Kauai 10th Anni trip!

For our 10th anniversary, I wanted to something BIG to celebrate "US" so I booked a trip to Hawaii!  We used the American Airlines credit card to score some free flights to Kauai and the trip was on!  Our Anni was on Thanksgiving and we didn't want to miss that, so we went the first week of November instead.  

My sister and her husband were going to come with us but found out they couldn't make it a few weeks before the trip, so we begged our friends to go SO last minute and they did!  We had an absolute BLAST with Kendal and Nate.  They are so dang fun and easy going and made the trip all that much better to have them there.  Not just anyone can get a sitter for 8 kids and grab flights with only 5 days notice!  Mad Props!

Kauai is like nowhere I've ever been.  It's a tiny island but there's SO much variety packed in there that everywhere we went (and we went EVERYWHERE) was so vastly different than everywhere else.  It was really mindblowing!

So, we flew in on Saturday evening at about 8 pm which was nice and stress free, but if I had to do it again, I'd go in on a red eye or at least earlier in the day.  It was a long flight and I actually got sick of watching movies.  That was a first.  By the time we got to our hotel, it was too dark to even see the ocean, so we grabbed a few groceries and pretty much went to bed.  Side note, you want to know what grocery shopping in Hawaii is like?  It's like this.  "What?!  $6 for a tiny jar of mayo?  We'll pass.  Too much money."  Next aisle.  "What?!  $5 for a loaf of cheap bread?  Wow!  $8 for a pound of bacon?  Well, we gotta eat, so we'll just do it."  Cut to 5 minutes later on the way to check out, "Oh look, mayo is only $6, we better grab some!"  Haha.  We acclimated to the higher grocery cost rather quickly turns out.

I was SO indecisive about choosing what part of the island to stay on that by the time we actually booked, pickins were kind of slim, but we LUCKED OUT BABY!!!  The photo above is the view from our room.  We stayed at Pono Kai in Kapa'a.  

It was beachfront and absolutely beautiful.  It has lots of amenities like tennis, pool, hot tub, awesome concierge, beach towels and even a super psycho fish pond.  Waking up that Sunday morning was like a dream!  Since we're still on Utah time, at 5 am, we were both wide awake and ready to party!  So went for a run down the beach south to see what we could see.  Then ran back and took a walk on the beach the other way.  We slipped our shoes off and left our stuff on the sand in front of the hotel and took off down the soft, perfect sand.  Hand in hand we watched the sunrise and just soaked up all the romance of the moment.

Side note, there are chickens EVERYWHERE in Kauai!

We started the trip off with a BANG because when we got back from our walk... our shoes (which had my cell phone inside) were GONE!  Uh.... WHAT?!  So we hopped on Braden's "Find my phone" app and saw that the phone was about a mile down the beach.  We hopped in our rental car and drove down the road like maniacs following the signal.  It stopped moving on the beach right in front of this hotel so we parked and ran down to the beach with eyes peeled.  We set off the find my phone alarm and BOOM!  There was a guy sitting on a beach chair holding my phone!  I waved Braden over and he ran up and snatched it right out of the guy's hand so he couldn't run away or fight back, which he didn't.  We grabbed the shoes and walked away.  The guy's only response was "Oh, are these yours?  I just found them!"  Right... Whew!  Braden's quick like lightning and we had a nice little adrenaline rush on our Sunday morning.

We proceeded back to Pono Kai to let our heart rates calm down and attended the resort's "Orientation meeting" where they talked about lots of different things to do and sights to see.  They gave away some free stuff and two for ones, but of course we're losers and didn't win anything.  Since it's Sunday, we walked across the street to this cool church and went to church.  Said our prayers of gratitude for the divine help in finding the phone and shoes just as we had left them.  The thief didn't even open any apps!  It really was a tender mercy.

After church, we went back to our hotel and discovered a family of chickens was still on our back patio.  We played with them for a while and tried to catch one of the babies, but well, they are still alive for a reason.  They are SWIFT little buggers!  we drove down this super scenic road "Kaumoo Road" to this amazing hike called "Kuilau Trail".  It's a 3 mile each way hike deep into the jungle down a VERY muddy trail.  The trees were HUGE and the jungle was so thick and dense but the most amazing part was, there were no bugs, no snakes, no critters to be worried about.  Only chickens!  It's like nowhere else I've ever been.  I think it might be the Garden of Eden.  The trail was so muddy that Braden's clutsy wife kept falling in the mud... like full on all the way down.  Braden even fell once too, but he's slightly more graceful than me.  I was such a muddy mess by the time I got out there, but it was totally worth it!  Such a fun hike.  Not too hard, not to long, picnic spot and gorgeous views at the top and even a little waterfall and a cool, old, wood bridge.  It had lots of highlights.  My life and my shoes will never be the same.

Then we drove around to see waterfalls that you can see right from the road!  Seriously, Kauai has something for everyone.  The first falls was called Opaeka'a Falls.  

Then we drove over to Wailua Falls.  It was ROARING and so powerful from all the recent rain.  We tried to hike down to the base of it but the trails all washed away.  

We decided I needed to wash off my muddy legs after all the strange looks I got at the waterfalls so we went back to Pono Kai and cleaned up.  We rented beach cruiser bikes and rode down this awesome 4 mile each way paved, coastline bike path that started right in front of our hotel.  We rode past lots of beautiful beaches and local neighborhoods.  Very little commercial happenings at all.  It was so surprising and so beautiful.  We found this amazing tree tunnel at the end of the path that was seriously so cool.  It was like half mile long on a hill and totally enclosed with delightful smelling bushes/trees.  We pedaled up to the top working up a good sweat and FLEW back down.  SO FUN and so random!

We then went back and chilled at Kealia beach and watched the local surfers ride the 6-8 foot swells.  We also tried to catch sand crabs... not a good activity.  They get sick of running away and come after you!  

Then it was time to pick up Nate and Kendal from the airport.  Went and settled in at the hotel and fell asleep like a bunch of old geezers.  Oh wait, they all stayed up talking and I fell asleep.  That's right... 

Hanalei Bay

We got up Monday morning to some seriously pounding rain... for exactly 2 minutes.  Then bright beautiful sunshine.  Weather here is awesome.  That pouring rain for 5 minutes happened several times while we were there.  It was so cool and never lasted long enough to even effect our plans.  So cool.  We decided to go check out the north shore so we hopped in our AWESOME rental car (more details on that sweet ride to come) and drove up to Hanalei Bay.  Due to major rainstorms all spring, the north side of the island washed away in large part and is no longer accessible unless you have a special permit, so we drove as far as we could and then hit the beach.  Hanalei is SO.GORGEOUS.  Huge waterfalls and thick jungle to one side and massive beautiful beach with soft sand and protected swimmable ocean to the other.  We rented some boogie boards and boogied the morning away.  It was a blast.  Then we snacked on Hawaiian candy apple bananas - um, delish.  They're named after candy for a reason.  MMM!  Had some fine Hawaiian BBQ for lunch at Chicken in a Barrel and drove on to our next adventure.  

Hideaways Beach

I've been researching this island for months to find out all the best spots so I had maps and books and lists... I was prepared.  So we drove up to the big St. Regis Resort (all inclusive beachfront amazing place) and parked just outside of the resort in this tiny little obscure lot.  There were exactly 8 parking spaces here... all full... BUT luck again hit us and as soon as we were ready to give up, a car backed out and freed up a spot!  Good thing too, because this was possibly my favorite spot on the whole island!  So we hike down this pretty much vertical drop off hike.  There were ropes to assist and it was only a half mile so it was a breeze but it was super cool and fun.  A first for sure!  The beach was very secluded and had super weird sand.  It was really grainy and colorful.  I haven't seen sand like that before.  The jungle literally reached out over the sand and covered the beach ll the way to the water.  The water was protected by a reef so the waves were very small and the water was so clear.  We snorkeled around and saw lots of cool fish and even a sea turtle!  And there was this one area where the waves would crash and then "backwash" back out.  It was very entertaining for Kendal and I!  It was such a cool spot and there were only 5 other people on the beach with us.  

Hideaways is a Must See in my book.

Anini Beach

We'd heard/read a lot of good things about snorkeling at Anini Beach.  It's surrounded by a reef so the water is calm and ideal for fish.  We must've been there on the fish's off day cuz we didn't see much but it was beautiful!  The beach was small but had soft sand.  Would've been a beautiful spot to watch the sunset I think.  Sorry I didn't take any pics of Anini.  It was beautiful!

We hit up a local farmers market for some fresh starfruit, sugarcane, mangos and avocados.  Good stuff.

Secret Beach

Then we headed to Secret Beach is a locals beach that is only accessible through this random half mile trail between 2 backyards.  It's hard to find but OH SO worth it.  The hike is easy, short and goes through a thick jungle and way way cool.  It opens up onto this HUGE beach!  You can see the Kiluea Lighthouse, jungle and ocean all in one shot.  Pretty amazing.  In November, the Hawaiian tides change and the waves on the North Shore get HUGE!  The swells were like 8-10 feet high and just pounding!  There we were 4 adults standing on a beach and BOOM we get crushed by this wave.  It would knock you over, spin you around 2 or 3 times and spit you out 100 yards from where you started.  It was a little scary, but mostly SUPER entertaining!  We played in those waves, or rather, the waves played with us until we were so tired, ew could hardly stand up.  there's a rumor that Secrets is the nude beach in Kauai, but there are signs along the trail that say "No Nudity".  I think it's actually the nude beach because the ocean takes your swim suit RIGHT OFF!  I almost lost mine a few times.  That's the real Secret.  Nude beach whether you want to or not!  Secret beach waves were another first time for me for sure.  This was probably my second favorite thing we did.

Monday was an amazing, exhausting day.  We all crashed pretty hard that night.

On Tuesday morning, we tried to rent paddleboards to go down the Wailua River to Secret Falls (the Jurrassic Park waterfall), but there had been a sewage spill in the river so the Health Department said it was unsafe for people to touch the water.  Boo.  So we decided to hit some waterfall hikes instead.

Ho'opi'i Falls Hike

We drove back down Kaumoo Road and hiked a quick 2 mile each way hike to Ho'opi'i Falls.  After a mile, you come to a waterfall.  Great photo spot and you can cliff jump here.  Then you hike another mile to a second waterfall.  The last part of the hike is super tough and very vertical but oh so fun.  The pool at the bottom of the falls is fun to swim in.  It's not too cold and it's shallow and there's even a rope swing.  You can also swing on the tree vines like a rope swing... I checked.  On the way back, Braden and I hike bearfoot because our watershoes wern't great to hike in.  Hawaiian red dirt is amazingly soft and smooth.  Hiking bearfoot... another first.

Luau Kalamaku

That evening we went to the Kalamaku Luau (Thanks to Pono Kai Concierge for booking for us).  It was so awesome.  Fresh flower leis, yummy drinks, yummy food like Kalua - the traditional pig cooked in the ground), really awesome story telling and singing, lots of different types of hula, and fire dancing.  Kendal and I even learned how to hula.  

  

Ps - humidity in Hawaii made it so I couldn't stand having my hair down.  Got creative with my sunlasses to make an updo.

Came back to Pono Kai and had a wicked night of playing cards and games.  Girls rule.  FYI.  Good times. 

On Wednesday, Braden and Nate found a SWEET deal on golf - $10 for a round of 9 holes!  In Kauai?!  Yes please.  So we checked out ok Pono Kai and spent our morning on the GORGEOUS Kukuiolono Golf course with stunning views of the ocean and jungle and had a great time.  Kendal got her happy Gilmore on.  

We ate lunch at Paco's Tacos and headed to Kekaha to check in to our second location: an airbnb house in Kekaha - the locals town on the west side of the island.  The house was across the road from a black sand beach - another first.  

  

After we settled in, we drove up Waimea Canyon - the grand canyon of Hawaii.  The first lookout was very very cool.  A huge, colorful, expansive canyon dropping hundreds of feet below us.  Onto the next lookout.  Same canyon view, just a different angle.  Still amazing.  Then we drove to the very end of the road at the tallest point of the island - Kalalau lookout.  This place is insanely cool.  To see a 5000 foot drop straight to the ocean at sunset was just astounding.  Then something crazy happened.  There were clouds settled at the bottom of the cliffs that suddenly rose up and totally enveloped us!  It was unreal.  Where we could just see for miles in every direction, we couldn't see more than 10 feet ahead of us!  So, we hopped the fence and went for a hike naturally.  The rock edges were exhilarating and super fun to hike on and watch the clouds make everything disappear in every direction.  We hiked who knows how far and turned back, just as we were almost back to the summit, the clouds lifted!  All at once we could see a million miles again.  Those drop offs and canyons and all the deep greens and colorful flowers are just gorgeous.  Very memorable evening.

 The pic above and the pic below are the exact same spot about 10 minutes apart.  Kauai clouds are crazy!

We hopped back in our car and headed back to Kekaha.  I need to take a moment here to dedicate some space to our rental car.  First off, I'm a cheapskate, so I found a place called "Rent-a-Wreck" and we rented this SWEET old Toyota Echo that was... well, we got what we paid for.  Let's just say on the rental form where you fill out where the dents and dings are, we just circled the whole car.  It made a cool rumbling noise and had zero suspension.  Road construction in Hawaii is more of a hobby than a necessity so we bottomed out about every 2 miles.  The air conditioner worked on and off for the first 3 days then quit altogether the rest of the week.  The windows and doors were manual (that's right, the roll down kind) and the radio didn't work.  It did, however, get killer gas mileage, could park anywhere, had great trunk space, and was the last car in any parking lot that anyone was going to try to rob!  In Hawaii, they really like their vowels.  Every word has 8 bagillion vowels and like 2 consonants.  So, we lovingly named it Toyota Echo but removed all the consonants.  Our precious ride became "Oyoeo" forever more.  This car was a source of much laughter and many smiles and took us all over that whole island on one tank of gas.  We salute you Oyoeo.

Anyway, we got back to Kekaha and played more cards and games.  Nate finished off the night by cutting his hand open while doing dishes.  Nate and Kendal spent a romantic night together in the Kekaha ER stitching him back together.  Thank you Bridger for hitting the family insurance out of pocket max for the year so the stitches were free!

Captain Andy's Catamaran

My favorite thing Braden and I did in Aruba 6 years ago was catamaran snorkeling.  Pono Kai recommended this awesome place and booked it for us before we left.  We got up bright and early and hopped on a 60 foot boat with a giant sail, full breakfast and unlimited drinks.  

They took us up the coast to a snorkel spot where we saw LOTS of colorful fish and turtles.  You could jump off the boat into the clear water.  It was so fun.  And the water wasn't too cold either.  I was surprised since it's winter there.  Then we saw spinner dolphins!  They would jump right out of the water and spin in the air!  It was amazing.  There were probably 15 of them and the water was SO clear you could see them all over.  Big ones, baby ones, it was so cool to see Right next to the boat.

Then we sailed up the Na Pali Coastline.  A.Ma.Zing!  There is nothing like that in the whole wide world.  Every 10 feet was completely different than the previous 10 feet!  It was such a fun way to see it - over the crystal clear ocean water floating on a peaceful catamaran with great friends and a great boat guide.  All the rain and flooding made it so the only way to access Na Pali now is by boat or by air.  Boat was spectacular and we could soak it all in.  There was no rush.  

On the way back, we laid on the "trampolines" on the front of the boat and let the waves splash us as we sailed.  It was a blast.

Poipu

We got back at 2 pm so we still had a whole day!  We drove to Poipu.  We saw the Spouting horn, Koloa Landing and drove through the tree tunnel.

I snorkeled for a minute and we walked around the Marriott grounds.  There were Monk seals sleeping on the beach so that was cool.  Poipu is where the hotels and commercial stuff is so we didn't stick around there too long.  It was also POURING RAIN which is funny because Poipu is supposed to be the driest part of the island and it's really the only place we got really rained on.  It was by FAR the most crowded of any place we had been.  Don't get me wrong, it was pretty and there was lots to do and see, it just wasn't what we were looking for.  

On the way back to Kekaha, we found a rope bridge and did some shopping in a cute little town called Hanapepe.   

Our airbnb house came with surfboards and boogie boards.  We tried surfing for a little bit but the reef there was so sharp and hard to walk on that it made for some tough surfing.  We did our best till sunset and called it a day.

Friday morning - our last day - we got up and surfed one last time.  After we got sufficiently beat up by the reef, we cleaned up and checked out and said goodbye to Kekaha.  We drove over to the last beach we hadn't seen yet - Kalapaki.  It was raining pretty hard all morning and Kendal and Nate's plane left at noon so we just chilled, did a little more souvenir shopping and dropped them off at the airport.  

Our plane didn't leave for 6 more hours, so we went back to Nawiliwili (my favorite word ever) and Kalapaki beach and rented surfboards and paddle boards.  The sand was good but the waves were very small and few and far between.  We caught a few good waves though and got the help of a local kid.  Then we had lunch at Duke's.  This restaurant is Beautiful.  It's on Kalapaki beach and it is open air.  It has a beautiful waterfall inside it and a big coy pond with huge fish.  And the food is GOOOOOD.  I had some crab and fish thing that was divine.  Braden's was good too.  We are fans of Dukes for sure.  

We flew to Honolulu and had a 45 minute layover then a direct red eye flight to Salt Lake.  Braden took some Tylenol pm and we both slept like babies the whole flight... literally.  It was awesome.  

At the end of the trip Braden says, "That was a Suzi vacation.  We were on 20 different beaches over 6 days and never once sat in a beach chair."  What can I say except you're welcome!

To sum up:

My favorite things:

Hideaways beach

Secret Beach

Captain Andy's Catamaran
Muddy jungle hike
Kalalau Lookout up Waimea Canyon
Kapa'a coastline bike path

Things I wish we could've done:

Hike the Kalalau Trail (washed away in the floods)

Queen's Bath (washed away in the floods)

Paddleboard to secret falls (hey we tried)

Helicopter tour (needed just one more day)

Surf at Kealia (the sand was better there but there's nowhere to rent boards cuz it's a locals beach)

Maybe even sit in a beach chair 😉

All in all, Kauai was absolutely amazing.  I would go back in a heartbeat.  We learned to "live Aloha" (take it easy, no worries, no rush).  We did a bajillion things but still it was a super relaxing break from mainland hustle-bustle life.

'Til next time Kauai, thanks for the memories!