Well, we just arrived back on the mainland and I’m already missing the coastal hikes, warm water, and tropical fruit smoothies. After our adventurous first day, we only really took one day to slow down and enjoy the beach, which for us is pretty unheard-of. We had to get a workout in before we started the day so that we could truly enjoy the relaxation. But let’s get back to day two so that you can check out any bits of the trip to use as recommendations for your next trip to Kauai.
On our second day, we visited the Hanalei Bread Co. for coffee and Acai bowls. It was recommended to us and we would highly recommend it to others. They have a full breakfast menu, delicious coffee, and of course bread/pastries. We stopped here two of the mornings that we had and would definitely say it’s the place to go if you’re staying in Hanalei.
After our breakfast, we took about an hour long drive to get to Wailua Falls, a large waterfall that falls into a circular canyon below with a large pool to swim in. These falls were a very popular spot, but the hike to get down is not for everyone. There are a few ropes to help you get down, but the trail is very steep and can get extremely muddy. It only took about 10 minutes to get to the bottom though so it was totally worth the bit of mud we got on our shoes. Once you’re down at the falls you can jump in the water and swim across to walk underneath and behind the falls. Be prepared for the cold water as you jump in and some slippery rocks up underneath the falls, but it’s a great view to see the massive amount of water falling off the cliff. If you look closely, you can see my tiny body walking alongside the waterfalls.
After we got our fix for views of the falls, Molly found a fairly mellow hike nearby. This ridge hike had us hiking up a fire road through a jungle that provided some great views of the neighboring valleys. After that we stopped for a beer and some shaved ice before we went back home to get ready for dinner.
I would say that one of my favorite dinners came from the small Kilauea Fish Market. Equidistant to Hanalei from Princeville, Kilauea had some good looking restaurants that were unexpectedly closed due to short staffing. Since we were already out there, we found a great view of a lighthouse and then went to the fish market for dinner. There was a grocery store right next-door to the fish market so we were able to grab some drinks to enjoy with our poke and teriyaki chicken.
After all the hiking we had done, we forced ourselves to have our relaxing beach day. We wanted to check out another highly recommended beach called Tunnels beach which was located just outside of the Na Pali coast park entrance. Due to the size of the waves coming in that day, we weren’t able to swim in the water cause the beach was closed, but the beach had some great views of the towering mountainside behind it.
A few hours and not being able to get in the water got a little hot, so we made our way back to Hanalei bay to grab some lunch, swim in the waves, and I even rented a surfboard to get a few hours of surfing in. The waves were surprisingly big pretty close to shore and I had a bit of trouble getting into to the steep shore break on a 9’ soft top, but I had a good time getting pounded into the sand a few times. Made me miss my days of surfing in SLO and got me thinking about getting back into the water in Santa Cruz. Gonna have to get a new wetsuit though…
That evening we enjoyed the sunset on Hanalei pier before grabbing dinner. It was another delicious dinner that we had night at The Hanalei Dolphin, a local fish market and sushi lounge. Looking like one of the nicer restaurants in the bay, we got their early and were able to get two seats at the bar to have more poke, a sushi roll, and some tempura. It was more than enough food for the two of us and didn’t quite have room for dessert. The poke was a great combination of 3 different types of fish which was new for us on this trip and would highly recommend it!
We still had one more goal to get some views of the Na Pali coast that we had been dreaming of since we booked the trip. When you get to hike the Na Pali coast, the main hike gets you to a large waterfall and you get to hike along the steep cliffs, but you don’t get to see the ridges in all their glory. We debated getting tickets to a boat trip or on a helicopter tour, but decided to save the money and enjoy the hikes instead. We were glad we did because earning the views was so worth it.
The hike we took was located in Waimea Canyon, which as the crow flies seemed to be only 15-20 miles from where we were staying. To actually get there though, we had to drive practically all the way around the island which took about 2 hours. We broke it up with a few stops for breakfast and snacks, but the beauty of the drive made it feel like it went by fairly quickly. We drove most of the way through the Waimea Canyon State park, past all of the parking lots and stopped at a dirt pullout that only had one other car parked at it. From there we went straight into the jungle. After reading reviews of the trail being fairly hard to follow, it seemed like it had been trafficked well enough for us to make it.
It certainly wasn’t a walk in the park though. A lot of the sections were heavily overgrown and we were bushwhacking before making it to some steep downhills with lots of trees to duck and dodge. The whole way out is practically downhill along the ridge, mostly shaded it wasn’t too difficult to make it to the view, but we knew we’d pay on the way back.
Only about an hour out we came across our favorite views of the trip. High up on one of the ridges, we got to look out across the coast and see the rest of the ridges towering over the ocean. These were the views we came for so we sat out on the ridge for long while taking them all in. The only thing we were missing was a beer and a PBJ.
We finished the hike and headed back to Lihue to meet up with one of Molly’s friends to grab a beer and catch the sunset. She had provided some great tips while we were there and she took us down to Shipwreck beach in Poipu to enjoy the sunset, an incredible sunset to end the last day on the island.
On our last morning, we didn’t have a lot of time before we had to get our car back and get on the plane. We packed our things, made some coffee, and walked down to Hideaway beach that was right near our place. We had checked it out the first night we were in town, but we turned away because of a closed sign on the stairs leading down to it. Little did we know that these closed signs are more of a suggestions than something that’s actually enforced. I wish we would’ve found this beach a little sooner because I definitely would have spent a ton of time on it. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful sunrise and a special time getting to see it for the first time just before we left.
After it all, a 4 day trip was the perfect balance of relaxation and packing in enough adventure, but I already want to go back and be on Island time. I hope you enjoyed the recap and the recommendations and if you have an idea for where we should head next, I’d love to hear them!