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Hawaii for an outdoorsy couple

redheadbride15redheadbride15 member
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in Honeymoon Discussions
My fiancee and I love the outdoors and spend a lot of time hiking and backpacking. We're planning on 2 weeks in Hawaii for our honeymoon in June 2015 (probably Kauai and the Big Island). Anyone have recommendations for hiking, camping, backpacking, or other outdoor adventures?!?
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Re: Hawaii for an outdoorsy couple

  • Jells2dot0Jells2dot0 mod
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    The kalalau trail in Kauai is a great place to hike along the Na Pali Coast. It can be a bit slippery after a rain, and if planned properly, you can camp there as well.

     







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  • redheadbride15redheadbride15 member
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    Thanks! I've read about the Kalalau Trail but I heard that getting camping permits is challenging. We're going to try but I'm also looking for other options in Kauai.
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  • daria24daria24 member
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    I think Polihale Beach is the best beach camping spot, though you'll want a 4WD vehicle. The only hiking I've done is the first two miles of the Kalalau trail, which is great, so even if you don't get a permit it's a nice 2 hours. We did attempt to hike around Waimea Canyon but it's so wet and rainy your chances of being able to see ANYTHING are pretty slim, at least where we were. Other sections might be drier but the day we went it was completely fogged over.

    On the Big Island, there's so many great trails in Volcano National Park, but you never know what is going to be accessible until a day or two before. A better bet is Waipio Valley, if you are really looking for an all-day adventure, that's it. You'll be totally on your own though, there aren't any amenities. The Hawaii Revealed Big Island book has all the info on that hike. If you want to save your legs, there is a fun ATV tour of the valley you can take instead. 

    If you go up to Mauna Kea, there's a relatively short hike from the road to the peak. It's not exactly an adventure but it's fun to stand on top of the tallest mountain in the world (From sea level).

    The most adventurous thing we did on the BI was jumping off the cliff at South Point. It's a once in a lifetime experience, as in, I did and now I never have to do it again! 

    I'm not a fan of Maui, but I think the best hike in Hawaii is the Sliding Sands trail at Haleakala. We only spent about two hours on it so we didn't get very far but it was absolutely incredible hiking down a volcano crater. 
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  • OliveOilsMomOliveOilsMom member
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    It's not a hike, but I recommend the Tubing Adventure from Kauai Backcountry Adventures.  It's a lot of fun!  They also have zip lining.

    There is also a lake in the middle of Kauai where you can kayak down the river then do a small hike/walk to a waterfall in the middle of the island.  Sorry, I don't recall the name of the river or waterfall.

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  • redheadbride15redheadbride15 member
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    Thanks for all the great info guys! I'm really excited about this trip. I hadn't heard of the Hawaii Revealed series but I just looked them up on Amazon and they look amazing, so this is a great suggestion! Although we're pretty avid hikers I think I'll skip hiking up to Mauna Kea (or Mauna Loa) because I'm a bit scared of the altitude sickness (we live at sea level and I know it takes me a few days to equilibrate to anything over about 7000ft - and those mountains are 13,000!).

    For Polihale, were you able to get a 4WD rental car to use in the park? According to the state park website some rental car companies won't allow you to bring their vehicles on the park road.

    I like the idea of kayaking on Kauai, too.

    Maui and Haleakala may need to wait for another trip...

    Now all I need to do is convince my man to go cliff jumping! (yeah, that ain't gonna happen - I'm the adrenaline junkie in this relationship)
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  • daria24daria24 member
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    I admit that we did not exactly follow the terms of our rental agreement. We were lucky that the weather was very dry, so we didn't have to worry about getting stuck. 

    Kayaking in Kauai is a good idea, it's the only island where there are rivers to kayak down. There's also an all-day sea kayaking tour you can take of the Napali coast that looks breath taking. But it's about 11 hours in a two person kayak, so only you can know if you want to test your relationship ;)

    For Mauna Kea we didn't hike the whole mountain haha! You drive up to the observatories (after stopping for an hour at the visitors center) and park. It's only about 20 minutes walk from the observatories to the summit. So you don't have to be at altitude that long. 

    And the Hawaii Revealed books are great-definitely get one for each island. So much good stuff in there, though I found the restaurant recommendations only so-so. I think Yelp is a better resource for that. The best shave ice in the islands is on Kauai though, on the west side-Jo Jos. 
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  • redheadbride15redheadbride15 member
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    This is great info - thanks! I see what you mean about Mauna Kea - that may be doable then!

    I'll look into the sea kayaking tour. Our relationship has already been tested way beyond what an 11 hour kayak ride could do... We've spent many nights sharing a tiny 2-person backpacking tent, been trapped in a huge storm on the edge of a cliff in the backcountry in Glacier, had our tent snowed in one night in Yellowstone, gotten lost off the trail on a few occasions, and camped well below freezing in the White Mountains of NH.

    So for our honeymoon we'll mix and match adventure with relaxation. Shave ice while lounging on the beach sounds pretty good to me...

    And for anyone who's interested, I did find a site for checking availability and booking backcountry camping permits in the Hawaii State Parks: https://camping.ehawaii.gov/camping/welcome.html
    This includes the Kalalau Trail on Kauai. And there seems to be decent availability if you're booking a few months ahead of time. So I booked ourselves a permit for two nights at Kalalau and Hankoa.

    The great advantage of backpacking is that it makes a Hawaii honeymoon much more affordable! ($20/night instead of $200/night for lodging).
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  • klk111415klk111415 member
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    We are outdoorsy people and also doing Hawaii for our Honeymoon.  We are doing the big island and Maui.  We want to do some off the beaten path stuff in the middle of the trip (hiking/camping) and use the beginning and end to do the typical resort stuff for a little pampering.  

    We are hiking Mauna Kae! You can do it in one day.  

    We are also doing volcano national park which is full of cool hikes.  I've done the hike across the crater (it's about 2 miles one way) it was pretty cool- but very flat. 

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  • redheadbride15redheadbride15 member
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    Thanks for the links! Good for you for planning to hike Mauna Kea. I tend to think I'm in good shape but even I'm a bit daunted by 4600' elevation gain over 6 miles at 10,000+ feet above sea level! I think that may take some high altitude training... and sadly, we live in Boston and work full time.

    (Nice photo on the summit of George, by the way kk111415... that's more my speed of mountain! Especially if you don't drive to the top)

    We're also mixing things up a bit. Our strategy is to alternate 1-2 nights in a resort with about 2-3 nights in the backcountry. 13 days total.
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  • klk111415klk111415 member
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    Thanks @redheadbride15 ! We hiked to lake of the clouds and finished the next morning.  Could have done it in 1 day but our plan was to hike back down (unfortunately the weather changed on us)  

    I'm not 100% we can actually do Mauna Kea- but we might have a backup plan.  Also, check to see if there is a new moon during your stay.  We really want to do some star gazing and Volcano National Park is extremely dark at night- so hoping the stars are good.  It's also in the middle of a meteor shower so we are extra excited!

    I did a lot of hiking in Kauai (I spent a semester at UH on Oahu and managed to get out there for a weekend)  We did a lot of off the beaten path hikes to some waterfalls but I'm having trouble finding them.  If I come across them, I'll let you know!
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  • redheadbride15redheadbride15 member
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    @kk111415 I did Washington as a 2 day with a stop at Lakes of Clouds the first time I did it too. Lakes is such a special place.

    I love the idea of stargazing under a volcano! It looks like we will be there around full moon-to-first quarter. I'm sure a full moon over the ocean would be beautiful too though. And of course the weather is unlikely to be predictable for clear skies... Would love to hear about your Kauai hikes if you find them! (Lucky you to spend a semester at UH!)
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  • klk111415klk111415 member
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    @redheadbride15 Lake of Clouds was definitely special, and was a cool experience for our first hike up! 

    They say the Mauna Kea has around 315 clear nights and you can pay to do as astronomy tour:

    Ahhh yes! This was one of the waterfalls we went to.  It was where Indiana Jones was filmed (you can swing on the same rope swing)  I've been seeing reviews that they have closed it- but double check online.


    The blue room cave is pretty neat.  I covered myself in mud and rinsed off in the cold waters and my skin felt so nice! I'm not sure they allow swimming but we still took a quick dip.

    And this was the other falls we went to see (Wailua Falls):

    You will see a "danger do not go beyond this point" sign- but once again we ignored it.  The trails goes down to the right of the sign if I remember correctly, but you can use the link above which will describe it better.  

    Let me know what else you plan for the big island- I definitely will need more ideas! :)


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