and h lower prices than the upstairs dining room.

Hotel: Kauai Marriott

Day 2: Wailua River Kayak & Drive to the North Shore

Made our way slowly up the east side of the island from Lihue to the north shore.

Things We Did:

Kapaa Coastal Path: To kill time before our kayak rental, we walked along this 3-ish mile path along the water. You can rent bikes too, right off the trail in Kapaa.

Wailua River and Secret Falls: rented kayaks from Wailua Kayak and Canoue. There are a handful of kayak rental spots along the river but this one is easy since you can roll your boat on a wheely thing to the out-in spot. $99 for a 2-person kayak for 5 hrs, plus they have coolers, dry bags, etc.

We paddled about 45 mins up the river to a beach where you can ditch the kayak and hike on a very muddy trail to a big waterfall. (Secret Falls, but it’s definitely not secret, lots of people.) Wish I had brought my water shoes since there were some river crossings on the hike. Bring beers and sandwiches and you can have a little picnic at the falls (you can also swim in the, but it’s collld). There are also guided tours but we just wanted to do our own thing.

Kilauea Lighthouse: Great views and whale/bird watching (look for nene, an endangered goose — the Hawaiian state bird). When we got here it was closed for govt shutdown so we couldn’t actually go to the lighthouse.

Hanalei Valley Overlook: I love this viewpoint over the mountains and taro fields because it always looks different in morning vs afternoon light

Food:

• Breakfast: Coffee bar at the Lihue Marriott. Expensive — like $6 for a make it yourself bagel and little tub of cream cheese.
• Lunch: Mermaids Cafe in Kapaa. Got sandwiches to go for the kayak trip but the sit-down salads and grain bowls also looked great.
• Dinner: Tahiti Nui in Hanalei. Local tiki/Hawaiian spot that is in the movie The Descendants. Live father-son duo crushed it with Hawaiian music and Hawaiian covers of classic rock songs. At around 9 all these locals poured in — I think the scene turns dancier and it’s the hangout spot, but we couldn’t stay awake to find out.
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Hotel: Princeville Resort

Day 3: Hang on the North Shore

Our plan was to hike ~8 miles on the Kalalau Trail to the Hanakapiai waterfall but the road is closed just past Hanalei due to major floods last spring. So you can’t access the trail or beaches like Lumahai or Kee.

Things We Did:

Walk Hanalei Bay: This is my favorite beach in the world, a 2-mile cerulean crescent of sand that’s backed by stunning green mountains laced with waterfalls.

Princeville Resort Beach: Had some beach beers in the loungers at the resort beach. I had bought a cheapo mask and snorkel so popped into the water (theres a big reef just off the beach). You can also rent water gear from a little stand here.

Hanalei Bay Sunset: Parked on the sand near the pier and watched the sun set over the bay. This sunset was especially memorable!

Food:

• Breakfast: Hanalei Bread Company: a hip and busy bakery/coffee shop from the folks who own Bar Acuda and Ama. Freshly baked breads too — we bought some for later.
• Lunch: Went to the Foodland grocery store in Princeville to try save money and get breakfast/snacks for the room. That. Place. Is. Expensive! Should’ve gone to Costco or Safeway in Lihue.
• Dinner: Bar Acuda in Hanalei. Made a reservation. They serve tapas style food (with local ingredients) that was very good. Pricey.
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Hotel: Princeville Resort

Day 4: More North Shore Beach Time

Things We Did:

Walk around Princeville: There’s a walkway overlooking the ocean with benches to sit and look for whales (bring binoculars!). To see them (between Nov. and April), look for a little white puff that lingers — that’s how you can tell where they are.

Hideaways Beach: A very steep and muddy (like there are rope railings you’ll want to grab) walkway next to the parking lot before the Princeville Resort leads to this hidden little beach. Awesome snorkeling if you bring gear and the water is calm.

Princeville Resort Beach (again): Hung out at the resort beach again and watched boyfriends take photos of their dolled up influencer gfs.

Anini Beach: Switched it up and headed to this beach that is super flat/safe for swimming. Popular spot among families and campers — you can pitch a tent right there next to the sand.

Sunset at the Princeville Resort bar: Perched over Hanalei Bay, this is one of the best sunset spots. Get there at least an hour before sunset if you want a table.

Star pics on the beach: Winter isn’t great for Milky Way visibility, but Hawaii skies are so dark you can still see it, low on the horizon. You can even see it bare eyed, plus watch for shooting stars!

Food:

• Breakfast: Ate groceries at the hotel
• Shave Ice break: Went to Wishing Well, a little shack on the north side of the road as you drive into Hanalei. They have a ton of options, but I went with a simple strawberry-mango-grape ice only (didn’t add ice cream). They have some cute tank tops and hoodies and hats too.
• Lunch: Hit up the little food truck lot in Hanalei. We wanted to eat at Trucking Delicious because it’s supposed to be awesome, but it was closed Sun/Mon so we missed it. Instead got good fresh sandwiches at Fresh Bite Kauai. There were also trucks with Thai and Brazilian eats.
• Dinner: Princeville Resort bar — ordered a flatbread plus some wine while we watched the sunset.
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Hotel: Princeville Resort

Day 5: Poipu, West Kauai & Whale Watching Boat

Things We Did:

Waterfalls: On the drive south we stopped at two East Side waterfalls that you can drive up to. First, Opaekaa Falls also has good views of Wailua River. Next, Wailua Falls has an overlook that’s quite close to the falls.

When driving south, we took the Kapaa bypass route to avoid town traffic.

Kauai Coffee Company: Kona coffee’s the best known, but this is Hawaii’s largest coffee estate. Did the short self-guided walking tour. I learned that you’re never supposed to put coffee in the fridge or freezer! (I don’t drink coffee though, so maybe everyone knows that already.) You can then sample like 30 different coffees. It’s all free so is an easy stop and you can ship coffee home.

Waimea Canyon Overlook: Drive up the windy road from Waimea town up to the canyon. There’s a big parking lot at the main canyon overlook. If it’s cloudy wait a bit to see if they blow through.

Hanapepe: A tiny little west Kauai town with some art galleries and a swinging bridge you can walk across. It’s kinda underwhelming, but on Friday nights they have an art walk that sounds like it’s cute if you’re out here.

The whole west side of the island is much hotter, more arid and things are covered with a red dust.

Glass Beach: Right near the Port Allen boat launch is a beach that doesn’t look like much when you pull up but walk up to the waters edge and you’ll see that the sand is largely little pieces of sea glass. It’s mostly clear and brown glass but you can find some nice blues and greens in there.

Kauai Island Brewing: Stopped at this brewpub for a pint before our boat left. It’s a quick walk from the Port Allen boat harbor.

Whale Watching Tour: During whale season (Nov. to April), pretty much any boat you get on turns into a whale watching cruise. But we opted for Blue Dolphin Charters’ specific whale watching tour because we wanted to follow the whales, rather than see them along a prescribed snorkel/Napali Coast sailing route. In our case we didn’t have to go far — saw at least 6 whales, including one that surfaced right near the boat! They also served Mai Tais and beers, plus some food.

Food:

• Breakfast: Swung by Hanalei Bread Co. again for that awesome fresh bread.
• Lunch: One of my favorite spots on the island is Puka Dog, which does Hawaiian-style hot dogs. They toast the roll from the inside and fill it with special sauces and Hawaiian relishes like pineapple or mango. Not the most traditional Hawaiian meal, but it’s better than any stadium hot dog you’ve ever had.
• Snack: Lapperts ice cream is a Hanapepe tradition, and on a hot day the homemade island-inspired flavors are just right.
• Dinner: Snacked on pupus that were served on the whale watching boat, then came back to our condo and snacked more on the food we bought at Safeway in Lihue on our drive south.

Hotel: Poipu Kapili condo

Day 6: Big Hike and a Big Beach

Things We Did:

Awaawapuhi hike: This is a tough but totally worth it 6-ish mile hike to a spectacular viewpoint overlooking the Napali Coast. You park at the trailhead in Kokee State Park (pick up a hiking stick at the start of the trail), then head a little over 3 miles downhill to the overlook. This part’s pretty easy, unless it recently rained and then it’ll be slippery.

The viewpoint has a metal observation rail, but you can walk down another 100 feet or so to a better view. From here you can keep going farther but it crosses a thin ledge that has 2,000 foot dropoffs on either side. Usually I’m all for those scrambles but I got vertigo just looking at it so stayed behind. The tough part on the hike comes on the way back up — it’s that same 3ish miles back uphill, so bring plenty of water. The whole hike takes 3-4 hours.

Polihale Beach: The longest beach in Hawaii is also one of the most remote. To get here you’ve gotta bounce down a long unpaved potholey road (hence the Jeep, though it was dry so we saw smaller cars doing it). Once you’re here it’s rugged and beautiful — the cliffs of the Napali Coast bookend the northern beach, the waves are huge, the dunes are huge, and the beach stretches for like 7 miles. It’s a perfect place for a picnic, especially at sunset. But don’t plan on swimming, and be careful if it’s rainy — the road in floods.

We then got back and tried to go to a farmers market in Koloa which is open on Wednesdays, but I think we missed it. Spent the evening watching whales and sunset from the condo in Poipu.

Food:

• Breakfast: Stopped at Aloha Roastery in Koloa town for coffee.
• Lunch: After our hike we stopped at Island Taco over in Waimea. The food was good but for some weird reason they didn’t let you mix and match taco orders; your 2 tacos had to be the same type. Also slow service.
• Dinner: Keokis Paradise is run by the same people who do Duke’s. It’s a fun open air tropical restaurant with tiki torches. Feels pretty touristy, but apparently locals like the bar too and hey, you’re a tourist. Eat at the bar for lower food prices (but still good options).

Hotel: Poipu Kapili condo

Day 7: Helicopter and Poipu

Things We Did:

Jack Harter Doors-Off Heli Flight: This is a total splurge that’s totally worth it. Seeing Kauai by helicopter gives you an amazing view of parts of the island that are otherwise inaccessible.

Usually I think it’s best to do this early in your trip — that way you get a good sense of what’s where on the island and you have time to reschedule if the weather’s bad on flight day. We waited til the end of our trip because we had 2 friends coming in who we wanted to fly with. Went in the morning which is good for visibility— we lucked out and had no clouds on Mt. Wai‘ele‘ele so got to see the summit. But morning light on Napali is harder for photos; afternoon light is probably best for that part of the coast.

We chose the doors-off helicopter because it is better for photos: you have no reflections getting in the way of your shots. It is cold though — wear pants and a jacket if you do it.

Koloa Town: This little cross-roads is much cuter than resorty Poipu. There’s a block or two long stretch with cafes and some shops.

Mahaulepu Beach: This is a beautiful rugged stretch of coast just east of Poipu. It’s hard to get to (made harder right now because there was a film set barring the main road in) — the road is unpaved so again a 4WD car is highly recommended. Keep an eye out for monk seals sleeping on the beach and whales playing offshore. There’s also a coastal trail here that goes from near the Grand Hyatt about 2 miles to the beach (we didn’t hike it though).

Food

• Breakfast: Ate groceries at the house
• Lunch: Grabbed sandwiches and mac salad at Koloa Deli
• Dinner: Made reservations for a sunset dinner at The Beach House, which is right on the water. This is one of Kauai’s “special occasion” spots (though I think sunset is a special enough occasion to go here on its own!). It’s a bit pricey, but the food (seafood and island faves) is fantastic and the sunset view is one of the best on this side of the island.

Stay: Poipu Kapili

Day 8: Waimea Canyon Hike and Departure

Our flight didn’t leave til 11 pm (which was almost impossible to stay awake for, given the east coast time change), so we took advantage of our last full day plus friends who were staying longer’s B&B to shower before the plane.

Things We Did:

Canyon Trail Hike: This Waimea Canyon hike takes 1-2 hours and is about 3 miles round trip. It’s not too tough; you climb down to the canyon rim, then walk along that (look for goats on the cliffs) until you hear the waterfall (and people screaming in the cold water). This is the waterfall that you can see across the way at Waimea Canyon overlook; this hike takes you to the top of it, where you can sit overlooking the canyon. The climb back up is a bit of an effort, but not as long or sustained as Awaawapuhi.

Getting to the trailhead’s the hardest part. For this you need a Jeep or 4WD — the road is crazy bumpy. If you don’t have that car you just have to park at the top and walk down said bumpy road an additional 3/4 of a mile to the trailhead.

Puu o Kila Lookout: Just past Kalalau Lookout (stop there too; we were hungry so skipped it), this is where you’ll find that classic postcard view of the green folded cliffs of Napali Coast. Look down into the Kalalau Valley — apparently a bunch of hippies live off the grid in the jungle here (this is a fascinating story about them).

Warehouse 3540: We drove by this place a bunch not really knowing what it was and finally stopped on our way back east. OMG what a cool spot — it’s a warehouse-turned-market for all these adorable artists and shops, plus a handful of food trucks. I bought some prints at Ocean Paper because I was obsessed with everything they had.

The Palmwood: Our friends were spending the rest of their stay at the Palmwood, a B&B-style retreat in the jungle on the North Shore. What an amazingly peaceful and beautiful spot. Definitely want to come back here for a stay.

Food

• Breakfast: Cleaned out the last of our groceries at the condo.
• Lunch: Kauai Poke Co. is one of the food trucks at Warehouse 3540. The poke bowls were delicious and use all locally caught ahi.
• Dinner: En route to the airport we stopped in Kapaa for a meal at The Local. This friendly spot had live music and the walls were decked with amazing scenes by a local photographer. Most of the menu items are locally sourced.