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Na Pali Coast

Feb 21, 2025

This has to be the highlight of the trip as well as one of my top travel highlights of all time.  The Na Pali Coast sits on the Northwest side of the Island of Kauai and unless you are a hiker, it can only be access by sea or air.   Over the years, I have booked a lot of sails to the Na Pali coast only to have them cancelled due to unpredictable weather.

The Na Poli Coast has been featured in many films and immediately recognizable.   If you have seen Jurassic Park, Tropic Thunder, King Kong, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pirates of the Caribbean or Six Days, Seven Nights you have seen the Na Pali Coast.   I doubt there are any Hawaii themed calendars without a picture of the Na Pali coast.

I booked my trip with Captain Andy’s. They had a lot of great online reviews, and I wasn’t disappointed.  Traffic on the Island can be unpredictable.  We arrived in Port Allen a bit early.   We checked in and hung out until it was time to board the double catamaran. Continue reading →

Spouting Horn

Feb 20, 2025

We continued driving around the Island and headed through the tree tunnel and to Spouting Horn, a blowhole.  As we headed to it, the narrator on the guide along app told the story about how the coastline was guarded by a giant lizard who would eat anyone who tried to fish or swim in the area.  A young boy outwitted the lizard by jumping into the sea and then swimming under the lava rocks escaping through the hole. The giant lizard followed and got stuck in it. The roar and water is from the lizard.

It is something to hear as well as see.  It was almost comical that when I pulled the camera out, the spouts didn’t seem to be nearly as dramatic and when I put the camera away, there would suddenly be a huge one.  It was as if it knew that it was being photographed and wasn’t cooperating! Continue reading →

Wailua Falls

Feb 20, 2025

We had breakfast at the Kountry Kitchen which we had discovered on a previous trip.  It has become our favorite breakfast place on Kauai.  It is a popular spot, we got there as it opened, so we were seated right away but as we left, I noticed there was a waitlist.

We headed out on our first driving tour.   When we were in Banf, we tried an app called “Guide Along” which acts as a private guide.   I was surprised at how well it worked and bought the Kauai tour.   It detects your location, gives you driving instructions while giving you a tour.  You cannot ask any questions, but you are on your own schedule instead of being back on the bus at a specific time.

We started by going driving to Opaekaa Falls in the Wailua State Park.  We then headed to Wailua Falls which were made famous by the 1970s show “Fantasy Island”.  The opening sequence featured the falls right before the plane would fly by and Tattoo announcing it.

We then headed to Lihue and stopped for Saimin which was very good before heading to Poipu to see the Spouting Horn. Continue reading →

Sheraton Kauai Resort

Feb 19, 2025

We were up at 4:30 AM to get ready for our 8:40 AM flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Maui (OGG) on United and then continue on Hawaiian Airlines to Lihue (LIH) in Kauai.  As much as I like avoiding the traffic into LAX, I find that when I get up that early, I spend most of the day feeling exhausted and I have been able to sleep well on an airplane.

As we boarded our flight, the flight attendants were all wearing fake leis and flowers.  It reminded me of my first flight to Hawaii, at least they aren’t wearing polyester muumuus like they used to.   Early in my career, I was assigned a six-week project in Hawaii and every week, I went from Kaui to Maui and then back to Kaui again. I felt very fortunate to have been put on that project, I could have just as easily been assigned a project in Chicago during the middle of winter.

When my parents retired, I cashed in my miles to get them tickets to Hawaii, and I went along with them.  We stopped in Oahu and then headed to Kauai.  It was a special trip, and Kauai will always be my favorite Island and now that I am older, I don’t mind that everything closes at 8:00 PM and there isn’t much night life.  I was looking forward to driving around the island and appreciating the beauty.

When we arrived in Maui, my first thought was that the airport looked the same as it did the first time I flew to Maui and when we landed in Kauai, I had the same thought.   As we drove up to the hotel, I realized that we had stayed at this Sheraton hotel about five years before.  As we checked in, I asked and they said that they were a Marriott Courtyard and a few years back, they rebranded the hotel as a Sheraton resort.   I am not sure I would call it a resort, but it was located in Lihue where I wanted to spend a few days before going on to Princeville.