USVI-On-Line

Aloha!
After a couple of trips to Europe, we needed an island fix. After all, our last time on STJ was June 2009 (!) I became more and more intrigued by Kauai after reading here how much STJ-maniacs tended to love the place.

For years, my wife would bring up the idea of doing Hawaii but I immediately would shut it down due to visions of cheesy luaus and high rise cluttered beaches, not to mention the perceived cost and LONG flight time.

I thought it was more of a place for tourists rather than travelers, aware that Hawaii was a place that a lot of people we know who are not really travelers have been to. It’s kind of amazing how many folks have been there on their honeymoon but then don’t really travel anywhere else even mildly adventurous. Conversely, they are surprised we’ve never been to HI as many co-workers and acquaintances consider us to be well traveled.

So, I started looking at Kauai to see what it might cost as compared to STJ. I was pleasantly surprised to see that pretty nice ocean front places could be had on VRBO for much less than STJ comparables and that the car would be half or less of STJ.

On the airfare, I was also finally armed with sufficient Capital One points to defray some of the airfare costs, especially if I broke it up into 2 legs which I was also motivated to do to help break up the flight length with a stop in PHX to visit in-laws.

However, we learned that they wouldn’t be in town so we decided to do 3 nights on way back in San Francisco – a city my 19 yr old would enjoy seeing again as she was only 11 months old last time she was there. Booked Delta to OAK and Alaska Air direct to LIH for total of $623. Not bad considering airfares to STT from NJ/NY area now around $400 and up.

Initial flight out of EWR was delayed due to “mechanical problems”. That’s never a good sign. After second push back of departure time, I quickly went up to desk just in time to overhear a Delta gate rep tell the desk agents “this doesn’t look good – better re-book whatever you can”.

The agent couldn’t find us another Delta flight so she got us on a United flight. Good news was that it was non-stop and that we were seated in “economy plus” section with extra legroom. Bad news was that we were now going into SFO instead of OAK, that the 3 seats weren’t together, and that they had to pull the bags off the OAK plane, we had to claim them, and get over to another terminal to check in. So you had that hassle on the front end, then on the back end humping our stuff on the BART over to Oakland.

I was glad that I did get up to the Delta desk quickly though because I learned later that our original flight was eventually canceled 6 hours after it was scheduled to depart and we probably got the last few open seats on that United flight to SFO.

We got to Oakland airport hotel about 2 hrs later than planned, up early next morning for 7:30am flight to LIH that got us in before 10am local time. Kind of amazing when you think that HI is another 5 hours/2500 miles from California.

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Picked up the car (a Chevy Malibu – typical boring bad ergonomics Chevy with a ridiculously wide turning radius for such a small-ish medium sized car). The rental agency left our keys and “welcome packet” at the rental car counter, which is their usual practice. That’s certainly a lot different than the greeter scenario in STJ.

I had booked a oceanfront condo I found on VRBO on the east side of the island near Lydgate Park, thinking it would be a good midway point between the north end and south side, both of which have not to miss things to experience.

The east side is more built up, but that also means decent shopping/provisioning and easy in-town eating options – not a bad thing in our world. The condo complex was very well maintained and our 2nd floor corner unit was really nice, great views from the lanai, complete with the intoxicating sound of the ocean, with recently updated Tommy Bahama furniture, stainless/granite kitchen etc.

It was quite comparable to something at Gallows Point, at about 1/3 of the cost. The owner was real helpful, trading tips via email etc. and the agency who handled the rental was a pleasure to deal with. http://www.kauaivacationrentals.com/

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I already miss the sunrises, coffee, and visitors out on that lanai.

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There was a walking path out in front of the complex and the beach stretched for a couple miles to the south in front of the Wailua Golf course.

The beach was much more sit-able and walk-able at low tide than at high tide due to the larger wave and “super” full moon high tide action at the beginning of the trip and tremendous amount of driftwood strewn about on the beaches (why don’t I have photos of that?)

I later found out that there much more driftwood than usual due to the really bad week of storms they had first week of March when over 40 inches of rain fell up in the mountains, washing out roads and bridges and creating all sorts of havoc on the island.

While it was nice getting in early before 10am, we couldn’t get into the condo til 2-3pm. So, first things first: Mai Tai supplies! @ http://www.koloarum.com/

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Their Gold rum is pretty good stuff – quite smooth.

Stopped off in the mall area in Lihue at a really large location of Long’s Drugs store which is one of those places that has almost everything, including Cruzan Pineapple flavor 750ml for $10.99 to supplement the high price stuff from Koloa.

Then off to lunch at Dukes located on the sands of Kalapaki Beach at the Kauai Marriott Resort. Typical large scale resort, not a particularly pretty beach. Lunch included good mahi sandwich and fish tacos, great waffle fries, and good mai tais.

Also hit the Safeway in Kapaa for condo breakfast fixins and some snackage. Even though we had very nice kitchen stocked with any tools you might need and there were nice gas grills located throughout the complex, we are not big on the making dinner on vacation thing and all the kitchen duty that entails.

Mrs. JMQ doesn’t even care for the lack of housekeeping during the stay – says she needs a break from all that and is not interested in “playing house” on vacation, so that’s why we will never be big time STJ villa meisters (let alone cooler people!)

Explored the property, nearby beaches, checked out the pool, etc., had some nap time to the sounds of the ocean (aaahhh!!!) and then got some plates from a couple of the small take out joints in the nearby Coconut Marketplace – Harley’s BBQ and the Fish Hut – really tasty shrimp taco with slaw, ono filet platter with rice, and Cajun shrimp platter with rice. Good stuff at reasonable cost.

First full day decided to head off to explore the south shore after some awesome mocha coffees at Dolphin Espresso and some shopping at the stalls across the street.

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These guys are everywhere – if you think St. John has an issue with wild chickens and roosters, you aint seen (or heard) nothing compared to Kauai…

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Drove down to the charming Old Koloa Town through “Tree Tunnel” that is the gateway to the Koloa/Poipu area. Did a little shopping, briefly considered the Kauai Food Truck right there, but decided to check out the high end Beach House Restaurant in Poipu instead. http://www.the-beach-house.com/

Great ocean view and really good blackened shrimp salad, chicken sandwich, veggie/tofu wrap, and DELICIOUS strawberry/banana daiquiri for the girls (for some reason I took very few photos of the food on this trip. That’s always fun to have and sorry I didn’t do it)

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Hug the coast on a slow drive east from the Beach House, admiring some of the beautiful houses and cottages just beyond the Brennecke Beach area. Pull into the small public lot just beyond the Hyatt resort to spend some time on the lovely Shipwreck Beach. Walk through the Hyatt grounds to see how the $500/night crowd lives. It looks like it was designed by Disney engineers.

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Shipwreck is pretty cool. Enjoyed watching the local kids ride the 6-8 footers, their friends parked watching them shred while playing reggae music, which I was surprised to discover that various versions of reggae is hugely popular on Kauai. Then we hiked a bit up from the beach some of the way along the Mahaulepu coast trail. Got some cool shots there.

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That’s some wild coastline and wish we had gone further. Its 2 miles long one way but unfortunately we only went partway because we wanted to get back to the gourmet market going on at Kukuiula Village.

We had a dam good shave ice there at Uncle Steve’s in that complex -strawberry/tangerine/pineapple ice with macadamia nut ice cream underneath – really good, not too sweet (for some reason I have this photo, but not one of that huge shave ice – go figure).

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We picked up a pineapple (best tasting ever) and at the urging of my daughter, my wife acquiesced to buying some great looking homemade fresh pasta and marinara sauce from one of the vendors on the condition that she and I make it and clean up back at the condo, so that’s what we did. It was mighty good, but I have to admit my wife has a point about flopping around in the kitchen on vacation.

After dinner we enjoy watching Modern Family. I have a photo tour planned for the next day and the girls will be on their own to do a spa, but it doesn’t unfold that way. To be continued…

P.S. First Impressions of Kauai:
>> it has pretty amazing vistas around almost every corner
>> the people are very very nice in person and even in traffic, people are very cool about merging etc.
>> and it is certainly another one of those places where you can really say “if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes”

OH!!!! more please! it's been 20 years since i have been to Kauaii (and rented from kauiivacation rentals! -- can't wait to see what you thought of the NaPali coast!

that whole princeville thing was just barely started last time i was there....

My husband and 6 yo son are desperate to go to Kauaii. My husband was there 20+ years ago and my son saw something on TV (Discover or Animal Planet) and now they are pushing hard.

I can't wait for your next installment. What time of year was your visit? Recently?

In my very brief intial research, I am scared of the winter rainy season.

The thought of any flight over 4 hours gives me a panic attack (actually, all flying does) so I am banking points in hopes of 1st class.

PA - just got back on Friday.

Indeed, it is a VERY long way, and the jet lag is no fun (esp on the way back west to east) but if you break up the flight, you can do it because it is well worth it. It is indeed one of those magical places - think STJ on steroids LOL.

Note that if we did it again, I might not do the overnight to break up the flight, but wouldnt mind a plane change and layover on the west coast of a few hours to get out and walk around and have a bite to eat. You think more about those kind of things more when you get past 50 yrs old LOL.

Re your concerns about winter, also consider that the surf is much bigger, even on the beaches somewhat protected by reefs, so forget snorkeling, and swimming could limited to a few south shore beaches.

Their "small" surf is 6-8 ft waves and their regular rip currents that we experienced is more like our Jersey shore big surf when there is a hurricane out by Bermuda LOL (always hilarious to me when folks talk about "big waves" on the north shore of STJ)

For many years I have boogie boarded all kinds of surf in NJ up to the size we had in Kauai, but I kind of know what to expect, and I was a bit intimidated by the stories of how many tourist drownings there are every year on Kauai, so I didnt want to do anything stupid and get hurt because I wasnt familar with the wave sets, shore break, backwash, etc.

Also the trade winds blow even more in winter than the typical 10-15 MPH most times of the year, which would make it kind of cool if it were a few degrees cooler and/or you have any kind of cloud cover, which also happens pretty frequently as those 4500 ft mountains and other ridges seem to create their own weather as the winds move off the water and up and over.

The Napali daysails dont even sail in winter (too rough) - they just resumed this month.

All that said, there is still lots to do there and you could go in winter esp if you are into hiking and other non-beach swimming activities, but the weather other times of the year (like now) could be more reliably enjoyable on all sides of the island. It would be a shame if you couldnt fully enjoy the beauty of the north side because it was socked in bad weather, which is more likely in winter.

JMQ, you are making me want to plan a trip to Kauai! We really liked it too. You're pictures are stunning!

jmq - I really appreciate that information. My thought was a summer trip when our son is out of school. We are beach people and not really being about to be in the water would be a bummer.

Can't wait for installment two - Thanks for posting. Kauai is on our "sooner rather than later" list. Gotta get the baby around 2 or 3 though before we attempt that flight, even broken up.

And I described Maui EXACTLY the way you described Kauai - it's the Caribbean on steroids. Everything is bigger - the hills, the volcanos, the surf, and in many ways, the beauty.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm. This is interesting. I will have to stay tuned! Darn you, JMQ!

Here's my pressing question for now...did you only do Kaui? If so any regrets of not doing the other islands after going all that way?
I have no desire to island hop on little planes so I always discount this trip.

Thanks for the report and your pictures are great as always! This bring back memories from our honemoon, which was spent in Kauai (Poipu). We went in June, so we were able to do the napali coast zodiak trip. Still remember the high swells. Even in Poipu it was high swells. Still, it was amazingly beautiful and I would love to go back.

Looking forward to the next installment.

Loved your pictures! We are looking forward to our second trip this December. It really is lovely there and the hiking is great. Thanks for the report!

PA - indeed it would make much more sense if you are water/beach people to go in late spring/summer. By midweek the wind and waves were down to more summer like levels, opening up many more beaches to safer water fun for non-locals. And those cats sailing Napali would be much more viable.

MB - no need to island hop when it comes to Kauai - its a pretty full plate, especially if you are fit and active. That said, when traveling far, I totally understand the inclination to see as much as possible and it can be really tough to choose what to limit it to.
We have been guilty of trying to do too much on some trips so we embrace the benefits of traveling “one way” when possible, and try to do a better job of identifying what we really want to see and do so we don’t breeze thru the sites like Clark Griswold, and balance that with adequate down time to read books, relax, restore and renew.
Kauai seemed to have plenty to see and do, especially if you like being active, and indeed that was true, almost to the point where another day or 2 would’ve been nice to have even more hang time.
That said, I would like to go back, and having done a lot of the active/must do stuff, 3-4 days would be great back on Kauai combined with another 4-5 days maybe on say Maui (it would be great to visit Pearl Harbor too, but even for me, that might be too much hopping around).
I suppose for older folks or less active/adventurous types, a full week might not be necessary on Kauai if you arent going to hike, snorkel, daysail and heli-tour and it might make more sense to split time between 2 islands.
Maybe those who have done the island hopping thing can chime in here…

Oh, I'm happy for you. We've been to Kauai twice and it's always so interesting to read someone else's experience of a place that we really love. Sometimes it can sound almost like a different place. Definitely the season impacts what visitors experience (Not as dramatically as going to NJ in January or July, but still more significantly than different seasons on STJ).

Our first Hawaiian trip was to Maui and Kauai. Without much research we went in early September and it turned out to be an excellent choice as far as weather, surf and crowds. Our second trip was to the Big Island and again Kauai. That trip was planned to be taken in early September. If we go again, it'll probably be just to Kauai. It's really grabbed us deeply.


So I'm greatly enjoying following your trip as you're unfolding it. I recognize some of the places in your photos, others I'm not sure about, and some I know I never saw. The Caribbean is certainly beautiful but the dramatic beauty of the Pacific islands is really overwhelming. I will mention that I am completely entranced by Hanalei Bay. I think it's one of the most beautiful locations on the planet.

Please, then, keep writing this report, fill it with photos, write it slowly. I'm really savoring it.

Oh yay! I have been waiting to see Kauai through your lens! More, please.

Thanks for the great report. I'm especially excited because we are going in June!

Oh my gosh, we just returned from our first trip to Kauai last month and this brings me right back! What a magical, beautiful place. We stayed on the North Shore in Princeville, in a home overlooking Bali Hai and I swear I thought I had died and gone to heaven. We were lucky, we had sunshine for the entire week, but just missed the torrential rains you spoke of. Even my 15 year old daughter, whose favorite place in the world is STJ, swore that Kauai was now her favorite place she had ever been. We fell in love with Hanalei and the North Shore in general. We also stayed in northern CA for 3 nights on the way back, 2 in Big Sur and 1 in San Fran. Great way to break up the trip but next time we are staying on Kauai! I keep meaning to post a trip report and now I will have to just do it! Thanks for sharing, I cannot wait to read the rest.