I’ll be visiting Kauai from 10/26 to 11/1. Never been there before, so I’m looking for stuff to do. I’m there on “business” to watch a launch from Barking Sands, but will have plenty of other time to do stuff. So far I’ve booked a tubing tour down some canals (upon recommendation from a friend) and a helicopter tour around the island.
Ideas for other stuff to do? Honestly, I’m not much into beach activities; I prefer hiking and similar stuff. Also, not particularly interested in nightlife or the like. So, any can’t-miss hikes? How about bike tours? Scenic drives? Museums, etc.? Other stuff that I’m forgetting? I’ll have a car and am staying in Poipu. Thanks!
Kauai is sort of like a small town in island form: lots of rural-type space, no buildings that I can remember taller than four or so stories besides the hotels, and the descendants of chickens freed in the last major hurricane are everywhere.
Specific suggestions aren’t coming to mind at the moment, but you’ll definitely have a lot of choice for outdoorsy stuff. If you’re interested, you might also want to visit some of the fancy resorts just to see how the other half lives. I’ll think about it some more.
You can do the first part as a day hike. Bring sturdy shoes, this can have some slippery mud at the beginning. Also the red mud is famous for never washing out of your clothes.
Nounou trail (Sleeping Giant) is a nice couple hour hike, beautiful views at the top, easy access at the bottom.
Seconding the Kalalau Trail hike. You can make it a day trip of 4 or 8 miles, or multi-day backpacking trip. We did only 4 miles of it (unfortunately, some of the hikers made unfortunate shoe choices) and it was absolutely worth it. You’re at the opposite end of the island, but it’s a nice drive and the best hike on the island. Be prepared for rain and some challenging up and down.
We did the tubing in the old sugar plantation canals too. It was interesting. It can be a little chilly, so consider a water-friendly top if you get cold easily.
I did the full Kalalau hike this June, and it was awesome. I recommend doing at least the first few miles. Permits to camp can be hard to get.
Nearer to Poipu, I recommend the Alakai Swamp Trail. It’s through a high swamp, on a boardwalk. You’re basically hiking through the bottom of the clouds, so it’s cool and slightly misty most of the time. Cool plant life, and if you’re lucky a few great views when the clouds part.
Thanks, guys. The Kalalau Trail sounds perfect. If I had been thinking about it earlier, I’d probably have tried to squeeze an overnighter in there, but in any case the day hike sounds great. I’ll check out the Alakai Swamp and Waimea Canyon trails as well.
If you head to the north end of the island for Kalalau Trail, you’ll be at Ke’e Beach. That was the best snorkeling on the island when I went a few years ago. I understand that the surf can make the beach too dangerous in winter, so check with locals before going in the water.
Much closer to Barking Sands, you could take a sail trip along the Na Pali Cliffs. There are some boats that do evening cruises along the coast, which is beautiful.
Are you staying at the Sheraton? That’s probably my favorite hotel in the world. I know you said you don’t like beach stuff, but it is a good place to take a surfing lesson.
There’s a pizza place in Koloa Town that’s pretty much a must-go. The pizza is good, not great, but it’s a local fixture.
Also, similar to the tubing, there are kayak trips to the “secret falls” or something like that. All the tour operators do the same thing, but it is fun.
I’ll just be at a little bed & breakfast. Always hard to figure out how nice a place is from their website, but as long as it’s clean, I’m not picky. I’ll probably wander around to the resort areas at some point to see what’s going on, but that’s not my main interest. Kayaking sounds fun.
I’ll check out the pizza place. Any other food recommendations?
I like rum. Koloa Plantation sounds like a good place to pick up some gifts, too. Hmm, I wonder if they’ll ship a case of that back home…
To be honest, good food and Hawaii aren’t exactly on the same page. There’s a fairly new development in Poipu that has a couple restaurant that are ok, but they are kind of pricey. There’s a taco stand on the highway from Poipu up to PMRF that’s alright, I think it is in Waimea. There are a ton of places that are just fine, but I can’t say that I’ve ever found a place in Kauai that really made me want to go back to order the same thing I had before because it was so good.
I know you said you’re not a beach person but the beach just beside Barking Sands is a mostly locals hangout that was our favourite beach of the trip. We were lucky enough to be surprised by a missile launch which just added an air of insanity to the day as we had no idea Barking Sands was right there.
Lovely beach and lively waves and most importantly, low population.
For food, I recommend Eating House 1849. An odd name, but really good. This was the best food we had on the island, and it was quite reasonably priced.
I was on Kauai at the end of August. It’s a great place. My father and my sister’s boyfriend would heartily recommend doing the 8 mile (round trip) to the waterfall on Kalalau Trail. I wasn’t able to complete the hike because I have a knee injury that made it impossible for me to get over some tricky river crossings, but it was still a nice hike.
In Weimea we did the Awaawapuhi trail, which is about a 6 mile round trip. It ends at an absolutely breathtaking view from the top of a cliff on the west coast of Kauai. Absolutely worth the journey!
I know that you say that you’re not a “beach person”, but I had a lot of fun snorkeling at Tunnels Beach. It was super cheap: you can rent snorkeling equipment at any number of places along the main road, and then you just walk into the water at a sandy bit of the beach and swim over the coral reef. There were all kinds of cool fish to see, and I even floated around and got to watch some sea turtles feeding on the reef. So cool.
On the North Shore at Kilauea – that’s Kilauea the town, not the volcano, which is on the Big Island – Kilauea Point is worth a look. It’s the northernmost point in the inhabited Hawaiian Islands. Very pretty. There’s a wildlife refuge there, and a nice old lighthouse that features the largest clamshell lens in the world.
Also near Kilauea is the Guava Kai Plantation. Free to look around. The wife liked it more than I did, but it was okay. Makes guava juice for some of the big juice companies. Gift shop sells guava juice, jam, other goodies.
What are those big wild chickens? Moa? Those are neat. Don’t worry, you’ll see them. Kauai is the only island left that has them.
Be on the lookout for celebrities. Several live there. Ben Stiller does (or did) – we overheard some guy working in a cafe in Hanalei tell his teenage daughter, when she stopped by to ask him about giving her a ride later in the week, he couldn’t because he was catering something at Ben Stiller’s house.
Each of the Hawaiian Islands have a different feel. Kauai is probably my favorite to visit, although I still pick Honolulu on Oahu to live in.
Not so! As a matter of fact, Open Table’s list of the 100 best al fresco dining spots in America has TEN restaurants from the state of Hawaii. (Nine are on the Big Island and one on Maui.)
