Yes It is ANOTHER Trip to Hawaii
If you have followed me or have read any of my previous blogs I know what you are thinking....this Hawaii thing is becoming an addiction! To that I answer Yes....Yes it is. There is just no better place to get away from the frozen tundra that is Ohio in the winter and head to much greener pastures! If you want to see amazing sights, bask in the sunshine and/or just kick back and relax....this is the place to do it!
Cast of Characters: This year's Hawaiian adventure includes myself as well as my husband and our adult son (age 24).
Itinerary: 4 nights on the Island of Kauai and 5 nights on the Big Island
The Adventure Begins
Getting There
Anyone who has flown to any of the Hawaiian Islands knows how exhausting the travel is just to GET to the island! If you have not flown to Hawaii before you need to know this! There is no easy or quick way to get there. Even if you live on the West Coast you are a minimum of 5 hours away from paradise. In our case it's about an 11 hour flight to the Islands and 10 hours back. With our itinerary this year taking us from Cleveland to San Francisco to Los Angeles to Lihue, Kauai, travel time to and from airports, layovers and the strong headwinds we encountered on our final leg, as well as time to get our baggage, picking up our rental vehicle and driving to the hotel, we were looking at about a 22 hour timeframe. The point being.....no matter where you start your journey....you WILL be tired by the time you arrive in Hawaii!
So once we arrived at our hotel we were so happy to be there! The wonderful Lei greeting we received on our arrival made us feel so welcome. The bright flowers and beautiful smell immediately let us know that we had found a little slice of paradise. Once we got to the room, it didn't take us long to fall asleep!
Tip: We have found in our travels to the Islands that we seem to adjust to the time difference (5 hours difference from EST in February) better if we land in the evening and just head to bed. By the time you wake up in the morning you are pretty much adjusted to Hawaii time!
The Grand Hyatt Kauai
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| Sunrise at The Grand Hyatt Kauai |
So after a very friendly welcome to the Grand Hyatt, very helpful employees....from the valet to the bellman to the front desk...and a very good night's sleep we woke up early to an amazing sunrise that we could see from our lanai! This is the other benefit to arriving later in the evening...you never know what you are going to wake up to in the morning!
The first thing we realized was "Wow...what a beautiful place this is!" The second thing we realized was "Wow we are hungry!" After a day of picking up quick meals and snacks in airports and on airplanes....we were excited to head to the breakfast at the ILIMA TERRACE. This is an indoor/outdoor restaurant with beautiful tropical views. They offer a breakfast buffet or you can order from a menu. We chose the breakfast buffet (everyday of our stay!) There were many offerings on the buffet....eggs, breakfast meats, potatoes, cereals, breads and of course the extremely fresh fruit! The buffet is $31.00/person and is very filling. I have seen people complain about the cost on review sites but honestly Hawaii is a lot like going to Disney World....you just have to forget about the cost and enjoy it while you are there!
The servers were very friendly and helpful. Asking about what we had planned for the day and offering tips and suggestions. They would even follow up with us the next morning to see if we enjoyed ourselves. Service was good. Hawaii rule number 2 - everything moves a little slower on the islands....just relax and take your time...it's vacation...not a race!
Once we had eaten we were ready to explore the Garden Isle....
Waimea Canyon
The first stop of the day (one of many....you all know how I travel) was at Waimea Canyon.
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| View just before turning onto Waimea Canyon Road |
When I first started researching what to do on the Island of Kauai I was shocked to find that there was a canyon there. This is not just any old canyon.....this is a full blown...."Grand Canyon like" canyon. While it is certainly not as vast as the Grand Canyon....it is still amazing nonetheless!
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| View just before turning onto Waimea Canyon Road |
It was about an hour drive from the Grand Hyatt to the Canyon itself. There were some interesting things to see along the way! The
road to the canyon takes some twists and turns. I've seen reviewers say that it is a very windy road....yes and no. For Hawaii it's pretty windy. If you have been to any of the western states and have driven in the mountains....this is not windy at all! Just make sure that you take advantage of the many turnouts to take in some of the beautiful scenery along the way.
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| Small waterfall along Waimea Canyon Road |
We were very surprised to see the deep red rocks. If you had dropped me into this area I would have guessed we were in the American Southwest.....not Hawaii!
The farther you drove...the further from Hawaii you felt you were.
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| Waimea Canyon |
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| Waimea Canyon |
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| Waimea Canyon |
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| Waimea Canyon |
Tip: This area gets hazy during the day. If you want a clear look, pick a clear day (cloudy days do not yield good viewing conditions) and head up to the canyon before 10:00 AM. The haze starts to build in late in the morning and just gets worse. You definitely want to get a good view of this area!
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| Waterfall in Waimea Canyon |
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| Feral Chicken in Kauai |
This is also the first place (and certainly not the last!) that we saw the feral chickens that roam the entire Island of Kauai. They are beautiful birds and quite used to people!
Na Pali Coastline - Our first look
Whatever you do...do not stop and turn around and go back after you see the Waimea Canyon. Keep on going North! You will pass a few turnouts and eventually you will come to Kalalau Lookout.
You MUST stop at this Lookout area! There is nice paved parking area with restroom facilities. The walk to the lookout is a short easy walk away. The payoff is HUGE!
After a short walk this is the view that awaits you!
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| View from Kalalau Lookout |
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| View from Kalalau Lookout |
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| View from Kalalau Lookout
This is the beginning of the Na Pali Coast. To see the Na Pali Coast from afar you need to either take a boat trip or a helicopter ride. If you prefer to stay on land, this is one of the best places to see the rugged coastline. It was so amazing to see the contrast of the dark rocks and deep blue waters. It is worth the drive to the lookout and the short walk.
There are a couple places that you can view the area here. If you continue on to your right after looking at the main area, you will come to a dirt path that will take you to a slightly different view. This path will also take you to Mt. Waialeale if you continue to hike from here. Mt. Waialeale is a shield volcano and is the second highest point on the island of Kauai. It is also one of the rainiest spots on earth with an annual rainfall of more than 452 inches!
If you take a look over the edge of the cliff here....you are met with just an amazing view!
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| View from Kalalau Lookout Area |
By the time we left the Kalalau Lookout area it was about mid-morning. This meant that we still had plenty of day left to explore. The next area we wanted to visit was the North Shore area. Now I know you are saying....."But you are on the North Shore at the Na Pali Coastline, why not just drive around the coast?" Well....the mountains that you see in the photos above get in the way! So in order to get to the other side of the North Coast you must drive South on Waimea Canyon Road and then drive around the East Coast of the island and back up to the North Shore. Luckily Kauai is a small island so the trip only takes about 1.5 to 2 hours depending on stops and believe it or not...traffic.
Kilauea Lighthouse
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| Kilauea Lighthouse |
We were still able to get a great view of the lighthouse. There is a paved parking area here and while parking was a bit crowded, we had no problem finding a space. A short walk too you to a great vantage point to see the lighthouse.
This looked like it could be a scene out of New England! This is an area where there is dolphin and whale activity but we didn't see anything during our short visit.
This is definitely worth a stop whether you stay a short time or plan a visit to the lighthouse and wildlife preserve.
Hanalei Bay
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| Hanalei Bay |
Hanalei Bay was our next stop. This is the largest bay on the North Shore of Kauai. It has almost 2 miles of shore surrounded by mountains. It is the location used to shoot the movie South Pacific.
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| Beach at Hanalei Bay |
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| Paddleboarders at Hanalei Bay |
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| Hanalei Bay |
Parking at the beach was a little tough. There are a few parking areas but it is a very popular area so plan on walking a bit to get to the beach areas.
After a brief stop. we continued our drive around the North Shore. We drove as far as Haena. Stopping along the way to take a look at some of the sea caves that were near the road.
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| Sea Cave |
Haena is the end of the road because those same mountains that got in the way before....get in the way again! So there is nothing to do but turn around and head back to the East.
Opaekaa Falls
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| Opaekaa Falls |
After a quick stop along the way for some traditional Hawaiian Shave Ice, we continued on to Opaekaa Falls. This is a very easy access waterfall. There is a paved parking lot right in front of the falls and very short walk takes you to the lookout area. You can walk around a bit and get different views. You can also see why they call Kauai "The Garden Isle"! Everything was so lush and green....a very welcome sight after all the snow in Northeast Ohio this winter!
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| View across from Opaekaa Falls |
Make sure you take time to walk across the street from the falls also. The view is almost as beautiful in that direction! It's a very short walk with a huge payoff.
We didn't stay here long...maybe 20 - 30 min but it was a stop I would definitely recommend.
Wailua Falls
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| Wailua Falls |
The only problem is that what you can see from the viewing area is a side view the falls. There is also a high barrier here so if you are short (like me!) you will have a hard time getting pictures of the entire stretch of the falls. Luckily my husband is taller than I am so we were able to capture the moment! I have a feeling that a helicopter ride may give you a better view of these falls. But for the few minutes it took...it was worth the stop.
Back to the Resort
Our Surroundings and Room
Once we finished up with our drive it was late afternoon. We had reservations at Dondero's for dinner but we had a little time to look around the resort before we had to get ready. We hadn't had much time to see where we were staying in the daylight!
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| Lobby View |
When you first walk into the lobby of the Grand Hyatt Kauai...this is the beautiful view that greets you through their "picture window". Let me tell you....I never got tired of seeing this view!
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| Seaview Terrace |
Our room was fantastic. It had plenty of room for the three of us. It actually offered one King bed and one Queen which was perfect for the three of us traveling together. It is a little more than a regular two queen room but worth the difference!
The bathroom was large with plenty of room to move around. It had a separate water closet so multiple people could get ready at one time. The hair products and lotions were all from their spa and were Coco-Mango scented. They were heavenly!! You will want to take some home with you. Products are available to purchase in the spa!
The bathroom also had a "surprise". I don't want to ruin it for anyone but I will say just make sure you check out the "cleaning action" of the toilet!
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| View from our Lanai |
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| Our Lanai |
Dondero's
Just before we were ready to head down to dinner it started to rain and the winds picked up quite a bit. We were able to walk around a bit and explore on our way to dinner.
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| Outdoor Seating at Dondero's |
We made it to Dondero's in plenty of time for our reservation. The restaurant didn't seem overly crowded but we had to wait in the waiting area. The menu is Italian. The food was good (not great) and service was slow and not very attentive. I would rate it a 3 out of 5 stars. The outdoor seating looked amazing and very romantic. Unfortunately the weather kept us from dining outside this particular evening.
By the time we finished dinner we were ready to relax for the evening. We stopped and listened to the live music in the lobby for awhile and then headed to bed. Tomorrow is another day and once again we have some big plans!!
Coming Next: Journey to Hawaii 2015 - Day 2 Polihale State Park and More
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