Wow this got long fast. Sorry about that. Its all from memory so I thought it would be short...I guess its a hard place to forget. Thanks to everyone on this forum for all your help!
9/18 - We had a 12pm flight from Boston. American Airlines connecting in LA. Everything was on time. It was long and not very exciting. Read a couple books and then arrived in Lihue at 9:30pm Hawaii time. We rented a convertible from Alamo. It was about an hour from the time we arrived at the airport until we got out car.
We arrived at Princeville a little after 11. We were greeted with a lei, the valet gave us our room keys and we were on our way. Once we got to the room we were tired, hungry, and excited. We ordered a California Roll and a bottle of Champagne. I had proposed to my wife at that particular vineyard in Napa so it seemed fitting.
They brought the wrong bottle of champagne, we only noticed after pouring the first glass. I called room service and they said they’d be right up with the correct bottle. It was late, and we didn’t plan to stay up much longer. They offered to hold the bottle and bring it any time for us! We opened the windows and blinds, and fell asleep to the sounds of the ocean
9/19 – Woke up around 7am to a breathtaking view of Hanalei Bay and the Na Pali coast. The views from the hotel are simply spectacular. The bay/cliffs add so much to the view. We went to the Café for breakfast. We didn’t get the buffet, although it did look excellent. A tip for those getting the buffet: Take turns going up. Don’t leave your table unguarded or the birds will take over. The views from the café are great.
We spent the whole day just relaxing at the beach/pool. It was sunny all day long. Pool side service was great. Non-stop water refills, lavender scented cold towels in the afternoon, sliced pineapple, and of course a swim up bar where we had our first lava flows of the trip. The staff is fantastic. They’re friendly, efficient, and just seem happy to be there. Makes for an enjoyable stay.
We cleaned ourselves up a bit (my wife raves about the shower there, it is nice. Great water pressure) and decided to check out Hanelei (our first of many trips there). We ended up having dinner at Sushi Blues. The food and atmosphere (live music after 8) was excellent. It ended up getting quite crowded for a Monday night. Oh, the pea pods they give you gratis are not to be eaten whole. Just bite the peas out. My wife found this out the hard way.
9/20 – We had a 7:45 helicopter tour with Inter-Island on the South Side of the island so we were up and out early. The ride was fantastic. I have nothing to compare it too, but I don’t think a ride with the doors on would be the same. We had a great pilot who was knowledge of the island seemed vast (he could have been making it up, but I was too busy looking around at the sites).
We decided we’d spend the day on the south side of the island. We did some shopping in Koloa Town, a charming village with good shopping. Worth stopping and taking a walk through. We checked out spouting horn, a nice natural site, but I wouldn’t plan your trip around it. We checked out the Sheraton in Poipu (Princeville sister hotel) and spend some time on the beaches there. We had a good lunch at Brenneke’s (spelling? This is from memory so I may be off). Fish Tacos and Fish %26amp; Chips. On the way back north we went to Wailua Falls. This is a must see. Take the walk down to the falls. There’s a sign saying “Danger Keep Out” but we didn’t see that J until we came back up. Honestly though its not a bad walk down. We swam in the bottom of the falls too. If you do make it to the bottom be sure to get photo proof! We forgot that part. Headed back to the hotel and had a great dinner at Cascate.
9/21 - We slept in a bit (8am) and had breakfast on the Café again. After that we headed out to Queens bath. It was good timing the tide was low and the swimming was good. There’s a couple of nice waterfalls on the walk there too. After that we headed out to secret beach. The beach was much, much bigger than I expected. Very serene. Only a few other people out there, and you get a view of Kilauea Lighthouse (saved us a trip). The sea was too rough for swimming or snorkeling, so we relaxed, read some and headed back to Princeville where we got in some decent late afternoon snorkeling. We went over to Bali Hai for dinner. The view was great, hell every view in the north sure is great. The service was great, the food was ok, not bad but not memorable.
9/22 – This was supposed to be our adventurous day. We had an excursion booked to Kayak the Na Pali coast with Kayak Kauai, but they were forced to cancel the day before do to rough surf. We luckily got the last seats on the UFO, a 23’ or something like that, catamaran with twin 90HP 4 strokes. The guides made the trip down the coast very fun. There were plenty of food and beverages (non-alcoholic, but still good). The boat is small enough to get into the sea caves, you stop for an hour or so snorkel and get a good ride back. They leave right from Hanelei Bay. It was a fun trip, and I would recommend this outfit if you’re interested. Back to the hotel for some pool time.
We went into Hanelei for dinner again. This time to Hanelei Gourmet for a burger and a couple of beers. I had been enjoying the fancy dinners and non-stop seafood, but this burger really hit the spot. Nice place, good food, good people.
9/23 – Early morning zipline with Princeville ranch. This was very fun, again great guides who added to the adventure. I enjoyed myslelf, but did not find it to be scary at all. If you’re adventurous (hiking, roller coasters, skydiving, wearing a red sox hat in yankee stadium, etc.) this won’t get your adrenaline going, but its still fun. Bring water. It’s a 4.5 hour event, and they only give you a 16oz squeeze bottle.
Lunch in Hanelei, Polynesian Café. It was excellent. You can bring your own drinks and eat at the outside tables. It rained all afternoon so we went to the limited on-site fitness center for a bit.
For dinner we did the seafood buffet at the Princeville. Lots of good stuff. Maybe, maybe not worth the money. We liked it. If you don’t like seafood, skip it. After we bought a couple works of art from a local artist set-up in the hotel. We celebrated our purchase with a drink in the Living Room (hotel lounge). My wife loves to bring art home from vacations. Money well spent, it’s a keepsake you’ll have for years.
9/24 – Up at 6am to catch a college football game. Watched the first hour in the fitness center while on the bike so I wouldn’t wake the wife up. It was over by half time anyway. We grabbed a light breakfast in the Living Room and headed to the airport. It was time to go to Maui………
ps...We LOVED the North Shore of Kauai. This was our favorite part of the trip including Maui. We%26#39;d also stay at the Princeville again in a heartbeat.
Long Trip Report 9/18-9/24
Mahalo jammers...nice upbeat reporting. Thirty more days %26#39;til my turn on your island.
Long Trip Report 9/18-9/24
Great report. It makes me anxious, wish I was there now. Glad to hear such good thigs about the Princevill, that%26#39;s where we%26#39;re staying too! Those pea pods you mentioned, maybe they were really Edamame (soy beans)?
Great report. It makes me anxious, wish I was there now. Glad to hear such good thigs about the Princeville, that%26#39;s where we%26#39;re staying too! Those pea pods you mentioned, maybe they were really Edamame (soy beans)?
Hey Dano,
They were edamame. My wife mistakenly took them for regular snap peas.
As for Princeville, I%26#39;ve read some negative things, but we had a great experience. A bit more on the place:
The decor is a bit odd, more Roman style than anything. Its elegant none the less. There are three individual towers. You do have to take two elevators down to the pool if you%26#39;re in oone of the top two towers.
The guest rooms are large, and ours was very clean, no smells, nothing funky. The bathroom is great. Its huge, big tub/shower. They bring new toiletries everyday regardless of how much you used. We could have opened our own Aveda shop by the end of the trip. The mattress seemed a bit old and didn%26#39;t provide much support, but it wasn%26#39;t bad enough that it affected our sleep.
The biggest disappointment was the lack of a balcony. My fault for not knowing, but the room pictures online are deceiving. The rooms do open up wide at the windows, and there is an in-room sitting bench along the window, which suffices but is not quite the same. It didn%26#39;t take long to get over the disappointment.
The staff at the pool/restaurants/concierge, etc. were all great. The place just had a nice relaxing feel to it. No pretentiousness. We were very comfortable during our stay.
jammers-what a pleasant way to begin my morning by reading your review . . . isn%26#39;t the North shore a slice of Heaven?? Have also been to Maui, but nothing is like that part of Kauai. Glad things worked out well for you. Now you%26#39;ll have to return during the summer so you can snorkel on the North shore . . . mahalo for sharing! :)
Jammers, thanks for all the info, very helpful stuff. You mentioned the Polynesian Cafe%26#39; and being to bring your own drinks. Are talking beer/wine type drinks you can bring? What kind of food do they serve? Is this a bkfst, lunch, or dinner type of place?
Also, on your Cat trip to Na Pali, how was the surf? I%26#39;ve been worried that things might be too dicey for us to take a boat/raft/Cat ride to Napali, we%26#39;re going to be there the first 2 weeks of Dec.
dano...if you do cruise just remember to start Bonine or Dramamine at least one day/every q. hours in advance. I had no success with a 2-hr before dose as instructed on the label. Worse than flu to my mind.
Coalminer...I can%26#39;t wait to return. Dano - The Cafe is suitable for lunch or a casual dinner. There%26#39;s very little seating inside, and its a walk up and order type of place. The food out does the appearance and description though. This place was suggested by many people there, and once we tried it, we realized why.
Its located in with a bunch of shops/restaurants in Hanelei. There%26#39;s an outdoor deck with patio style tables to eat on. You could bring whatever you wanted for drink, as long as it doesn%26#39;t require a blender. On the day we had lunch there was a couple with a bottle of champagne, another couple with wine, and yet another couple with beer and rum.
As for the Na Pali coast, it was smooth sailing the day we went. We probably could have kayaked, but better to be safe I guess.....I don%26#39;t really know about December. The UFO was nice because it was small enough to get in close to the coast and even go in the sea caves. It will be rougher in December, if you don%26#39;t want a bumpy ride you may want to go with a bigger boat like Captain Andy%26#39;s. Probably a smoother ride.
Thanks for the wonderful report! We will be there on Saturday... Can%26#39;t wait! We are staying at the Hanalei Bay Resort... will definitely take your (and many other posters) recommendation re: Bali Hi!
May I also say thanks, we leave in 9 days. I was wondering if you could give a little more on the zipline adventure. It sounds like it either goes rather slowly or there is a lot to do. Or I guess never having done it maybe the time is consumed getting from a low area back to a high area in order to slide back down. More info if you could. Also glad you mentioned bringing lots of water, that will be important. Thanks, Larry
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