I lived on Oahu for three years and visited Kauai for a vacation twice. In my opinion it has the nicest scenery of all of the main islands. It's also the most laid back/ relaxing island to be.

Kauai itself has pretty poor diving, easily the worst of the 4 main islands. If you like diving, see if any dive companies are going to Niihau (a small island near Kauai) while you are there. They go a lot less during the winter due to ocean conditions, however there are periods of calm weather when they do go. It's one of the best places in dive in Hawaii and chances are good you'll see a monk seal.

As for non-diving activities, I really enjoyed doing day hikes along the Na Pali coast. You can find virtually un-occupied beaches, beautiful water falls and streams. I also suggest just driving and stopping wherever you see something that you like. There is pretty much a single road that goes 3/4 of the way around the island (there is no road along the Na Pali coast). Driving from the south end of the Na Pali coast all the way around the island to the north end will take you by the Waimea Canyon, Hanalei Bay and about a thousand other beautiful views.

Two good spots for snorkeling are Poipu and Kee beach park. Kee beach park also has some great hiking trails right beside it. They go along the coast and some eventually fork into the mountains where there are some huge water falls. I went snorkeling in a few other spots and thought Kee beach park was easily the best.

Also, if you like sushi eat poke (red tuna, usually yellow fin or big eye) while you are there. Foodland has really good poke. You can't get anything like it anywhere in Canada, including Vancouver.

Sounds great. I'll snorkel but won't be diving. Are the Deep Sea Fishing trips any good? Sushi sounds great. Which restaurant?

We're going to Kona in March. Got a house rented and working on booking some diving to finish my open water PADI cert. Would love to hear any reccomendations you have for things to do and see.

We did a Hawaiian Islands cruise back in March 2007 and spent 2 days in Kauai. Lot's of nature's beauty to behold for sure. I highly recommend doing the helicopter tour as it is amazing & in my opinion money well spent. (On a sad note just 2 days after we did our tour the helicopter we were on had a mechanical failure and crashed killing 4 of the passengers and our pilot (Helicopter Joe). Tragically the freak accident took a pilot who was a super nice guy which an impeccable safety record along with a pair of honeymooner's & 2 other tourists.) Makes one stop & think for sure - sometimes timing is everything.
Anyway, there has only been that one accident and the tour is a "must do" when visiting the island.
Have fun and take lots of pictures.

These guys hands-down are the best dive shop I've ever dealt with -
http://www.konadivingcompany.com/
or if you're on facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kona-...41736009186167
They have one of the best reputations too, consumer choice etc. etc.

You will love the Kona coast for diving.

Couple other suggestions - obviously do as much as you can, head over to Hilo, go up to Volcano Nat'l Park .. About a 3 mile hike from South Pointe is a green sand beach. The beaches in Kona are not bad, but if you really like Beaches with a capital B, drive 45 minutes north to the Kohala coast. You'll go through lava fields and you'll think you're on the moon :lol: but they're worth it. In general a lot of stuff is off the beaten path so you have to explore a little.

Book a snorkel trip or kayak trip to the Captain Cook memorial. Bonus points if you can say the name in Hawaiian (Kealakekua Bay). Not only for the history, but it's a fantastic spot for snorkeling also. Wild dolphins will swim up nearby and you can hear whales too not too far off depending on the time of year.

There's a really neat Botanical Garden near Hilo. The Big Island is a little like other islands in that the west side is the hotter drier side and the east side is the wetter greener side.

If you like coffee .. if you think Kona coffee is good in general, you haven't seen anything yet. They seem to save the REALLY good stuff for themselves and sell off the dregs :lol: Maybe not quite, maybe it's just the "being there makes it taste better" thing, who knows .. either way it's really good. There is a coffee plantation you can check out, on the grounds are some lava tubes you can hike through .. pretty keen stuff. What impressed me most about Kona's coffee is that it's a total cottage industry / co-op. People have coffee trees in their backyards and take the beans to a drop off point for processing. Whereas in Kauai the coffee was a total plantation style industry. Kauai coffee is good too (this tread IS about Kauai :lol:)

The helicopter tour is unbelievable and definetely worth the money. The canyon is great and we loved the hiking on Na Pali coast. If you rent a car you will see just how beautiful the island is everywhere. We went diving on the south coast and saw banded angelfish everywhere and did a shore dive and saw about 5 dragon morays and a monk seal so it was great. Don't expect really nice coral though. If you find an underwater camera somewhere it might be mine. Lost it 3 years ago though. Lol. Had about 500 pics of Kauai and the big island on it.

Thanks for the endorsement, I've all ready been in caontact with them to book my dives. Glad to hear they are a good company.

Great info, thanks Tony. One of the reasons we chose to go to the Big Island was to see the volcanos. We may do a helicopter trip over it too. Coffee plantation was also on our list for early in the trip to stock up for the week. Will have to check out the Cook site. :thumb:

The whole reason we went to the Big Island was to see the volcano. In constant state of eruption since 1983 .... and stopped 6 weeks prior to our trip. Awesome. (My life is kind of like that.) There were all kinds of presentations about what a fascinating geological and significant event this was, but the end result was "there is no lava right now." Naturally, it started up again a couple months later.

Wish I could go back to see. Hopefully one day soon. :(

No worries, I'll get it going again if it should stop. I went to se Mt St Helens a few years back and shortly afterward it started to become active again pushing up magma. :lol:

If you like hiking, the Kalalau trail in the NaPali state park is world class. It's like the land that time forgot and is very close to where they filmed Jurassic Park. You can go all the way in a day if you push but it's a tough go in places with some dramatic exposure (you are hiking along the cliff face). At the end of the trail is the most beautiful beach with only a few people on it ( mostly nude hippies). Dangerous undertow in the surf though so not much of a swimming spot.

Easily one of the best hikes I've done anywhere in the world

The helicopter tour is highly recommended as well

Enjoy