Here are some pics from the first week of our honeymoon in Kauai. I'm still going through the photos from our second week.
It's such an incredible island to explore...much less touristy than the other islands. And so much of it is still pristine and untouched by man.
HONEYMOON PICS *edit* since there seem to be a lot of you going to kauai (YAY)...i'll just post what I've been cutting and pasting to people who have FM'ed me. I hope it's helpful...feel free it FM if you have more questions
I stayed mostly in the South and the East, so that's where most of the locations are. If you want a really great guidebook, we used 'The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook' by Andrew Doughty, which was recommended by EVERYONE. Has a lot of the local secret hot spots etc.
One of my favorite beaches...Maha'ulepu Beaches. there are tons of lithified cliffs there and a really easy walk along the coastline. It's really empty there compared to other beaches. by the time we made it to the end..the last beach had only 2 people there.
if you want to do some swimming Poipu Beach is the best. the waters are relatively calm...and it's really close to you guys
The Sprouting Horn is this natural geyser..and that's near you too. it's more of a drive by and look kind of thing. you don't need much time there
And the National Tropical Botanical Gardens are down there... REALLY gorgeous. They also have one up north.
If you want to drive a little, you can visit the East shore. I really recommend the Secret Falls kayak/hike. A lot of the outdoorsy companies do it (it's not really that big of a secret anymore hahaha). The drive up to Wailua Falls is really nice too.
If you have time, do the drive up Waimea canyon...it's about 3 hours but the views are AMAZING. when you go all the way to the time (about 21 miles uphill), you're at over 4000 feet and you have a magnificent view of the Kalalau valley in the Na Pali coast.
If you have time to drive all the way to the North, I really recommend Ke'e Beach. It's right by the Na Pali Coast and it's beautiful
And if you were thinking about doing a helicopter ride, i LOVED ours. Our pilot lived all over Hawaii and said Kauai is the best island to do it because so much of the island is still in it's natural state.
oh, if you want really great views of the Na Pali coast, you can take a boat out there to see it. Some of the companies have romantic sunset dinner trips. We didn't do it because i get sea sick and didn't want to feel like crap the whole time.
There is ziplining and tons of adventure type activities. I didn't do most of them because of the baby...but Kauai Outfitters is one of the more reputable companies there.
Kauai is a GREAT hiking island because of all the mountains. We didn't end up doing as much hiking as we liked because i was getting eaten up by bugs every time we tried to enter a forest/jungle....even with insect repellant. There are hiking guides out there specific to Kauai.
TO EAT:
Beach House Restaurant - really great for a romantic dinner...right on the beach. fantastic views. best during sunset...if you can get a reservation for that time (we couldn't )
Keoki's Paradise - good burgers
Puka Dogs - you HAVE to try this..it's a hawaiian style hot dog. they put this garlic cream sauce...then you add tropical flavored sauces - like pineapple, mango, etc. instead of ketchup and mustard. sounds weird but SOOO good
jo-jo's clubhouse - really good shave ice...you have to get it with macadamia nut ice cream on the bottom.
Hamura's Saimin Stand - if you're willing to try some local food. this is a noodle soup place. It's really similar to asian food, so we were okay with it.
Kountry Kitchen - for breakfast. HUGE portions
Duke's Canoe Club. probably one of the best deals for dinner . all their dinner entrees come with this big salad bar. and if you go early enough, they serve his huge prime rib for like $26.
Kalaheo Cafe and Coffee - good for lunch..good sandwiches and YUMMY garlic - parsley fries
Still working on week 2 pics....
