A Complete Guide to Kauai! Things You Can Do While 28 Weeks Prego

I should have started writing about our adventures on this mystical, wondrous island days ago, because I’m not sure how my recall is going to be…but I want to remember every memorable moment of this utopian week, so here goes…something.

Sunday, August 28- DAY 1

Matt had been in Maui for a week helping the National Junior Team as an athlete rep, so he just island hopped over to meet me in Kauai. I called him from the runway in Phoenix and said, “Meet you in Kauai,” then giggled. Not many times in life I get to say that. When I landed MG was waiting for me at the gate, since his flight got in a few minutes before mine. It was one of those “I want to run and give you a dramatic hyper-affectionate wrap-around monkey hug”, but I resisted and settled for a fast walk into a big smooch and bear hug.

Matt brilliantly decided to rent a car at the last minute and it’s perhaps the best decision we’ve made on this trip because much of what we’ve done wouldn’t have been possible without a vehicle of our own. Or our cab tab would be up in the thousands by now.

We arrived at the Grant Hyatt in Poipu and were welcomed with a lei and kind words from Ronald, the concierge. He also gave us the fantastic news that our room was on the first floor, with immediate access to the lawn leading to the pool and the beach…this was actually incredible news because we booked with points that were only guaranteeing we would have a room overlooking the front parking lot. So I think our friend at the Hyatt Hill Country in San Antonio (where our wedding was) pulled some strings and hooked us up with this room.

Just outside our room!

On the terrace, where I had my coffee every morning.

After settling into our room we explored the grounds, and feasted on shaved ice and fish and chips at the poolside cabana. We relaxed and later drove down to the local shopping center to eat a more substantial meal on the deck of a pizza/burger joint. We headed back to our room and were asleep by 8:30! Which was 11:30 Tucson time…late for this grAnnie.

Monday, August 29- DAY 2

Now this day is going to be difficult to top. We woke up and headed down for breakfast on the open air terrace. Matt got the all-you-can-eat buffet (which was $34 but perhaps the most beautiful spread of food I’ve ever beheld…he ate enough to get a 100 calories per buck) and I had an omelette. Our waitress was delightful– full of “mahalo”s and smiles. After breakfast we sat on a terrace overlooking the picturesque coastline then walked down to our room where we changed into some hiking garb.

There’s a trail right off of our hotel’s beach that runs miles up the south eastern coastline. Much of the path runs along seaside bluffs…just unbelievable scenery. Matt and I kept looking at each other and saying “Is this real?” We stopped and soaked our feet in the water while watching massive waves crash into boulders of volcanic rock before heading back. There’s a good-sized cliff we saw someone jump from on our first day. Matt intended to take the 12-15 meter plunge after our hike, but when I did the 3,2,1 he stood up out of his ready squat and like a 5-year-old choosing caution at the last minute, decided against it. It was hard to tell how high we were..and how deep the water he’d be plunging into was. So I’m glad he didn’t go on “1”. He may still take the plunge…we’ll see. We plunged into the safe resort pool instead and went down the slide before heading back to our room.

We rinsed off and got ready for our sunset sailing excursion along the Na Pali Coast. If you don’t know what this looks like, just picture the ridged, lush mountains in Jurassic Park and you’re there. We were on a 60-person catamaran, which felt way more intimate than that. We made friends– a couple from San Diego expecting their second child (Kristen and Jeff were their names) and Bryana, an engineer working in Chicago who was flying solo on the cruise.

The trip out was relaxing, crew members came around getting drink orders while our captain let us know what landmarks we were passing as we moved further up the coastline. This coast just got more and more surreal the further north we progressed. We saw both bottlenose dolphins and spinner dolphins on our trip north. The mountains are truly prehistoric. There are red pathways carved off of bluffs that were once huge waterfalls. At one point the captain played the Jurassic Park soundtrack and it felt so right. I’m used to seeing mountains, but not mountains full of vegetation.

Enjoy this loving couple’s embrace in the lower left…

The sun started getting lower in the sky and the lighting became picture perfect along the masterfully-crafted mountains. We chatted with our new friends then enjoyed dinner cooked on the boat for us while sailing back southward. Salad, filet mignon, shrimp, asparagus, potatoes, then cheesecake. More than a handful of people got sea sick. 🙁 We felt bad for them, but fortunate that we couldn’t relate.

Matt and I loved standing at the front of the catamaran, holding onto support rails and pretending like we had some control over the up and and down motions of the vessel. At multiple points during the 4-hour trip Matt would turn to me and say “I love this”. Yep, me too babe. We headed “home”, laid in a Hyatt hammock to star gaze, then headed to bed. Yes, it was a good day.

Tuesday, August 30- DAY 3

Matt’s internal clock is on Maui time, but mine is still on Tucson time. I woke up at 6:30 and headed up to the Seaview Terrace with my Kindle. I enjoyed a Kauaian coffee while reading some spirit nourishing/convicting A.W. Tozer. Matt joined me around 8:30. Since we spent almost all hours of daylight outside on Day 2, we didn’t feel so guilty about going to the hotel gym. We both got a good sweat session in then headed back to get clean and head out for a casual lunch by the hotel koi pond. We kicked back in the room for a while until we needed to head out to make it to our boat tour of the Fern Grotto on time.

As Matt opened the door to head out, a sweet hotel employee cheerfully greeted him “Aloha!” with a platter of elegantly sliced pineapple and two Pelligrinos. We needed to leave and I thought this was some afternoon fruit service we’d been missing out on, but when we asked if she could come back, she said “Well, someone sent this to you.” hah. I felt like a spoiled brat. We said thank you and sat on our patio as we went primal on this pineapple delivery. Turns out it was from Nicole Garza, our incredible wedding coordinator from the Hill Country Hyatt in San Antonio. After scarfing the juicy gift, Matt and I rushed up to the car, stressed we were going to miss our river tour. We ended up arriving in the last possible four minutes. The first person we saw when boarding was Bryana, our engineer friend from the catamaran the night prior!

Through the jungle we go…

We embarked and departed down the Wailua River, heading toward the fern grotto. We disembarked and hiked 200 yards through breathtaking jungle to the grotto. It was peaceful — another piece of fertile paradise — making for luscious photographs. On the journey back, the local guides had all passengers stand up and learn to do the hula.

With our new friend Bryanna

The Fern Grotto

Doing the hula, obviously.

On our drive back we turned spontaneously when we saw a sign for Wailua Falls. Thou shalt never pass up a waterfall opportunity whilst in Kauai! We pulled off to the side of the road and stood in awe as water surged 100 yards down into the river. The mist at the fall’s base was pure magic. We made a pitstop at a Wal-Mart (yes, I know, it felt wrong while in Hawaii) to get some inexpensive breakfast items and beverage options for our room’s fridge. For dinner, we popped into Makai Sushi – an unsuspecting place inside a local grocery store. Two of our friends had independently recommended this take-out only joint. We hurried back to our room with our Gorilla Bowls, a refreshing mix of ahi, ono, salmon, veggies, rice and a chipotle/eel sauce.

Wailua Falls

Wednesday, August 31- DAY 4

News of Hurricane Madeline had me believing we were bound to have rain for the next four days, but fortunately I woke up to sunshine today. It was early again, so I headed up to the tranquil terrace for coffee and devotional time. I brought MG a coffee later, then we had yogurt and granola for breakfast in our room. Matt took a quick dip in the ocean and I stood in the sand as huge waves broke on my shins. The water was a little rough for floating and/or snorkeling today, but nice to sink your feet into.
I spent some time shopping in the cute stores within the small town that is the Kauai Grand Hyatt, then spoke to our concierge about the best places to snorkel. I was thinking the water might be murky for the rest of the trip, but he seemed to think we could still have luck. After speaking to a number of hotel employees, I was convinced we needed to go to Waimea Canyon, or their “little Grand Canyon” while here. Around noon, we headed west toward Waimea State Park. We wound up a curvy road to 3500 feet and took in some of the most breathtaking views of the trip (right there with sights of the Na Pali Coastline). I won’t even try to describe Waimea Canyon– just take a gander…

Yep, that’s a waterfall on the left.

Just trying too hard to be artsy…

We drove up to another lookout where there was also a trail. The trail sign said “1.8 miles one way, 3-4 hours”. Challenge accepted. How bad could it be at 3.6 miles roundtrip? But dang, it wasn’t easy- there were some steep, red dirt descents and some steady climbs, but it led to a gorgeous secluded waterfall (Waipoo Falls). I won’t lie, there were a couple times I thought “Hmmm, I wonder if I should be doing this at 28 weeks pregnant?” But I was cautious and Matt made sure to stay close by in case of any clumsy missteps. The whole hike was somewhat spontaneous…I had heard there was a hike, but I heard it was short and sweet. This one took us a little over two hours. It was a great workout! Matt and I were both smelly by the time we climbed back into our little red Hyundai Sonata. Fatigue set in as we descended back down to sea level.

At Waipoo Falls

One of the many trail vistas

Proud prego, post hike.

We felt accomplished. And this was a really good hair day for Annie.

We made our way back to Poipu where we stopped at a place just next to Makai Sushi– it’s equally unsuspecting. “Da Crack” is a walk-up restaurant, just a menu and a window. It’s similar to Chipotle, but I dare to say the servings are more generous. It’s a favorite with locals. We headed down the street to “Spouting Horn” which is a rock that has a “blowhole” like effect as the waves crash into it. I ate my burrito while watching the sunset over the blowhole in very windy conditions. I probably ingested a few Annie hairs with my spicy chicken burrito. I was too sleepy and too hungry to care.

We made it back to the hotel and I took one of the most refreshing, necessary showers of my life. Skylar was a trooper today! I’m glad she didn’t decide she wanted to come meet us when we were in the middle of that up and down hike. 🙂 Now I’m sitting in bed, clean and still so happy to be here! Not sure what’s on the docket for tomorrow, but it’s sure to be another glorious day here in Kauai. I’m ready to stay for a month, but nay. We leave on Saturday night. Still three more days brimming with potential.

Thursday, September 1- DAY 5

This was our most casual day. I woke up early again, so I headed to the peaceful spa pool and swam a leisurely wakeup mile…although the pool was probably only 22 yards, so maybe not even a mile. I pretended like I could afford a day at the spa, taking my time showering with the fancy shamp/condish in the lava stone outdoor shower. But really…the spa treatments here were INSANELY expensive. A basic pedicure was $85. No thanks.

I headed back to the room and ate some grocery-bought yogurt and granola (yeah, we’re thrifty) as MG and I mapped out our day. We eventually moseyed out to the beach, where I did some amateur crab hunting. We ate lunch at the pool cabana, then camped out and read by one of our hotel’s many watering holes. Every time we sat by the pool on this trip I felt like I was wasting time. There are resorts with beautiful pools everywhere in the world, so to sit by a pool that’s not too different from our Tucson resorts’ grounds felt wrong.

After growing bored with poolside scenes, we packed our bag and headed down the street to Poipu Beach. It was recommended for snorkeling, but the current was a little too strong for snorkeling. We tried and ended up seeing a vibrant rainbow fishy, but didn’t last long out in the windy conditions. The funniest part of this experience was watching onlookers’ reactions as Matt took his shorts off. People didn’t even attempt to be discreet– they were obviously not expecting to see my 6’8 colossus sporting just a brief on the beach. I, of course, was gleaning stares as well– a very protrusive third trimester belly popping out between my bikini pieces. Stare away, Poipu Beachers!

We rinsed off and headed down the road to get a closer view of the Spouting Horn. It’s fun to watch for a few minutes, but Matt and I fell across more spectacular scenery spontaneously…I was slightly surprised this was a distinguished landmark.

Then we stopped in a shopping center to get shaved ice before realizing neither of us had brought our wallets. Ha! Blonde moment for both of us. We headed back, showered, then dined at a delicious Italian place called Pizzetta in Old Koloa Towne, just a couple miles from the Hyatt. There’s a local soap shop, ice cream parlor, and surf shop that we explored before sitting down to dine. Matt and I ended up splitting one of the best pizzas we’ve ever sunken teeth into at Pizzetta. We were amazed by how little grease was left on our hands! Yes, it’s the little things like that which I remember– anything to convince myself that pizza was the “healthy” choice. 😉 After dinner, I bought a chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie at the ice cream shop…yes, I realize that’s not what you’re supposed to splurge on at an ice cream shop but I’m way more of a soft, moist cookie lady than a dairy indulger. And wow, this cookie didn’t disappoint. I should have taken a photo of the beauty.

I was lured in by some carved coconut necklaces in the hotel lobby. Matt bought me a whale tale design for my belated birthday gift. The vendor was a friendly surfer dude who spun through things we needed to do up on the north shore. He told us about “The Blue Room” which is a fresh water lake in a cave up by Tunnels Beach. It’s a lava tunnel, so legend has it, the lake has no bottom! Creepy. We settled into our room, happy to have a day of adventuring ahead.

Friday, September 2- DAY 6

I woke up at 7 on the dot and snuck out to read and drink Kauai blend coffee up on my terrace. Matt joined me an hour later, bringing up our final cups of yogurt and granola to enjoy with a view. We were on a bit of a schedule, knowing it would take an hour and a half to navigate our way up the northeastern side of the island.

We headed north around 10:30 or 11 and arrived in the charming surf town of Hanalei right around lunch time. A few restaurants had been recommended to us here: The Postcards Cafe (which didn’t open until 5:30 p.m.) and Kalypso. We parked just behind Kalypso and felt good about the open air beach joint as soon as we walked in. I ordered a vegetarian taro burger, sporting a patty made from local taro root, carrots, and zucchini. It was fannntastic. As were the humungo waffle fries which accompanied the entree. Matt’s sandwich looked exceptional as well. Highly recommend Kalypso if you’re ever driving through Hanalei.

The Hanalei Pier

We shopped around, found MG some nice long fit-for-surfer shirts and then stopped at the Hanalei Pier, which our waitress recommended. Hanelei is a calm inlet, away from the crashing waves and strong current common on the north shore. A bunch of kiddos were taking surf lessons on mini waves– ’twas cute.

We continued our trek northward. The roads became windier, more jungly, and we had to get used to yielding to oncoming traffic due to one-lane bridges. We stopped at the dry cave just past Tunnels Beach, and parked right across from it. The Manini-holo dry cave was expansive, definitely a nice place to set up camp if you don’t fear the mountain crashing down on you.

We walked across the street to Ha-ena Beach Park and then walked toward Tunnels Beach— which is reputed to have stellar snorkeling. We walked quite a way, then started to round the eastern tip of horseshoe-shaped beach and were instantly wind-pelted by furies of sand. We weren’t about that, so we decided to go back to the wind protected zone and try out snorkeling there. The under current was, again, extremely strong. It was much easier to float on the surface than put a limb a foot down into the water and fight the current. I did feel like the Finding Nemo turtles riding the current underwater at several points…”duuuuude”. We saw a turtle friend and some fish friends, then allowed ourselves to drift north, back up the shoreline.

A tree girl’s dream. Gnarly roots.

Neither Matt nor I are big sit-on-the-beach people. I for one hate sand and don’t want to let it blow into every crease of my body…just my blunt opinion. It’s beautiful to walk in and gaze at though. 🙂 We continued down the road to the climax of the north shore trip– the Blue Room!

There was a deserted trail up to it, then a steady descent down into the huge fresh water pool. Since it was a sunny day, the light did begin to make its way down into the cave’s depth and illuminate the fresh water a bit. It’s not recommended for swimming due to the bacteria from lots of animal waste, but a lot of people don’t heed that warning. I did, because I’m with child. Matt also did, because he prefers health to sickness. 😉 He did dip his toes into the deep abyss though! We hung out down there for half an hour and didn’t see another soul! We had the cave to ourselves. We were amazed at how secluded certain parts of our trip were. It was difficult to find a truly “crowded” place on Kauai.

A cave to ourselves.

Trippy exposure. Lovely azure.

My precious.

Bellies out.

We hiked back to our car, found a parking ticket on our windshield, hastily decided the Blue Room was worth the $35 ticket, and wound our way back down the road. We stopped in Hanalei again on the way back to get me some organic shaved ice and Matt an acai bowl. I know organic shaved ice sounds try-hard, but these house made, raw sugar syrups were to die for! I got strawberry, soursop, and papaya– it was tastebud bliss.

I asked a lady to take our photo with the light house….where’s the light house?

Oh, there it is.

We made a quick stop at the Kilauea Lighthouse, which was one of those things on every tourist’s map. I guess it’s a popular site for whales in the winter months.

Tired and indecisive, we stopped at a shopping center to eat, but after we were seated I decided I couldn’t stand the loud, really bad concert going on right beside us, so we headed to Brenneke’s Beach Broiler down by Poipu Beach. It was overpriced for what it was, but we were hungry so it fit the bill…or we made the bill fit? Whatever.

Saturday, September 3- DAY 7 (Departure day! wahhh)

Our flight left at 10:10 p.m., so we still had a full day for activities! We had planned on both getting the all-you-can-eat, out-of-this-world breakfast buffet on the final day for brunch and making the fuel last all day. We abided by the plan.

I woke up and read/drank coffee on my terrace (I’ll miss that place!) and then brought MG a coffee in the room. We went to work out in the hotel gym, knowing we needed to be hungry for the mega brunch we were about to indulge in. And wow, the breakfast was expensive but SO good for a grand finale. Corned beef hash with potatoes, savory sausage, perfectly crisp bacon, hawaiian french toast with coconut maple syrup (moan-worthy stuff) and endless fruit. There was also oatmeal, yogurt, soup, and other common stuff my stomach couldn’t be bothered to eat. 🙂 Matt got an omelette as well. He may have had a 4,000 calorie brunch. Our waitress told us about a cave and some African tortoises we needed to hike a nearby trail to see. The day’s plan was set. We departed the Ilima Terrace happy, yet uncomfortably full.

We were kicked out of the room at noon, but reassured there was a courtesy lounge for showers later and a room to store our bags away. We sat by the pool and let the food coma take over for a couple hours, then took off on one last hike down the southeast shoreline. The path is called the Maha’ulepu Heritage Trail and it extends quite a few miles beyond our hotel. We hiked along the cliff bluffs and soaked in the salty sea breeze, oh and some heavenly views. Matt brought his three remaining grocery-bought beers with to enjoy at trail stops and lookout points. He found a sea-smoothed rock to function as a bottle opener– maybe a cooler souvenir than the actual Tiki man bottle opener I bought him. We probably hiked 2.5 miles to get to the Makauwahi Cave Reserve. The hike wasn’t nearly as arduous as the steep canyon hike three days prior. And we were prepared this time! With water, nuts, and…beers. 😉

Apparently a fortune teller used to live in the cave (that was closed at 4 p.m. when we arrived). We could still gaze down into it, and imagine someone making a nice habitat down there. We hiked a little further to see the African tortoises, apparently imported to protect a local crop. After petting Tham and Lightning (the turtles) we headed back, this time sans beers stops. We made it back in 50 minutes, which gives me my loose approximation that is was about a 5-mile hike. This pregnant lady’s back started to ache in the last mile, but all in all, Big Bertha held up well.

Cheers!

Our tortoise friends.

The cave!

We showered in the (super nice) courtesy lounge, packed our bags and went back to the tasty Italian place from Thursday. Then, of course, I had to go back to the ice cream shop to get one more fabulous chocolate macadamia nut cookie for the flight home. Everything went silky smooth with the car rental return, then we checked in, followed our ticket guy over to check our bags, he handed off our IDs and boarding passes, I went to the bathroom and soon after realized my ID (which I had used to check in) was missing. A mad search began…

I thought they must still have it at the American counter, the clerk swore he handed both IDs to Matt. Matt only had his ID. I never remembered being handed an ID, but I sure as heck handed mine over to check in. We were frantic, quite obviously for half an hour, until a TSA rep said “Are you looking for an ID?” Uhhhh, yes. How could you tell? I gave them my name and someone had turned it in, probably seconds after it hit the cement. Ugh. We felt dumb. I had checked the airport lost and found, but not the TSA lost and found because we hadn’t been through security yet! Aycarumba. Matt and I were both sweating and adrenalized when we got to the gate. We calmed down by the time we board and settled into our roomie exit row seats. We both popped an Ambien once in the air and conked out for, no joke, six hours. It was the most painless crossing of the Pacific ever. I had a sleeping pill hangover, but it was worth it to get in a pseudo night’s sleep on the red eye. Now we’re home in Tucson, safe and sound with our doodles.

I had to document every nook and cranny of this trip because I could not imagine a more outstanding experience. If we ever get the opportunity to return to Kauai, we will pounce on it. And we highly recommend you go if you’ve never been before! It’s a gorgeous piece of God’s very green Earth.