When I Went: In May
Was That the Best Time of Year to Go? Yes. We went during the low season for Kauai. There are not that many crowds and travel was a little cheaper than other times of the year. Plus, the weather on Kauai is always great.
Who Went With Me? My wife, our two kids, my mother and my mother-in-law
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We Stayed Here: We stayed at the Wyndham Bali Hai Villas.
You Won’t Want to Miss: You must see Waimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It’s only 1000 feet shallower than the Grand Canyon and is simply magnificent. For kids, Poipu and Anini beaches are great because the water is really calm and they are shallow enough for a five year old to stand up in. Anini has lots of shade for those who need to get out of the sun and Poipu has a playground and bathrooms. My wife and I tubed down old irrigation ditches that were once used to bring fresh water down the mountain to the sugar cane plantations. You float through open canals and several tunnels, one of which is three-fourths of a mile long. It was awesome!
Eat Here: We had a great breakfast at Kountry Kitchen Cafe in Kapaa. They have incredible coconut pancakes and they’re huge. The best shave ice we had was Ono Ono Shave Ice in Kapaa. Make sure you get it with ice cream on the bottom. We liked Bubba Burger in Hanalei and my wife loves Puka Dog in Koloa. It’s a Hawaiian style hot dog with an island relish of your choice. Options include coconut, mango and pineapple.
If I Went Again: We started out hiking the Hanakapi’ai Trail and made it about a mile in before our kids got tired. My wife and I really wanted to go back and hike more if it later in the week, but we ran out of time. Next time, we won’t take our kids on this fairly strenuous hike.
How Did You Get There From Dallas? We flew United to LA to San Francisco to Honolulu. We used miles to book tickets on Island Air from Honolulu to Lihue. The routing was a little indirect, but it was a few hundred dollars cheaper than a more direct routing and it makes a big difference when you’re buying four tickets.
Other Tips For Fellow Travelers: To see everything, the island has to offer, you really need to spend at least a week there. That would give you some time just to relax and not be rushing off to the next activity. Go to the beach and just chill out for a day.
