Na Pali Boat Trip
We were booked onto the 2pm sailing with Makana Charters from Port Allen, about a 90 min drive south. Had thought of visiting Waimea Canyon pre trip but there had been a fire in the area and road access had been affected with it being unclear when this would be resolved.Decided not to risk it plus I was keen to see the Poipu area given potential Green Turtle sightings.
Quite a busy drive south, lot of traffic and lights from Anahola and Kapa’a onwards. Some pretty churches in these places but nowhere appealed as Hanalei did.Always beautiful flowers to be seen…
A tree tunnel on route…
Poipu was quite busy at the public beach with lots of families with young children – no wonder, with its lagoon like beach and 12 Green Turtles on the shore.
One began to slowly move towards the water so I paddled in with some others, keeping distance and managed a shot as he/she raised their head to check what these daft humans were up to. In no time, the turtle had disappeared. Fantastic to see them.
Can’t honestly say that either of us were hugely taken with the wider area, though I can see the appeal for families.
Lunch in Port Allen at the busy Kauai Brewery and Grill and very good it was too.
Fish Tacos for both of us, tasty with a portion of fries.Made the mistake initially of thinking the dish included fries as it came with ‘chips’ – but these were Doritos.Forgot the different terminology for what we call ‘chips!’
With a bit of time to spare, we popped in to the little village of Hanapepe but it didn’t compare in attractiveness to Hanalei.
The boat trip was a no frills options, just a sandwich and soft drink as part of the package.$165 each. We chose the afternoon sail as the morning trips went out very early at 7am.
Our Captain was a big character who gave us a very brief talk pre trip then we were off. The Amelia K was a more basic boat than in the photos but perfectly fine. It was choppy going out but the wind was behind us.The first 45 mins were not very interesting scenically as we passed the military area and the long isolated beach of Polihale where a car was being rescued that had got stuck -an expensive mistake!
Then the landscape improved with the cliffs appearing. We also got the good news that sea conditions at Na Pali were summer-like with very calm seas.Perfect!
What a brilliant trip! About 100 Spinner dolphins (small, slender dolphins unlike our large Bottle-nosed variety) accompanied us for 10minutes or so, performing spectacularly.
The cliffs themselves were impressive, multi coloured and jagged…impressive.
We weaved in and out of sea caves and through rock arches…
past small deserted beaches below the knife sharp outcrops looming over us.Fish swam around the boat in the shallower water…
Wild goats watched our approach and some very creepy jumping black crabs gave me the heeby jeebies as we cruised into one cave.
Some Frigate birds and Shearwaters cruised by. A Green Turtle swam away from us quickly.
The boat stopped for a time at the finest section of cliffs where everyone got their photo taken…
The light was a bit flat, my only complaint – it would have been good to see the sun lighting up the terraces and pinnacles – but I was more than happy with what we experienced.
To top it all, several Humpbacks surfaced near us and a few performed acrobatics…
Heading back, once away from the shelter of the north coast, the strengthening wind hit us full on and it was a roller coaster ride for a full 45 mins, the captain deliberately riding some of the wave tops in order to plunge us, juddering, into a trough! Pretty wild and not for anyone with a dodgy back!
Back in Princeville after a drive of less than 90 mins. Felt a huge relief that Na Pali had come off so brilliantly well.
70th birthday and a time to relax
Tuesday was my husband’s birthday – 70 years young! After a long day yesterday, his wish was to stay close to home, relax, enjoy a bit of swimming and snorkelling. Enjoyed a coffee in 1 Hotel again then strolled down to the hotel’s little stretches of sand through beautiful grounds.
Strangely, the weather was ok in the north though the south of the island was getting pelted with rain.We had one or two very light showers at most.
I liked that beach as it had lots of natural shade from palms, banyan and beach almond trees. It really was lovely. Unfortunately, the snorkelling wasn’t great, with very few fish and the water was also starting to get quite cloudy with the overnight rain. Walked along a woodland path to Hanalei beach itself.The light was changing a lot and I strolled along the sands taking photos…
Chris enjoying the shade after a swim…
Chris turned down my suggestion of dinner out and instead, his choice, we had rib eye steaks at home with fries and salad and then relaxed on our terrace.
It really was a beautiful evening and we reckoned there were at least 20 Humpbacks out in the ocean – they were blowing everywhere! I went for a stroll along Pali Ke Kua and found so many people out enjoying the same spectacle; it’s clearly a great whale spotting/sunset viewing spot.
What a beautiful evening it was from our grand terrace, just watching the light change…
Kilauea Lighthouse
I’d reserved tickets for a 10am visit to Kilaulea Lighthouse on Wed, our last full day though the forecast wasn’t great. However, it turned out to be another beautiful morning! Very different light on Hanalei…
What a fantastic place Kilauea is and we were so lucky to see it at its best. Before it opened, we did some bird spotting with the binoculars spotting one Laysan Albatross , Frigate birds, Red Footed Boobies(like our Gannets) and Long -tailed White Tropic birds. Plenty of Nene/Hawaiian Geese.Two Northern Cardinals (bright red birds)flitted about the trees.We’d seen plenty of Red Crested Cardinals hopping about our terrace (photo below.)
Nene also appeared when we were having breakfast and made rather a mess!
Myna birds were common everywhere with their distinctive call.
There were also Waxbills, very cute and tiny and bright yellow Saffron Finches.
Loved our time at Kilauea where we were allowed about 45 mins. The Ranger asked about my accent and said he loved Scotland.Had a chat about Orkney and Edinburgh – he was such a nice, interesting man and also pointed out to us , an Albatross on its nest. Would never have seen it otherwise.They need a long grassy slope from which to take off and it was nesting at the top of the steepest incline around.
Bought t- shirts for my two wee grandsons, with the logo of Kilauea Lighthouse. A big bonus was that they were also ‘glow in the dark’ – I knew that would go down well!
Stopped off at Hanalei Bread Company for tea, then decided on a drive along the coast past Tunnels Beach to Ke’e. Beautiful it was too on a sunny afternoon. Lumaha’i beach was difficult to park at due to the ground having been eroded into enormous troughs and potholes. Very big surf coming in to the beach though it was quite busy.
Tunnels beach looked beautiful too but impossible for swimming given the conditions.
Somehow, we missed the signposting for the gardens at Limahuli which I’d wanted to visit. Exploring anywhere new, we often get slightly overwhelmed, absorbing all the different sights and planned stop offs sometimes get overlooked.
Heavy rain came on in the early evening, really torrential. The plan had been to go to the Dolphin House restaurant for our last night but there were now weather warnings online and we were worried about the Hanalei bridge closing and getting stuck. I’d read the road can close extremely quickly given how quickly the river floods.
Lihue and leaving Kauai
Next morning, more heavy rain was forecast but initially it was sunny. Last drive through Princeville…then a final look at Hanalei beach…
Thought about delaying driving south to enjoy some lunch but with a flight to catch, decided it wasn’t worth the risk and we’d better get going!
The weather held allowing us to drive the short detour to see the waterfall at Opaeka’a. $5 each I recall to see it!I’m sure there are more spectacular falls on Kauai but given we have so many pretty much everywhere at home, it was nice but not wildly impressive.
I’d spied the Coconut Grove area near Kapa’a’s Cocunut Coast (beautiful name) which looked interesting but when we arrived, the rain was literally bouncing off the pavements.
Another lovely shopping complex though of course, everyone was hiding inside from the rain. Picked up some wee things to bring home as gifts – Macadamia Nut Chocolates, Kauai coasters and T shirts.
Stopped off at Lihue’s Museum and had a browse round the interesting exhibits though it was slightly confusing to follow. A stone bell which announced important occasions…
A dwelling…
It was strange seeing some photos of Hawaiian royalty dressed more like Victorians from Britain or Europe. The feather cloaks were superb – what artistry.
Ant then it was goodbye to Kauai as our Hawaiian Airways flight took off bang on time at 5pm.By the back of 6pm, we had landed on the Big Island’s Kona airport. The next stage of the adventure had begun!
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