A Week in Kauai

Kauai trip was my birthday & my parents 30th anniversary celebration. We started for our trip on Feb 28 2010 for 5 days. The start of the vacation was rather eventful. At 630am on our way to LAX airport, we got a call about a Tsunami alert for Hawaii due to an earthquake
in Chile. An 8.8 magnitude earthquake had hit Chile the same morning. All scenarios from total annihilation of Hawaii to 3-foot waves raged in our minds. Still we proceeded to the airport and to our surprise until 8:15am the United Airlines staff was oblivious to such a warning. Finally, they became wiser and delayed our flight by 2 hours. It was the first time I was actually glad that my flight was delayed.

At 10am about 3 hours before the tsunami was supposed to hit, we took off from LAX, again to my surprise. But I took comfort from the fact that the military wasn’t actively evacuating people, so probably this is just a warning/advisory not a cathestrophy. Surely, by the time we landed, things in Kauai were back to normal - people on beaches, boats out to sea, streets full of cars….what Tsunami?? Aall iz Well

Day 1: Anini Beach
We checked-in to our hotel at the Cliffs in Princeville. Great 180 degress view of the Pacific. I was dying to swim, at least wade, in the ocean. So after a brief stop at the Kalihiwai lighthouse, we went to our nearest beach – Anini.

It’s blasphemous to be in Hawaii and not visit at least one beach, right? I managed to wade into the water, about thigh deep and the water was still very very clear – Crystal clear. We walked along the costal community along the beach and it reminded me of my native place in Nagaon in Alibahg (Konkan), India. Crazy, but absolutely true!! Not only did we see a beautiful sunset, but also a stunning moonrise over the Lighthouse.

Day 2: Waimea Canyon & Poi Pue Beach
The weather didn’t hold up in the morning. It was windy and overcast. So, instead of going to the sea, we went to the mountains – Waimea Canyon.

This is when I discovered the horrors of driving in Kauai!! There is only one highway that goes around the island and it has an average speed of 35 MPH !!! Are you kidding me !! and if that’s not enough, people actually follow the speed limit to mile, oh for the love of God....an average CA driver is atleast 10 miles above the highway speed limit of 65 MPH (at least I do), can you imagine the agony. This was torture of the worst kind!! I was told to chill because I was on Island time. Come on, what Island time? I am just wasting time!! Which highway has speed limit of 25MPH ?? May be a lower limit !! After this harrowing experience, I gave up driving altogether. Janhavi did all the driving for the next 4 days and she rater enjoyed it!!

Anyhoo, we explored the Waimea Canyon by car. Many suggested a hike but it was tooo windy most of the time. We could barely stand at the first look out. Waimea very similar looking to Grand Canyon (it is called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific for a reason) but more beautiful due to the tropical weather. There is even a cool one-step waterfall in the distance. The colors and shades in Waimea stand out in the morning sunlight. There are 2 vista points for views of the canyon and 2 that provide views of the ocean from 4K feet above. The last two points were covered in the clouds and we could only get a glimpse of the ocean below.

By this time, the weather gods had cleared the cloud cover. It was beginning to get warm. We quickly drove down the mountain towards Po’poe beach. We stopped at a local favorite ‘Shrimp Station’ restaurant for lunch. Shrimp Station is all things Shrimp. It does not have the extensive list of food Shrimp can be used in, as explained to Forest Gump by Bubba, but it does a good job at it.

Finally, here was my chance to enter the warm water of Hawaii for a swim. And swim we did. We rented snorkel gear and I snorkeled to my heart’s content at Poi Pue beach. It was as not good as Bahamas but still it wasn’t bad at all. Snorkeling to the right of the sand is better.

After the swim, we relaxed at the Marriott’s Open bar, checking out the sunset with Mai Tai and beer. A perfect end a day in the tropics!! The sunset was once again amazing.


Day 3: - North Coast – Ke’e Beach
Today morning the weather was worse than the day before. It was very windy and cold. But we continued our plan to explore the North Coast. The North cost of the island has the most beautiful beaches and snorkeling but in Feb (winter months), the north cost is hammered by high winds and high surf. Forget swimming one can barely stand on the beach during days like this. Yes, it did put a huge damper on things and frustrated me to no end that I couldn’t snorkel in the best snorkeling spots on the island – Tunnels Beach.

We took heart from the fantastic views of huge waves pounding the cliffs near Hanalie bay and Ke’e beaches. Janhavi and I went to ‘Anini beach’ again and this is where I had my first experience at ‘Sea swells’. On the beach, there were fallen trees blocking the way and one had to go around them by wading in the water. We went around 2 such trees in ankle deep water but when we turned around the water was knee high and rising. With thick jungle blocking the beach on the other side, we were trapped. Why do these things keep happening to me? By the time, we climbed over one tree, the water had receded back to ankle deep depth – Strange to say the least. We ran to make it across but in seconds, a normal looking wave just kept coming and water was again knee deep. It was so weird. We waited for few mins for water to recede.

At Ke’e beach, we went on a hike of the Napali Coast. This 11 mile strenuous hike goes along the coast is meant for experienced hikers only. In fact, just a 2 mile round trip takes 4 hours! We did the first mile or so to get views of the Napali coast. Views of the Ke’e beach, the ocean, the napali coast are truly amazing from up there.

Our evening activity for the day was a luau dance at Smith’s Tropical Paradise. It’s a 3 hour affair beginning with the Imu ceremony – which is unearthing a pig which is slowly cooked on lava rocks heated by burning wood, from the pit. This followed by a hearty dinner buffet (w/ alcohol included), followed by the actual dance. The dance show was something I hadn’t anticipated. It was a truly magnificent show of dances different cultures have brought to Hawaii – Tahiti, Soloman islands, China, Japan and Philippines. And finally, native dances from the Hawaii and Kauai.
This hour long show is a must see! Beautifully choreographed, the show, the dinner and the entire experience is worth the $75.

Day 4: Tubing & Kolom Beach
Our morning activity today was tubing. We had debated about going on this but had finally given in thinking its one of a kind activity we’d probably not do again. Tubing is basically sitting in an inner tube as it floats down canals built to water the sugar plantations that existed on the island many years ago.

The tubing is a slow paced, easy ride thru some forest area and 5 tunnels. There are instructors along with the group of about 15 people. They guide and provide history of the area. The lights on the helmets are turned off in the 5th tunnel as one drifts in total darkness. It’s a great experience. If you are looking for some thrills and something different to do than lying on the beach, then tubing is a great relaxing way to spend 3 hours.

This is a 3 hour activity – first hour is spent driving up to the point where the tubes are released in the canal, next 30mins are spent explaining the safety procedures and giving a tour of the property, the next hour is in the water and final 30mins driving down to the starting point.

We were a bit scared to know we’d be drifting thru tunnels and the guide had scared us a bit more by cock and bull stories of 150 feet falls and bats in the caves. In the end all of us enjoyed the slow paced ride, the crew was great and had fun splashing and horse playing in the water. At the end of the ride, lunch (6’ Subway) was provided. For $100 though this is an expensive activity. They could have certainly spent less time walking us about the property explaining the history of the place and sugarcane farming in Hawaii. Lunch could have been better.

The Sun was about and temperatures high by afternoon, which meant only one thing – snorkeling. This time we went to Kolom beach near the ‘Beach House Restaurant’. On this beach, in the clear warm waters, I found my snorkeling heaven!! There were fish everywhere, of all sizes and colors and they were not afraid to approach us. At two occasions, we were surrounded by about 50 fish. It was just magical. The coral heads were teaming with fish big and small, there were sea urchins, squids, you name it. We didn’t see any turtles which frequent the beach but I was just too happy to see all the fish. After about couple hours, I had to drag myself out of the water as the current was growing stronger by the minute.

We relaxed on the beach to get our strength back and headed straight for beach ‘Kalapaki’ for another perfect evening – waves crashing on a soft sand beach, sun setting in the distance and beer in hand.

Day 5: Napali Coast 
It was already our last day in Kauai! I was eager for a good endings - all is well that ends well or looked at it the other way - if it doesn't end well, thats the only thing you'll ever remember. The entire week the fate of trip to the Napali Coast was in doubt due to the strong winds on the North and West coasts of the island. Napali coast can be seen either by air (too expensive) or by a boat, usually a catamaran. We had fretted on this trip to no end. Finally, on Wed morning, the Sun came out. The weather look just right for the trip. Great but what about the sea? If it is rough, its useless.

We packed our bags, checked out of our hotel. Our trip to the coast was at 1:45pm. To kill time we decided to visit the Walluiea falls. The pictures of the falls I had seen in our guide book were fantastic. However, be warned, one can drive to the falls but the view is from above th falls which makes less than impressive. There must be a trek to the bottom of the falls but it wasn't clearly marked anywhere along the way or near the lookout point. OK, so not so great start to the day. I hope Napali Coast doesn't play spoiled sport, I thought to myself.

After spending sometime at Lydgate beach and having a light lunch, we arrived at the Blue Dolphin Charters ferry landing. We had been warned, so Janhavi and I had taken motion sickness pills. My parents cancelled their tickets since they didn't want to deal with the rocking boat. Its not kind to them.

Our ferry left the dock with a promise from the captain that he'd make every effort to go as far up the Napali Coast as possible. For the first hour and half the cruise although the scenery was bland, we had 4-5 whale sightings. oh did I mention, winter months in Kauai are great for Whale watching. We spotted, a whale, flapping its tail on the sea (a signal to other whales), few snorts out of the water, we caught 2-3 whales going for a deep dive (their tails breach the water when they do that). No whale jumps though.

The next 1 hour was the most exiting. The Napali coast lived up to its expectations and more. The rock formations are outstanding. Red soil, green grass, thick white cloud cover & black lava rocks on the cliff bring out amazing colors combinations. The captain pointed out the valley where Jurassic Part-I's famous helicopter landing scene is filmed. And if this wasn't awesome enough, it rained just slightly and brought out a beautiful rainbow!! The rainbow brought with it additional mix of colors to the cliffs. I hope my photos do justice to the sights! It was.....It was....(I am out of superlatives at this point).

The weather held up and we were able to cruise the entire coast ! hurray !! Then began what everyone was worried about - the rocking of the boat like its no ones business. It was a roller coaster ride I tell you and for the record, I hate roller coasters!! But what do u know, I held up pretty well !! in fact Janhavi got sick AND she loves those rolling suckers. haaa.....better her than me, I say. BTW - as the boat turned around, the bartender opened the bar :) Talk about icing on a cake.

When the worst was over, the capatin steadied the boat for dinner. The last hour was a bit boring. I couldn't wait to get back to the shore but the company calls it a 'Sunset' cruise, so they had to show us the sunset. I couldn't wait to get back to the shore though and so did Janhavi.

Eventually, we got back, hooked up with my parents and headed by to the airport. In summary, it was a satisfactory trip. 'Satisfactory' since I was able to do everything I wanted to do on the island, snorkeling, relaxing on beach, Luau dance, Napali coast, but had the weather been a little better, we'd have had more fun. Oh well, I guess not everything can be perfect... at least this gives me a reason to go back!!

- Kartik Gutpe