Vacationing on Kaua'i
 

I am so excited to finally go on a sandy vacation! I haven't gone anywhere like that since the Cook Islands in 1998! Hubby hasn't gone anywhere tropical. So, we are headed to Kauai. I never had much interest in going to the Hawaiian Islands, but with all this talk about banning the aquarium fish trade in Hawaii I am learning lots about the area!

So, we know about the Birds in Paradise microlight flights, and helicopter tour, as well as the hike to the 400 ft Manawaiopuna waterfalls from the beginning of the Jurassic Park movie (6-8 hour hike holy crap). We know that the best snorkeling is at Tunnel Beach, although we aren't expecting much on this island for snorkeling. More of a hiking and relaxing island. What else should we not miss?

We are going to be there April 21-28. We are staying on the coast in the south east part of the island.

What are you talking about?? I recall you both visited tropical Victoria!! Doesn't get much better!! :razz:

OMG! I missed that you got married. :biggrin:

The laid back pace and the sheer lush of Kauai is what sets it apart. People on other islands go there to vacation themselves. The main highways doesn't even circumnavigate the island completely, it's more of a backwards C. You'll ask "WTF is with all these chickens" when you get there. :lol:

Honestly, it's not really the kind of place you should plan to have massive consumption of touristy based outings. The pace is MUCH slower than the other islands. If you make it the north shore you'll wonder if you've landed in some kind of tropical Tofino. Let the ebb and flow of the place guide you and you'll have adventures enough. Your list sounds pretty good to me, the only thing I would add for places to see are the canyon on the south side (pretty spectacular -- you'll look down at it and wonder what the teeny tiny little specks are and then you'll realize they're helicopters -- you're that much higher than they are :lol:), the north shore has that beach near Princeville which is the inspiration for just about any painting you'll ever see of Hawaii and even possibly the inspiration for the fictional Bali Hai -- it's just a pretty place overall.

Snorkeling or diving is a solid "not bad" - beats the heck out of anything in the prairies :lol: .. I can't remember about April specifically but the north shore and south shore alternate seasons for the better snorkeling - the waves get too big otherwise.

The coffee plantation is also pretty cool.

Haha Brad! Yes, Victoria is tropical compared to Saskatchewan, especially in April!

Leah, were aren't married. We live in sin. *snicker* We have been common-law for a few years now. "Boyfriend" just sounds so cheap... :lol:

Tony, you nailed why we want to go there...laid back and lush! :D The chicken comment is hilarious, and I am going to think of your when I see them I am sure! Ha! We don't expect to do touristy things other than either the micro-light flights or the helicopter tour. I hear there are some boat tours of the Napali Coast too which we might check out. I heard about the Canyon too, and that will probably be on our list too.

I think for the most part we will probably just lazy around and enjoy being away from the hustle and bustle of real life. I am mostly looking forward to the smell of a tropical island, exploring a tropical island, and spending some much needed time with my honey where no one can bother us! :D

I was about to say the same thing as Leah...MARRIED?

Glad to see you're getting a break. Bring back lots of pics so the rest of us can live vicariously through you.

By the way...after a vacation like this are you still making it to MACNA?

Haha Mark! One day we will get married, but we don't plan to have kids and right now marriage is not overly important to us. We keep thinking about all the other things we could do instead of spending a bunch of money on getting married.

MACNA is a full go Mark! :D

Headed to Kauai tomorrow. :D Anyone PMing me will have to wait until May 1st or so for a reply.

Have a fantastic Trip Mindy!! :cool:

You know, it's laid back and all, but they do have internet and computers and stuff still. :p I'm just sayin' ...

Have a good time! Take lots of pics!

Have a wonderful time!

I took over 700 photos and videos while on Kauai and am about 3/4 done cropping and adjusting the photos. I will post some of the best ones when they are ready.

The trip was awesome, and the island is absolutely gorgeous! I'm so happy we picked Kauai rather than any of the other Hawaiian islands. "The Garden Island" lives up to its name...untouched wild! The atmosphere was very laid back - beach bums and surfers everywhere. Trip highlights were the helicopter tour we went on and the snorkel tour where we swam with giant green sea turtles. We did lots of snorkeling on our own, but the snorkel tour took us to places we didn't know about and couldn't get to without a boat.

Hahaha! Tony, I turned off my cell phone when we left LA and didn't turn it back on until we landed back on the US mainland! I didn't even take my laptop. To me a vacation is getting away from all the technology! :p

Haha, well, I can sort of understand that too.

Glad to hear you really enjoyed the place! I can't wait to go back one day.

I saw many people at breakfast with their laptops open on the tables doing whatever it is that they do or talking on their cells phones, and being soooo glad that I can remove those things from my daily activities while on vacation. Some people just aren't able to get away from it due to such cramped or demanding schedules or work duties or simply an inability to live without it (so sad). I felt sorry for those people. We totally got lost in vacationing, and only made two calls to touch base at home. It was nice to lose my daily routine. :lol:

I just found 50 more photos...hehe. Too many SD cards! My Canon G9 (that I dropped in my reef tank about 6 weeks ago) quit operating while we were in Kauai so I was very glad that I bought a Pentax WG-II waterproof camera on impulse the day before we left. Impulse buy for the win! :D I also took my Samsung SSD digital camcorder and got some nice video of waves. I deleted about 30 minutes of video taken on the Pentax by accident though which is a shame...it was good video of us playing in the big surf on one of the beaches.

Welcome back Mindy. Looking forward to the photo dump. :mrgreen:

I got teased a bit but I brought my laptop last 2 times I went to Hawaii and kind of glad I did. I like being able to download pictures and videos from the day and tossing them onto the TV and stuff and saying "hey look at this cool shot of the *whatever*". I find it's much harder to do all the uploads and edits en masse when I get back, it gets procrastinated upon. Plus I would just google for stuff to do on a whim and found a few places to visit that way (I guess you could plan it all out beforehand too but I like being unpredictable sometimes too). Also, just sitting on the lanai with a coffee and my laptop if the kids were napping or whatever .. just being there is good enough for me.

+1 on that ! I don't even use a cell phone here in Canada just for that reason he-he

Tony, there were times I wished I had an internet connection to check on rates or reviews for activities or places to eat. We bought a traveler book for Kauai and founds lots of helpful information in there though.