Kauai Trip Report (4-23-09 to 4-28-09) Part 1

I really want to thank all the contributors on this forum because you guys were a great help when I was planning my trip. Here is my attempt on my first trip report.

4-23-09 (Thursday)

Arrived Lihue around 8 PM from LAX. A small airport and its personnel are friendly and efficient. Quite a contrast from LAX.

After we got our rental car from National, we headed to Hamura%26#39;s Saiman Stand for a late dinner, located less than 10 minutes from the airport. The noodles were perfectly done and the soup was flavorful. Highly recommend the ';Special Saiman'; cause it has more stuff in it such as half an egg and wontons. The service was adequate and efficient but nothing to go crazy over. I think smiling was optional. Great local atmosphere and the way the seating was set up, it was a perfect opportunity for us to talk with the locals. Just a side note, they serve delicious shave ice but only in the day time.

We then cruised by Walmart to pick up some necessities such as snacks and bottled water. It seems like Walmart prices are cheaper than other general stores especially gift items such as coffee and macadamia nuts.

We then checked in at Kuhio Shores #407 around 10 PM. Great condo with an unbelievable view of the mountains and ocean. Rick, the owner and manager was great to work with and was always a phone call away. Highly recommend this unit.

4-24-09 (Friday)

Blue Hawaiian Helicopter Tour in the morning. Great weather the whole day. For some reason, my wife and I both agreed that it was good but not spectacular. Maybe it was because we both got a little motion sickness during the tour and we have seen it on TV before. They honored our request to sit in the front right two seats which was great because our views were unobstructed. Pilot was informative and the whole operations seemed to be top notch but again we weren%26#39;t blown away by the tour.

Lunch at Mark%26#39;s Place. My wife and I shared a beef stew which was very tasty. Great place for take out lunches. We were planning to eat it at the beach but we were too hungry so we devoured the beef stew in the parking lot.

Rented two bikes from Coconut Coasters in Kapa%26#39;a for almost one hour and rode on the bike path along the beach and ocean in Kapa. Awesome experience. The path was fairly flat. Highly recommend this experience and Coconut Coasters.

Watched the lighting ceremony at the Hyatt. Honestly, we could have done without this one. The hula dancer didn%26#39;t seem to be enjoying herself. Good thing it was free but the drinks were expensive.

Dinner at Tidepools at the Hyatt. Great atmosphere with the koi pond surrounding the restaurant. We shared a surf and turf special. The scallops and steak were cooked well but I expected more for the price. The flavors were uneventful. For dessert, we ordered the almond float, which consisted of tapioca, almond jelly, and lychee ice cream. The dessert was the best part of the meal. I would rather grab local take out and have dinner at the beach.

After dinner, Hyatt called the Surf and Turf Shuttle Service to take us back to the condo. The driver was very friendly and shared how Poipu had changed over the years. Great experience with them. They charged 6 dollars between the condo and Hyatt, whereas the taxi cost 11 dollars.

More to come later...

Kauai Trip Report (4-23-09 to 4-28-09) Part 1

Really enjoy trip reports. Looking forward to more even though it%26#39;s sounding like you were disappointed so far.

Kauai Trip Report (4-23-09 to 4-28-09) Part 1

You know, we felt about the same after our helicopter ride - I think the hype before had our expectations way to high. But NOW - we think back on it and rave!! And certainly wish we had bought the video. So let it sit in your memory for a while; you might be surprised.

Tidepools - yes,so lovely in many ways, but...It made for great pictures of our Anniversary but was not spectacular (food/rushed service)- again expectations can ruin even a very good thing, I believe. Still worth the experience, if not the $$, to give it a try.

I%26#39;m glad you enjoyed the bike path so much - it is pretty terrific!

Looking forward to the rest of your report - thank you for sharing with us!

Feeling a bit airsick can sometimes ruin the experience and it also seems like you had a pretty late night after arrival. Eating, shopping and getting to the condo after 10 and then getting up early to take the helicopter ride might have made you a bit more tired than you expected.

I know Rick, the owner of your condo, and he is a nice guy. His other unit at Kuhio Shores is probably my favorite one.

Great tip about Surf and Turf Shuttle. Saving a few bucks is a good thing.

Look forward to hearing more.

We felt dizzy and a bit sick on our helicopter tour as well and so did the others on the flight. I think as nice as the views are, people don%26#39;t tell in their reviews that motion sickness is normal. I spoke with a military pilot yesterday and he said if there are strong wind currents you will feel that up and down roller coaster like sensation that causes motion sickness. I know when we went the tradewinds were blowing.

4-25-09 (Saturday)

Stopped by Moloa%26#39;a Fruit Stand on the way to Kilauea. What a gem. The owners at Moloa%26#39;a were very friendly and helpful. They let us taste some fruits for free to see if we like them. They helped us pick some great local Hawaiian fruits including apple bananas, pineapples, and papayas that were ripped enough to eat. Great smoothies too. Highly recommend this little stand for a stop on the way to the North Shore.

Kilauea lighthouse was fantastic and definitely worth the five dollars entrance fee. The view from the outlook before the entrance was breathtaking. I learned a lot about the birds and Kauai just by talking to the volunteers who were eager to share their wealth of knowledge. It made the whole experience even better.

Lunch at Kilauea Fish Market. Inexpensive food but definitely delicious. I had the spicy pork and my wife had the fish tacos. One of our favorite restaurants on the island. The pork was not dry and had a slight kick to it. Yum.

Lounged at Ke%26#39;e for hours. Ke%26#39;e was crowded with people and chickens!! These chicken had no qualms about invading your personal space. Unfortunately they closed down snorkeling in the afternoon due to rough waves so we didn%26#39;t get a chance to snorkel.

Tried the Kalalau Trail but turned around after twenty minutes of hiking as it was too strenuous for my wife. So we just lounged some more at the beach. Not a bad alternative.

Drove back to the south shore and had dinner at Kalapaki Beach Hut. Great burgers at a good price. Fries were crispy and hot.

4-26-09 (Sunday)

Drove to Waimea Canyon and stopped by the shrimp station for lunch. The coconut shrimp was good, but the shrimp tacos were average, a little on the bland side. The place was very busy during lunch time. Worth a stop but might be a little over hyped.

The views from the Waimea Canyon lookout was amazing. Definitely stop by and spend some time there. One of the highlights of our trip. In my opinion, it was much better experiencing and viewing the canyon from the lookout than it was from the helicopter. We also stopped by the Pu%26#39;u o lookout but unfortunately it was very foggy. There was a trail starting at the Pu%26#39;u o lookout that was also one of our highlights of our trip. Even though we couldn%26#39;t see much of the view because of the fog, the trail itself was fun. We took a bunch of goofy pictures and pretty much had the trail to ourselves. We hiked twenty minutes into it and decided to turn around because it was too foggy.

After the Waimea Canyon, we stopped by Jo-Jo%26#39;s for shave ice. It definitely lived up to the hype. GREAT shave ice. Very fine ice and great ice cream on the bottom. Even the expressionless server added to the whole experience.

For dinner we decided to splurge at the Beach House Restaurant. This was the most disappointing meal on our whole trip. We had dinner at 8 PM so the experience might have been different if we had a sunset dinner. My wife had the duck and it was very heavy on the salt. I ordered the macadamia crusted Monchong which was good but not great. I expected much more for the price. My wife and I agree that in general we were disappointed at the fine dinning restaurants but raved about the local cheaper eateries.

I forgot to mention we also tried Puka Dogs in Poipu. Great polish sausages. The mango relish made the whole thing absolutely delicious. Yum. We ended up eating here twice on our trip. They also serve vegetarian hot dogs which paled in comparison to the polish sausage.

More to come later....