November 2021
Kauai is often called the Garden Island and indeed this is certainly the island where the vegetation is the most amazing. It’s also the most rainy and muddy one. There are a lot of great hikes but a little bit less snorkeling compared to the other islands. In this post we propose a 5 days itinerary from Hanalei Bay to Waimea Canyon. To view itinerary about the other Hawaiian Island go here.
5 days itinerary
- Step 1: Hanalei Bay (north)
- Day 1: Arrival, Puu Poa Beach, Hanalei Bay
- Day 2: Haena state park, Kalalau trail
- Step 2: Poipu (south)
- Day 3: Coastal trail, Poipu Beach park
- Day 4: Waimea canyon & Koke state park
- Day 5: Wailua river Secret fall
Practical information
- Where to stay: The Island is relatively small but you have no road on the west side. Doing few days close to Hanalei Bay to access the Haena state park and few days in the south to access the Waimea canyon area is a good plan.
- How to go from point A to point B: You will likely need to rent a car in Kauai. In November 2021 the stock of rental car was low and we had to book a little bit in advance.
Step 1: Hanalei Bay – Princeville (north)
Hanalei Bay is one of the places in the world that I’m happy I went at least one time in my life. It’s the scenery that you expect about Hawaii: mountains with “jungle type vegetation”, flowers, and a massive bay. The sunset view from some of the resorts in Princeville is amazing. It’s a little bit more humid than the typical vacation location but it’s worth spending at least few days if you visit Kauai.
Day 1: Arrival, Hanalei Bay resort and Puu Poa Beach
We stay at Hanalei bay resort for 2 nights. It’s long enough to enjoy the area and go to Haena state park. The resort is great, with a nice swimming pool, orchids growing on the tree branches and 2 couples of Néné. We have already visited most of the parks of the 4 islands without seeing any Néné and we finally see them inside a resort. We also enjoy the view at sunset and grilling our fish on the available shared grills. Only negative point is that the resort is not within walking distance of the “city”. It’s more like a big resort.
The Puu Poa beach is accessible from the resort. It’s a nice quiet small beach. We try to snorkel but there is nothing specific under the water. Maybe in summer with less waves the snorkeling is better.
Day 2: Haena state park – Kalalau trail
The access to the Haena state park (Hāʻena) is a little bit complex. We were too late to have a car pass and we wanted to avoid the bus so we booked the walk-in entrance only. We leave early to park at Tunnel Beach around 7am. The beach offers great lights at sunrise but there are too many waves for snorkeling. We then walk on the road for about 20 min to reach the state park. The park trail crosses some fields and forest to arrive at the Kalalau trail head close to the beach.
The Kalalau trail is very muddy and slippery (even during dry days) but offers amazing views of the coast. The vegetation is great, and even if the trail is easy to follow we have the feeling to be in an adventure movie. We go until Hanakapi’ai beach and back which is a 6.6km hike. If you want to access the beach be ready to cross a water stream. On our way back we see many other groups as this is a popular hike.
I really recommend this trail and to do it at least until Hanakapi’ai Beach. Some people stop at the Ke’e Beach-Kalalau Overlook and miss the best part of the trail.
Step 2: Poipu (south)
Poipu is more what we expect of Hawaii chill vacations: palm trees, white sand beach, sun. There is no real “city” ; it’s more a collection of resorts along the coast. It’s a good place to access the Waimea Canyon area (to the west), be close to other activities, and enjoy the beach when you have nothing better to do.
Day 3: Coastal trail, Poipu Beach park
It takes us about 1h30min to go from Princeville to Poipu. We arrive not to late and try the Coastal trail – Maha’ulepu Heritage Trail (ref Alltrails Maha’ulepu Heritage Trail). This easy trail starts from the Hyatt and goes east along the coast. The view from the Hyatt is great and the swimming pool looks amazing. The first part of the trail is on white sandstones, then the trail goes on the golf course where the ground color switches to orange and green. From the cliffs of the golf course we can see multiple turtles swimming in the water below. There is nothing really difficult on this popular trail. Just be aware of the sun and plan for water if needed. If you love coastal trails this one is for you.
In Poipu we also enjoy the Poipu beach park. It’s 5 minutes walk from our lodging and perfect for the end of the afternoon. It has multiple beaches depending on what you want to do. The one located east (Brennecke’s Beach) is good to play with waves. Poipu beach is good to snorkel. On the small island just in front of the beach we see turtles, and seals resting. In the water there are a lot of fishes and the visibility is correct despite the waves. We snorkel mainly on the west side as the east side is not deep enough. This spot is certainly better during summer but it is still enjoyable in winter.
For the food in Poipu we use two main options. First you can find in the old town of Koloa an area with multiple nice food trucks. They are not all open every days but they all looks good. We try two: Taco Libre has great Mexican food. Another food truck proposes tasty sandwiches, we try the lamb burger and the cubano and they were both good choices. A second option If you can cook, is to buy local meat. The Kukuiula Market has a lot of local stuffs, including some beef from local ranches at a very reasonable price. It’s not available every day but you can check if you drive close by. The Living Foods grocery store also has some meat but it’s a little more expensive
Day 4: Waimea canyon & Koke state park
We are ready for a hike day in Waimea canyon & Koke’e state park. After 45min driving from Poipu to Waimea the road starts to gain elevation. We want to arrive early to Pu’u O Kila Lookout which is at the end of the road so we skip most of the view point. We only stop at the Red dirt waterfall. The waterfall is visible from the car. There is no one so we stop for a quick picture. The waterfall is very small and not impressive but it makes great pictures.
We arrive at Pu’u O Kila Lookout around 7:45 and take our breakfast while enjoying the view. The light is not good because the sun is not high enough but it’s good to have no clouds. We then start the Pihea vista trail that goes along the ridge. We are in a “dry day” but the trail is very muddy. It doesn’t offer a lot more compared to what you can see from the initial lookout. If you are not into mud hiking you may do only the first 200m. This is what most of the people are doing.
After this initial trail we take the car to go down, we stop by some nice view point and arrive at the start of the Canyon trail. This is a 5km hike that goes in the middle of the canyon and at the top of the Waipoo Falls. Most of the hike is a little bit boring and in the forest but the view point close to the waterfall is amazing. We quickly check the waterfall and spend some time taking pictures. It’s around 11am, the sun is higher in the sky and provides a better luminosity to take pictures of the canyon. We then go back up to Koke lodge for lunch, and then to Poipu. On our drive down we stop by all the viewpoints. They all offer amazing views of the canyon.
One tip that we can give is to not arrive too early for the pictures. You want to have the sun high to illuminate all the canyon or an afternoon light. Most of the area that you will take pictures of are oriented to the west.
Coming back from Waimea and going to Poipu we stop by Aloha Sweet Delights. Entering the bakery one employee ask us if we have our “diabethic pills”. We do not understand the comment at first but after trying some of their delicious desserts we can say that this was an accurate comment. We also stop by The Right slice to try a Macadamia nut pie. It seems a little bit expensive for a slice of pie but definitely worth it.
Day 5: Wailua river Secret fall
We keep this “adventure” for the last day. Secret fall is a waterfall accessible after some paddling and walking. There are two ways to do it: with a group, or self guided tour. Our advice is to go for the self guided option and be the first. On our side we booked a few days in advance one kayak for two by calling Wailua Kayak & Canoe (approximately 50USD per person).
From Poipu there is approximately 1hr of car to arrive at the kayak renting location we. We arrive at 7:15am and check in with some other people also renting Kayak. The rental shop gives the group a quick explanation before giving the kayaks. We then walk 1 minute to bring the Kayak to the water and we start to paddle the Wailua river. The paddling takes 30min to 1hr, the river is quiet and there are nice flowers floating on the water. We are the first to arrive at the “Kayak parking area”. We then start the hike, there are 2 options for the beginning of the trail, going through the tall grass or going along the river (we advise the second option). After this first section we cross the river which is knee to hips high. We then follow the trail which is well marked. It goes through tall grass and forest along the river. Experiencing the forest and the river alone with the morning lights is a wonderful experience. After crossing a small stream the trail turns left to arrive at Secret fall.
We are able to enjoy 20minutes alone taking pictures and swimming, this is a magical moment. After that, other couples start to arrive and the different groups take pictures of each other. (everyone wants his instagram picture). The more we wait the more groups arrive so we head back. The hike back and the paddling is less magical as we cross multiple groups of 15+ people heading for the not so secret anymore fall. But we are very happy to have done this small adventure.
Tips:
- Rent the kayak and go by yourself, not with a group. (if you arrive before the guided tour you may enjoy the waterfall alone, or with few people)
- If you are afraid to be lost, the GPS trace is available on Alltrails. (There is not a lot of mistake possible – the Kayak parking spot is obvious)
- We are not kayak specialists. Something that worked well for us: The person at the front should paddle with a regular rhythm (don’t care about the direction). The person at the back should be synchronized with the front person and manage the direction.
- Good to have water shoes and at least a small water bag. (the kayak renting can also provide bags)
On our way back to Poipu we stop at Koloa rum in Lihue ( yes the name Koloa can be misleading). We try to register for the rum tasting but we are too late (finding a tasting spot is difficult). We still enjoy the location and the gift shop which is potentially one of the best in Kauai. You can find shirts, magnets, glaces, rum and more. We do buy some rum samples to try, it’s good but not our favorite one. We are much more convinced by the cocktail bottles. They are very good and perfect for sunset! The old sugar cane refinery is located in Koloa, we are not able to visit but we stop in front of the fence. This is a massive building that I would have loved to visit.
Reflecting on the itinerary
This itinerary is good to discover Kauai. We could have done better for our day in Waimea canyon & Koke state park. In the morning we should have done one of the ridge trail that goes west like the Honopu Ridge trail. It’s I think a better option than the Pihea vista trail. After we could have been to the Pu’u O Kila when the sun is higher.
We have not done the helicopter tour, or the boat tour to the Napali coast. The boat tour is certainly great.
If you like hiking, you can find some amazing ones in Kauai. We really advise to do at least the Kalalau trail and the Waimea canyon.
