Must do on Kauai?

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Gary,

Thanks for your post and the good ideas. Happy Talk Lounge sounds perfect for us. Anyone know of any similar places in Kapa'a?

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

Horseback riding in the north and south as close to the ocean as possible.

Jungle tour, zip lining, kayaking.

Snorkeling in Na Pali is way overated IMHO....the adult fish have been pillaged long ago. Going for the scenery is fine...just don't expect to see much marine life on most of the trips.


101 things to do in Kauai link

[iceeu2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close iceeu2]

A Maui Question

Glitter, did you do the hanggliding on Maui with Armin? I'm thinking that is what I would like to give the DH for Christmas this year. Did you do morning or night and what are your thoughts?

We did a helicopter tour first time to Kauai, but I have no desire to do that again..

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

You guys are all much too adventurous for me. My "must dos" on any of the Hawaiian islands are lying on the beach and eating [not at the same time necessarily]. Oh yeah, add drinking mai tais to that.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Glitter, did you do the hanggliding on Maui with Armin? I'm thinking that is what I would like to give the DH for Christmas this year. Did you do morning or night and what are your thoughts?

We did a helicopter tour first time to Kauai, but I have no desire to do that again..

Yes, we went with Armin, it was wonderful. We started about 9:45 am, there were four of us so it took a while. Armin is wonderful, we each got the kind of ride we wanted, so my boys got a few 'thrills' but I got a nice, scenic, beautiful ride. I would opt for the full hour over the 1/2 hour, your DH will get a lot of scenery in that way. If there are two of you, you might get Armin to sell you one hour and one 1/2 hour, but split the time into two 45 minute rides, that would be good too. I doubt he goes at 'night,' and there wouldn't be anything to see if he did. We spent the night before in Hana so it made for a terrific side trip. If you wanted to drive from West Maui, you could still make an afternoon flight, but hopefully you'd spend that night in Hana to enjoy what's there the next day...

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

You guys are all much too adventurous for me. My "must dos" on any of the Hawaiian islands are lying on the beach and eating [not at the same time necessarily]. Oh yeah, add drinking mai tais to that.

I love eating on the beach but not as much as drinking Mai Tai's on the beach

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

You said hiking is not a problem.

Well ... Kaua`i probably has the best hiking trails in the world. You asked for "must do"s". If you like hiking, then hiking has to be one of the must do's.

If trail conditions are good on the north side (meaning rains have held off for several days), the Kalalau trail that takes off from the end of the road at Ke`e Beach is considered one of the finest trails in the world. You can go to the first stream crossing without a permit, and then take the side trip up to the falls. This is an all day hike and spectacular. But if it's been raining, conditions can be pretty bad.

In that case, though, you just go to the other side of the island and do the Nu`alolo loop trail. That hike starts out at the edge of the rain forest at the top of Waimea Canyon, then takes you on the top of two of the ridges that form the Na Pali coast. The scenery and the vistas are spectacular and breathtaking. Personally, I think the only reason to prefer the Kalalau trail over the Nu`alolo loop is the side hike to the waterfall that the Kalalau offers. Because the Nu`alolo loop is on the leeward side of the island, Nu`alolo loop trail conditions are more predictable and are often better than those on the Kalalau. Also, because the Nu`alolo loop trail is at higher elevation, the temperatures are cooler. (This can be a big factor if the trade winds have failed or are weak.) The full Nu`alolo loop is a day hike.

Bring lots of water, especially if the trade winds fail or are weak. Both times I have done these trails the trade winds were weak. When I did the Kalalau I brought two liters of water, most of which I drank on the way in. On the way back I battled significant heat stress all the way. Every stream crossing I sat in the stream for about 20 minutes to cool off, and I finally resorted to refilling my water bottles with water from a small stream we crossed, and crossed my fingers that I didn't get sick later (which I didn't). On the Nu`alolo loop, I drank 4 liters of water, and could have easily consumed an additional two liters.

****

There are lots of other hikes I'm looking forward to in future visits.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Steve,

The hikes sound great. I prefer hiking and kayaking to horseback riding and ATVs since I do have a bad back and Denise's Kauai trip report reminded me I should probably any rough rides.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Steve,

The hikes sound great. I prefer hiking and kayaking to horseback riding and ATVs since I do have a bad back and Denise's Kauai trip report reminded me I should probably any rough rides.

See here for some previous comments I made about the Nu`alolo loop and the Kalalau trail.

And here is a link to a photo of the Nu`alolo valley - typical of the spectacular views from the trail.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

See here for some previous comments I made about the Nu`alolo loop and the Kalalau trail.

And here is a link to a photo of the Nu`alolo valley - typical of the spectacular views from the trail.

I thought they sounded familiar..the photos are incredible, I am excited!!!

[iceeu2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close iceeu2]

Duh.............color me stupid. Gotta learn to proofread. What in the world would you see at night on a hangglider???

[MaryH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MaryH]

We did the luau at Smith's family paradise and it was pretty decent.

For food, Oki Diner near Lihue is a must do and Hanalai Dolphin is a good lunch spot. For higher end dining in the evenings, my favourite for a sunset dinner is Beach House in Lawai Beach and in Hanalai the Bar Accuda (sp?) is pretty decent for tapas and postcard cafe has great fish for a relaxed dinner.