Kauai

erinlin25

Hey all:

We are getting ready for our honeymoon in Kauai the first week in September.  Any recommendations from those of you have been there!?  We are staying in Princeville but will have a car so plan on exploring the whole island.  We want to do a dinner cruise but have no idea which one is best!  We already have a day planned for a variety of activities at Princeville Ranch, but other than that have no clue--we are much more of the adventure type, so any recommendations on snorkeling, hiking, Laiu's, etc would be appreciated. 

Pepper6

We did the Captain Andy's NaPali coast dinner cruise.  It was fun, but definitely bring some Dramamine just in case.  I've never gotten sea sick on a boat when we've been out diving, but that water can be a little rough, and in addition to the smell of them cooking food, it can get to you even if you don't expect it.  The food was good though and it was an amazing way to see the NaPali coast.

The Smith Family Luau was actually pretty good.  The grounds are beautiful, the food was surprisingly good, and the show wasn't bad either.  It was actually fairly inexpensive as far as some of the other luaus we looked at, so I'd recommend it.

When we went, we got a lot of rain (we went in late Feb, which is their rainy season), so we didn't get a lot of opportunities for beach days or snorkeling/diving.  However, since it did rain a lot, it gave us the idea to do something that would work in that weather, so we did an ATV tour at Kipu Ranch, which was a blast.  My H drove a 4-wheeler and I drove a Rhino with my mom (that trip was her Christmas present that year).  The trails were a lot of fun, and they give a lot of cool info about the land, where they've filmed a lot of movies and stuff.

erinlin25

awesome thank you! I was looking at the Captain Andy's dinner cruise so thank you for the info!  Will definitely look into the ATVs--my husband would love that! Good to know about the Luau too

Jells2dot0

I agree with @Pepper- Captain Andy's and if you want to do a luau, Smith Family was good. I have seen a million luaus all over the Pacific but Smith's was different and the food was good. I also like helicopter tours. I wanted to do one both times I've been to Kauai, but the first time I got sick and this last time (in May) my stepdaughter couldn't handle the motion. So, I'm crossing my fingers for next time!!! We also did Waimea Canyon and did some hiking on the Kalalua Trail. Both times we stayed at the Westin in Princeville. We had an amazing dinner at the St. Regis, which is next door, and we enjoyed the beach there.

delujm0

We did the Captain Andy's day trip with snorkeling and it was awesome - but it can be a rough ride, so if you get queasy easily i'd bring some medication with you.  If you do the catamaran day trip, don't expect to stay dry either.

 

We also went zip lining with Kauai Backcountry Adventures, and it was great.  Highly recommend!  There was a waterfall you can basically drive right up to very close to the pick up/drop off for the zip lining, so definitely ask the staff for the directions to chck that out.  We're happy we did!

 

http://www.kauaibackcountry.com/

erinlin25

you guys all rock, thank you so so much! 

OliveOilsMom

Add me to the Capt' Andy dinner cruise!  We did have a few people get seasick on our cruise, but its because they didn't listen to the Captain.  He will tell you where to stand and which direction to look to help prevent this.

And we did the Tubing Adventure from Kauai Backcountry Adventures.  And it is on our list of things to do when we go back next year!  It was really awesome!  On their website, they have a video of it and it's even better in person!

I also recommend eating at Scotty's BBQ in Kapaa.  Very delicious and awesome view!  And stop for shaved ice just about anywhere you see a sign!  It's addicting!  Make sure you try the POG juice, it's Passion Orange and Guava juice and it's absolutely delicious!  We actually purchase it from a guy in Hawaii and have it shipped to us in NJ!  It's that good!