Taking a trip to Kauai with the wife and oldest daughter. She is 10.

I haven't planned a thing. Other than beaches, but I need to look into some activities, just wondering what anyone might recommend, we only have 3 full days there

Tunnels Beach, Drive the Canyon (Jurassic park
Waterfall and rainiest place in NA), Poipu water spout, Tree drive near Koloa , rainbow eucalyptus, swim in Hoopi Falls, Napoli Coast Tour.

Park at charter house and snorkel the area just off the coast. If you swim out, there a deep shelf a s there are usually blue fin and turtles and tons of fish. The sharks stay deeper so it's a safe spot.

Feel free to email me. I work on the island for about a month each year. I can give you tons of local job tourist food recs.

That's awesome! Thank you! We are staying in Koloa, but rented a car.

A buddy recommended to rent a kayak to a waterfall, said he did it back in 1989. But he couldn't remember where it was,

Where are you staying? Poipu Bay area is great for families

Helicopter rides, take a sail to Napali Coast (this was our favorite), drive/hike to Waimea Canyon, eat Pukka dogs on poipu beach, drive into Koloa and get a shave ice at Fresh Shave, go to Shipwreck beach

Best restaurant in Poipu is Beach House... kinda biased as thats where we got married

Bring a light rain jacket... it basically rains at some point every day

Wailua River kinda got ruined by instagram. I'd rec Hoopi Falls with kids. It's about a 2 mile in and back. There are 2 sets of falls. The first set is cool but the second set you can walk down to and get into. They're even a little pool you can sit in on the far side of the falls where you can feel the water power.

Tunnels and Hanalei are usually ranked top 5 beaches in the entire state. Get some Dole whip while you're up there.

Avoid Hoopi Falls or most of the hike after the rain. If you do, bring trash shoes. The red dirt will stain and ruin ANYTHING it touches.

We are staying at the Lodge at KuKuula. It's a Hyatt property

Thank you for the suggestions. As soon as the wife wakes up I will talk to her about it.

I don't think we will do a helicopter ride, we have done a couple at other past vacations, my daughter wants to try a zip line though,

I need to see if I can book a ride on the sunset sail

Gosh, that is great advice, sounds like a native. Thank you! We will do thst for sure.

Da Life does a waterfall rappel that's REALLY cool.

Outfitters Kauai has the best Zip Line options. They have one that's side by side, they have an adrenaline one and the longest zip line in Kauai.

I love Kauai. If you need any yoga recs, I have several too

One thing I'll rec on most of the Napoli coast tours, don't do the full day tours. Do the half day. The full days are ALOT of sun and a lot of potential sea sickness. The waves are usually chill from Eleele to the end of the naval base, but they can RIP from there to the cathedrals.

Also avoid Kuhio Hwy between Kapaa and Lihue between 4:30-6ish, it becomes a parking lot from Coco Palms past Coconut Market Place.

Coconut marketplace is the spot to shop for food, drinks, premades, sushi, moco, etc

It's delicious and a great value for the area. Papayas has some great options but higher priced. Their premades are in the back in a little refrigerated section.

Get some Loco Moco

I think a good day on the north side would be a morning tour of Napali on Napali Catamarans and then an afternoon at Kee or Tunnels (or flip flop the times). Get reservations for Kee parking in advance. By leaving from the north side, you get to Napali much faster.

Agree 100%. It's looks just like Moana. The Hanalei shops are a fun little spot for lunch between the boat and the beach if you don't want a lunch option tour.

Trucking Delicious is trucking delicious.

Also, rent a Jeep as your vehicle to get around the island.

We did it and worth every penny, adds a little fun to whole trip

Would you recommend a morning tour? There is a five hour snorkeling tour my daughter would like.

Thank you!

I know we got a little suv, I can't remember what it was. I'll try and get a Jeep if possible!

Wyoming said:

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Would you recommend a morning tour? There is a five hour snorkeling tour my daughter would like.

Thank you!

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We do both. Either tour is great. Calmer seas in the morning. Maybe better photos in the afternoon Sun. You can't go wrong though.

https://www.napalicatamaran.com/our-tours/morning-tour/

Great advice. I just booked a morning snorkeling trip, I need to look up Kee.

+1 to calmer seas and usually more turtles in the morning hours. Also, less radiant heat.

One weird little thing about Lihue Airport. Turo isn't allowed to leave cars parked at the terminal. So, if you plan on renting through Turo just know it's kinda a PITA. The budget in site is who we usually use if we don't have friends pick us up

Uber is ok during the day, but gets spotty at night and in the early hours of the morning. If you have a 7-8am flight, don't count on an Uber being available.

Drink some POG for me and if you're a rum person, the Coconut Marletplace has an AMAZING toasted coconut gold rum that's killer w POG. It's the one that's always highlighted in the rum section in the clear glass bottle with the clear glass stopper top.

Koloa rum is good but pricey.

If you're coffee people, the entire west side of the island is Kauai Coffee Company land. They did tours pre COVID. Not sure if they still do.

It looks like reservations for Kee beach is next to impossible a few days in advance. Next time I will know.

Gosh that sounds awesome. Yes we will go there for sure. Please send it to me. I'm actually at LAC about to board to Lihue. I booked a lot of the activities on my first flight.

What's your #?

One another thing to know about Kauai, outside of the naval base, the entire coastline is public access. There's not a spot outside of Barking Sands you can't go.

Also, if you get a Jeep, please don't drive it on the beaches. The chances of getting stuck are very high and it's a real PITA to get people unstuck.

Lol I wish I would have hired you to drive us around! You know this island well. Thank you for the advice.

If you and your family like chocolate, do a Lydgate Farms chocolate tour. The Zipline tour mentioned before was awesome - the one with the longest run is the one we did.

I'll have to look back at other places we went and add more later.

Kauai is awesome! You won't regret it!

EDIT: We did the Koloa Zipline tour, not the Outfitters one. Just looked it up, the Koloa Zipline long run is about a half mile long

We did a hike to the Makauwaki Cave Reserve, then walked over to Ezra's Beach. Parking is along a dirt road over to the trailhead.

Kauai's my ohana. I'm there probs 6+ weeks each year. Getting to know it from the local vantage point has really been an amazing experience. It's something I'll always treasure. I just need a couple of more good ski seasons. Once I'm 40 and start to wind down, our plan is to move to Kapaa and then come back to Vail to visit family and scratch the ski itch a couple times a year.

We're not even beach people, but we've talked about me working a locums job (medical field) there for a year sometime. We just loved how it's not nearly as built up at the other islands. For now I just try and find CME conferences there to turn into a family trip.

The Garden Island is special. Something like 95% of Kauai is protected from future development or in the hands of old Hawaii families like Parker Ranch & the Robinsons that will never sell or owned by hella rich folks like Larry Ellison & Bette Midler. Yeah it's weird she owns a **** load of the island…

Alexander & Baldwin is the largest developer and I think like the 5th largest land holder but most of what they have has been developed or restricted.

I do HOA accounting and bookkeeping for the largest rental company by units in HI so it'd be an easy transition for us and because of all of the HOAs on the islands, it's an occupation with alot of demand. I'm already fully remote so it's just be a shift in time zones.

I rarely go to the same place twice, but I go to Kauai every other year for a few weeks at a time. I'm not really one to chill and hang out but I can do that there. It's weird for me…and I love Kauai for it.

JustPanda said:

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The Garden Island is special. Something like 95% of Kauai is protected from future development or in the hands of old Hawaii families like Parker Ranch & the Robinsons that will never sell or owned by hella rich folks like Larry Ellison & Bette Midler. Yeah it's weird she owns a **** load of the island…

Alexander & Baldwin is the largest developer and I think like the 5th largest land holder but most of what they have has been developed or restricted.

I do HOA accounting and bookkeeping for the largest rental company by units in HI so it'd be an easy transition for us and because of all of the HOAs on the islands, it's an occupation with alot of demand. I'm already fully remote so it's just be a shift in time zones.

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My aggie son was headed to maui before the fires for his honeymoon. Changed flight to Kauai. Can you visit with him about where to stay and things to do amd where to stay. Sept 5-??

Thanks

Just piggybacking on this thread
Visiting Kauai soon
Appreciate all the recommendations so far

Staying at Koloa Landing Resort
Plan to schedule some of the activities already mentioned
So far, we have a full day reservation including parking at Ha ena State Park

Friend from Oahu recommended Koloa Fish Market for Poke
We also have a reservation at Tidepool
Any other food recommendations and activities would be appreciated

Koloa FM is good on the south side of the island. Lawai'a FM is in Lihue and Kiluaea FM is on the north side. They're all solid. Most locals go to Konohiki in Lihue for poke, chirashi bowls, and stuffed Inari sushi.

Japanese Grandmas Cafe in Hanapepe is good too.

For some other local spots hit up:

Pono Market
Saiman Dojo for vegan food
JoJos shaved ice
Hamura Saiman for lilikoi chiffon pie (Saiman is Hawaiian Ramen)
Holey Grail Donuts
Tip Top Cafe and Motel - haupia pancakes and tons of other carnivore centered items
Marks Place for butter mochi or Koy Bakery for lilikoi cupcakes
The Right Slice - amazing pie
Village Snack - tropical pancakes (no frills but tasty if you're going to a beach early or need a quick breakfast before boarding a boat)

Konohiki and Pono Market both sell out and get REALLY busy. 30 minutes after they open and the line is out the door until they close. Think Lexington BBQ but in Kauai. That's how those operations run so not a bad idea to look at the menus online to know what you want so that you don't hold things up.

Hukilau Lanai is probs the most famous restaurant on the island.

We get most of our poke from Coconut Market Place - we just buy bulk and take back to the condo. it's the best place on the island for most things. The selection, prices, and food quality are stunning. Its 1/3 - 1/2 of the price of the tourist spots and restaurants. It's where the locals shop for most premade items whereas Safeway is where they go for mainland stuff. I could eat something new at CMP each day for probs a week and be totally content.