Our Trip to Hawaii Part 2

Find recommendations for the beautiful island of Kauai, and discover two tours that you will not want to miss our trip to Hawaii part 2! 

Our Trip to Hawaii Part 2

Kauai

As I am writing this post, there is about 3 inches of snow on the ground and my phone says it is 19 degrees outside.  Ugh.  Every year around this time Zach starts researching jobs on islands.  Ha.  Speaking of islands, let’s warm ourselves with some Hawaiian aloha and wrap up our trip to Hawaii.  If you missed Our Trip to Hawaii Part 1 read it here!

Here we are celebrating our last night on the remote but beautiful Hawaiian island of Molokai before flying to . . .

Kauai!!  Ok why is one of the most gorgeous places in all of the world with beautiful weather 24/7 overcast and stormy?!

Look at that wind!  We were told the whole trip that we were experiencing one of the worst week’s of weather the Hawaiian locals could remember.  Great.

That being said, if overcast, rainy, and windy in the 60s is the worst week of weather a local can remember in the last 50 years – sign us up.  We were actually freezing in this pic, but we were determined to lay out because we were in Hawaii for heaven’s sake.

We stayed at the Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach Resort. The resort was smaller, but it was beach side with several good restaurants.

This picture is good for my cold soul.  And body.  I feel warmer already.

We enjoyed this delicious buffet each morning at the Day Break Restaurant at the resort.  You can’t see it in this photo, but to the right they had a chef making custom omelettes each morning that were oh so yummy.

Those doors to the right were always open to the pool and beach.  I absolutely loved the seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor living in Hawaii.  Fresh food each morning with the warm ocean breeze.  YES.

This cafe was open all day long and also had a to go coffee bar each morning which was nice if you didn’t have time to get the buffet.

• 

• 

Mai Tais and fish tacos!  What was my favorite food at this hotel though??

Mango Creme Brulee.  Oh my word.  Two of my very favorite things married into one delicious bite of goodness.

We were very pleased with our stay at the Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach Hotel and would highly recommend it.

Our Trip to Hawaii Part 2

Kauai

We signed up for 2 tours based on many of your recommendations and the first was hands down my favorite thing we did on Hawaii.

We did the Wailua River Sacred Falls Tour with Kayak Kauai.

First you Kayak through the mountains until you reach a landing area where you “park” your kayaks.

I mean look at this scenery.  It’s like out of a movie.  The above pic was the view in front of me.

And the view behind me wasn’t bad either.

At this point he was starting to wonder if I would ever put down my camera and actually start paddling again.  You’re doing great, babe.  Keep going.

As you can see I did eventually pick up my paddle again, and we arrived at the landing zone.

From here we trekked through the muddiest terrain I have walked through since running the Philadelphia Tough Mudder in 8 inches of mud last year.

Again, the landscape is just gorgeous.  Green.  Lush.  Alive.

It is not hard to see why this is called the “The Garden Island.”

Our destination?

The Wailua Falls.

Here we ate the lunches we were carrying in our packs and guess who joined us?

The Wailua Falls chickens.  SO. MANY. CHICKENS.  My only complaint about Hawaii was the inconceivable amount of chickens.

Our guide suddenly turned minstrel on our way back.  Literally.  He whipped out a ukulele and started to sing as we hiked.  Too many movie references come to mind to mention just one.  Like I said.  Best tour in Hawaii.

Oh and then there was this river crossing.  On both sides we were introduced to this part of the tour by the following sign.

Huh.  Good to know.  Zach and I did a quick mental check that our life insurance policies were up to date, and off we went.  With all the rain they had been having it was slow going with the current and all of the rocks that kept hitting my ankles.

[wpvideo JM7o2MG2]

We had such an awesome time on this tour and would HIGHLY recommend it.

Our Trip to Hawaii Part 2

Kauai

The next tour we did was the Napali Cliff Top Hike with Kauai Hiking Tour’s expert guide Jeremiah.  Check out his Instagram profile here!

As we drove to the trail, our guide took us to multiple overlooks along the way.

Here we are at the beautiful Waimea Canyon & K?ke?e State Park. 

Eventually we arrived at the trail and hiked to . . .

. . . the Napali Coast.  Absolutely stunning.  It’s easy to see why Hollywood loves Kauai, and apparently, A Perfect Getaway, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, and the show Lost all included scenes from this coast.

We were able to see a whale breaching from here.  Incredible.

It was a little breezy to say the least!

And that shot to the right is not the rebel base from Star Wars, but a national missile defense radar system thingy.  Ok actually let’s go with the rebel base from Star Wars.  Easier to comprehend.

If you are afraid of heights, then this is not the adventure for you.

We ended this day with a visit to some sea turtles . . .

. . . and a monk seal tanning himself on the beach.

Living the life.

Oh Hawaii we cannot wait to visit again.  The landscape is gorgeous, the people warm and welcoming, and the Polynesian culture is rich with history and tradition.

Have you been to Hawaii?  Where did you go and what would you recommend doing?!  Comment below – I would love to know!

Pin any of the images below for later!