November 30 – December 5, 2023
We came to Kauai because of an offer we got with Westin, five nights hotel plus car rental credit to use for $800ish in exchange for listening to a timeshare presentation. We planned it for December in part because our Southwest companion pass was expiring early next year, the gamble being that Dec is the start of rainy season.
In all, the highlights of this trip would be a speedboat tour, an open door helicopter ride over the island, and unexpected delight while we boogie boarded and snorkeled at beaches. What fell below expectations was the one hike we did and consistently, the food surprisingly. But of course, the most significant event for us on this trip would be our becoming engaged here.
Day 1 – Thursday
Like I said, it’s the start of rainy season here and rain has a way of ruining plans. The weather forecast projected rain throughout the trip, and indeed we arrived to rain all throughout the first day. After a long wait at car rentals (already getting a taste of that slow island life), we went straight for lunch at Mark’s Place. Kauai is all about outdoor nature activities so with nowhere to go during rain, we killed time at a small shopping center. When it cleared, we went to the beach and saw a delightful surprise of turtles basking in the… not sun but clouds lol. But soon enough, rain again. Ran to the car to go to another shopping mall, had dinner at The Eating House 1849 Koloa. We are not kidding when we say, the highlight of the day was… drumroll… Costco! We bought Hawaiian snacks. Tried McDonald’s for taro pie but they ran out 🙁
At this point, we’re already feeling some of the disappointments of the Westin vacation package. It’s an hour away from all attractions. There are also so many hidden fees. We already paid the difference after applying rental car credit pre-trip but upon arrival, we still had to pay taxes, which is fine but you don’t expect it to come out to $80-something extra just in miscellaneous fees. After arriving at the Westin, self-parking onsite is $20/night. Is there someplace off property we can park? Nope. So it’s just a mandatory $20/night you don’t know about ahead of time.
Day 2 – Friday
Spoiler alert, it was actually mostly sunny during the rest of our trip. This enabled us to do most the activities we wanted to— how blessed we were. It started with hiking the Kalalau Trail, the most popular trail on the island. There are different stopping points but we hiked to the farthest point we could without a permit, i.e. to the Hanakapi’ai Falls. My watch said it was 8.8mi round trip and it took us 4hr 50min of hiking plus 40min of chilling at the waterfall. It’s rated as challenging but we felt you don’t have to be in the best physical condition to complete it. Yes there was a lot of up and down but the main challenge was more in how muddy and slippery it was, especially after it’s been raining. To get a sense of the muddiness, at times it felt like we were hiking in peanut butter or sesame paste. And slipperiness, you had to concentrate on your steps during the whole hike, whether on rocks, mud, or even harmless looking solid, packed dirt (nope, still slippery). To top it all off, there are four river crossings you have to do, one of them requiring you to take your shoes off. When sitting at the waterfall, we rated it as perhaps not worth the journey, but we don’t regret the hike to see it for ourselves.
After the hike we went to a shaved ice truck, it was okay just syrupy ice, then Hanalei Bay, a beach which I thought had big waves. We tried to see the sunset at Hanalei Valley Lookout, a pullout on the side of the road but clouds covered the sun, then got dinner at JO2 Natural Cuisine. Wanting a post-dinner snack, we found ourselves at a McDonald’s drive-thru that ended up taking 30min, quite a problem given we had to wake up at 5am the next day.
Day 3 – Saturday
We took a speedboat with Blue Ocean Adventure Tours today and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Riding on a fast boat that bumps up and down to hype music like you’re in some YouTube travel video is epic. We sped around, did spins on the boat and explored beautiful caves along the Napoli coast, probably the prettiest part of the whole island. We jumped into the ocean and even saw whale tales, two of them even though it’s early in the season for whale watching. We weren’t, however, able to snorkel because of the swell and muddy waters due to rain. This was disappointing but everything else was super fun.
From there we drove up to Kalalau Lookout, which is part of Koke’e State Park. It was a slow windey way to the top. The view was nice, a bit like the Grand Canyon at a much smaller scale, but you don’t need a lot of time here. Unless you’re us, who were so sleepy from waking up at 5am for the boat tour that we napped in the parking lot. Otherwise you admire the view, snap some photos, and you’re kind of done. And this was true for the various lookouts along the way back down the mountain.
But after stopping at several obvious lookouts with clear pull out areas, Victor eventually pulled over on the side of the road at at fairly random and tiny pull out. We stepped through the small break in tall grasses, over a branch and onto some rocky piles reminiscent of volcanic material. We snapped photos as usual but when we didn’t immediately leave, I was confused. He seemed to want to linger for a while though he doesn’t have much to say nor an explanation of why we were here. My confusion quickly turns to suspicion as I pick up on what seems like nervousness. We waited for sunset and during this time he suggested I not sit down— better view when you’re standing, sus lol. We end up lingering a long time. Three parties of people came and went.
Eventually he holds out both hands, and he knows I know. He tries to begin. Stops. Closes his eyes to gather courage, restarts. I don’t remember the last time I’ve made him so nervous. He thanked me for being patient with his impatience. He told me today was a good example of how things will be hard sometimes but he chooses me and will always stand by me. As soon as he got his first sentence out, I started crying. He got on one knee and I said yes.
Well that was a significant event for us, to say the least, but now it’s dinner time. We went to a food trucks and art walk thing at night. Ate a bunch and went home!
Day 4 – Sunday
We began our day by heading over to this food truck called Kauai Sushi Station and had sushi for lunch. You know I’m all about the vibes and I felt it was so peaceful here, but hey, maybe it was just the mood I was in haha. It was a similar price point to SF (kind of surprising), but it was tasty and fresh. Next up, went to go check off seeing this waterfall called the Wailua Falls. The hiking trail was closed (not sure if it was a permanent thing or what) so it was a fairly quick stop, see waterfall, take picture, leave. It was actually the best outcome. We had read online that since there are so few parking spots, folks tend to have to wait a long time so we came prepared with shows downloaded. But we immediately found a parking spot! Probably a benefit of the trail being closed.
Next up we had Wailua Shave Ice. This shave ice was much better than the other— in fact this was Victor’s only 5 star Yelp review so far on this trip. Yummy pineapple flavor with a whipped coconut cream, mmm. Ok cool. Sushi, waterfall, shave ice, what to do next? It’s Hawaii, time to get back in the water.
We went to Poipu Beach and snorkeled, with $1.50/day snorkel gear from Boss Frog, heck yeah. The loss leader snorkel gear got us to rent a boogie board though lol. There were so many fish right next to the shore! These very long skinny fish were new and unique to me. We went in with no expectations and were pleasantly surprised.
Ate “dinner” at Hamura Saimin at 3:45pm since we needed to catch sunset on the other side of the island. Saimin is like a wonton noodle soup, and I loved the casual homey vibe of this place with diner-like counters. Stopped at 7 Eleven for buns and spam misubi to stash 2nd dinner later before darting off to Tunnels Beach for sunset. There was a thick dense cloud right over the sun so sunset that day was not the best, but good enough. Took photos, walked some on the beach, sat for a bit, but overall didn’t stay too long.
Went back to the hotel early and… spontaneously went for a dip in the outdoor hot tub and pool. Quite out of character in terms of both the spontaneity and the desire to get in the pool. The Westin at least did a nice job of setting the ambiance of the pool area. It’s like tiki torches and night time swim vibes, I’m all about it and quite enjoyed our impromptu swim.
Retired to our room the earliest time we did in our whole trip here, 7:45ish and I loved being able to wash up, do laundry, enjoy our 7 Eleven while watching multiple episodes of Spy Family. My favorite past time must be chilling lol.
Day 5 – Monday
It’s our last day and we’re going to get our timeshare presentation out of the way this morning. It’s tough to turn down someone who’s being so friendly and enthusiastic with you for an hour, who’s telling you stories about his family and remaining professional even though you’re not interested and a lost cause. Pains me but what can you do.
We got a pre-lunch snack of an açaí bowl at the Aloha Aina Juice Cafe and then lunch at a poke and fried chicken place. After which came the highlight activity of our day/trip, a helicopter tour with Jack Harter Helicopters!
It was a one hour ride on an open door helicopter all over the island. The most beautiful part to me was seeing Napoli coast from above and the coolest part was flying into the crater of the volcano that formed the island. We noticed that pictures we took look so much better than real life— cameras cheat by applying saturation I guess, but real life… there’s nothing like it. Cool experience for me, first time on a helicopter. Not the first time on a helicopter for Victor, but his first time experiencing an open door one. There’s no separation between you and the nature!
We went back for another açaí bowl lol. Then off to Brenecke Beach for boogie boarding. Victor’s first time! I was so hyped for him since I think it’s so fun, it’s a fond memory of my childhood, and it’s slightly too scary for me but I figured it’d be right up his alley. He drank a lot of sea water and had a good time trying to catch the big waves. I tried boogie boarding some and it was fun to ride the smaller waves, but like I said, the real waves were a bit too big and scary for me. I’m still proud of myself I sort of went for one but quickly got pummeled and said that’s enough for the big waves :). We watched sunset on the beach.
Now, a second stop at Costco this trip, where we acquired two pineapples to fly home haha. The idea of it was just really enticing to Victor. Dinner was at a low-key place called Garden Island Barbecue and Chinese Restaurant and it really exceeded expectations for such an unassuming place. We got the roast duck and steamed sea bass among other things and while I was concerned Victor could never help but over order, the sea bass ended up being a great choice. Then another stop at Wailua Shave Ice. It’s just really good and refreshing lol.
We went back to the hotel and had to do more in depth reading on regulations for flying with pineapples— kind of a hilarious thing to have to spend 30min or so researching. I had been concerned when we bought it in Costco because I knew there were some kind of regulations about flying with fruit. And yes, turns out flying with fruit is not allowed, but pineapple is one of the exceptions! It’s like too sour and acidic for the bad things to inhabit and survive or something like that lol. Fun fact: did you know Alaska Airlines has an exception for the checked bag fee specifically for one properly packaged box of pineapples from Hawaii? Hahaha, amazing.
Day 6 – Tuesday
Today, we fly home. It was a wonderful trip with memories to last a lifetime 🙂