Going to Kauai - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Jordan! · 03-12-2010, 11:39 AM

Been insanely busy the past 2 years.. so it's time to go somewhere and turn everything off. Kauai looks to be the place to do just that.

Any recommendations on places to see? Or just general opinions?

Thanks!

surferguy · 03-12-2010, 11:42 AM

I will piggy back this thread as I too am off to Kuaui in three weeks.

gargamel · 03-12-2010, 11:46 AM

The helicopter ride is expensive, but it's worth it. Here's a link the the company that I used, and I think they're the only ones that will take you up with the door removed. http://www.interislandhelicopters.com/

Other than that, I'd suggest hiking at least part of the NaPali coast, but you can't really go wrong with anything on the island. If you take a snorkling tour, make sure that snorkling is guaranteed, because we spent the day on a boat only to be told that the water was too cloudy and that there could be sharks.

Anyway, it's the most beautiful and relaxing place I've been, and you should have a great time as long as you aren't looking for nightlife because there isn't a whole lot of that.

bigtmac19 · 03-12-2010, 11:57 AM

Lumahai Beach

Ducay · 03-12-2010, 11:59 AM

I was just there for my honeymoon in Dec. Hmmm where to start.

Definitly hit up a plane tour with "Wings over Kauai"; its just a dude and his wife, he's a former biologist and he has so much cool info on the island. Its cheaper than a heli tour and wayyy more personal. It just seats you 2 plus the pilot, and he's talking to you the whole time. All the heli tours are just canned recordings. Hell, he even let the wife do all the requests with the control tower!

http://www.wingsoverkauai.com/

Aside from that there are a lot of things to do; where are you guys all staying?

Jordan! · 03-12-2010, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gargamel

ks.

Anyway, it's the most beautiful and relaxing place I've been, and you should have a great time as long as you aren't looking for nightlife because there isn't a whole lot of that.

Exactly what i'm looking for.. just want to do, nothing basically outside of seeing the natural beauty of the Island.

Ahhh

FurnaceFace · 03-12-2010, 12:19 PM

We were there September 08 and stayed in the Poipo area. Our experiences are focused on the south part of the island.

Jack Harter does a no door tour. http://www.helicopters-kauai.com/
You must do the no door tour from whatever company you pick. Must. Just pay the money and go, don't ask questions. They DO NOT have a canned recording. You have 2 - way communication with the pilot the whole time.

Waimea Canyon - go hike some of it

Na Pali Coast - The weather can sometimes be unpredictable and if the waves are up I don't think most of the boats go. If you happen to be staying on the north side then you can hike to the beaches fairly easily.

Snorkeling with turtles - I can't remember the name of the company we went with on our snorkeling tour but the leader was excellent. She is a marine biologist so she knows something more than "they're green". Really good tour, nothing fancy. It was just a smaller boat (not a cat) so it might be a little wavey at times. I'll try and search for the card at home.

Diving - Scuba Steve is the man. http://www.scubasteveonkauai.com/ . He's a bit of a goofball at first but his attitude is infectious. I found him online and sent him an email to book and he phoned me back to confirm everything. I was pretty damn impressed with that alone. He also has a unique Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle PADI specialty course which he runs. Highly recommend if you're divers, you'll never look at turtles the same way again.

If you want specifics it seems there are a few of us who could answer. And lastly, my pics:

http://www.stadevene.com/kauai.html

HotHotHeat · 03-12-2010, 12:30 PM

Not to be a downer, but the entire North side of the island is one huge retirement home. Zero night life, very little happening during the day. Great golf though.

Kauai is the most lush of any of the Hawaiian Islands, so you can expect rain.

Seriously beautiful place.

FurnaceFace · 03-12-2010, 12:41 PM

I hope nobody goes to Kauai for nightlife. It's the island to relaaaaaaax.

Buff · 03-12-2010, 01:48 PM

Definitely take a helicopter tour. Must must must! Well worth the money. This is the tour we took: http://www.islandhelicopters.com/Our pilot was actually from Canada, and he spent quite a bit of time in Southern Alberta.

We also took a bus tour, it was pretty good. We also did a lot of snorkelling. We rented gear from Snorkel Bob's. Back in 2004 it was really cheap to rent and the equipment was adequate. My buddy and his wife took surfing lessons at Hanalei Bay, while we just lounged on the beach, laughing at them as they fall off. If you've never surfed and you too want to take lessons, you should realize that you'll wait and wait and wait for a wave, only to be knocked off of the board in under 2 seconds!

The one thing that I really enjoyed about Kauai was how it was so peaceful and relaxing... man I REALLY need to go back to Kauai right now.

Here is a really quickly made (and cheaply made too) site I made with pictures of my trip to Kauai in 2004. We also spent a couple of days in Waikiki so there are some pics of that too.
http://members.shaw.ca/buffsplace/

Cheerio · 03-12-2010, 01:51 PM

When i was there we did some kayaking which was a ton of fun

Jordan! · 03-12-2010, 04:53 PM

Yesss, booked. Just $649 w/ taxes amazing. Checking out your photo's buff. Nice!

jharp · 03-13-2010, 09:56 PM

I am going to Honolulu in May. Likely going to stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa which looks beautiful. The best site I can find to book a flight and room so far has been Travelosity for the most part and Expedia to a lesser extend.

Does anyone know a better site to book through or have any horror stories about either of these sites? Has anyone stayed at this hotel? All the reviews I can find have been overwhelmingly positive but it is always nice to get opinions from CP.

My other main concern is travel insurance; any issue with using the websites built in service or am I better off to go with AMA something like that?

Thanks very much for any input anyone has!

Ryan Coke · 03-13-2010, 10:58 PM

We were in Kauai a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. Waimea Canyon was awesome. Impressed me more than the Grand Canyon since I wasn't expecting nearly as much.

The water on the north side where the Napali coast is can be rough this time of year, but it is a gorgeous area. We did a zodiac raft tour and got very lucky with excellent weather in February. It was a great time, would definitely recommend it. We went through Captain Andy's. I'd love to do a kayak of the Napali coast but it has to be at the right time of year. Other than that we went for some drives, some hikes, ate and drank a lot, and just relaxed.

Would definitely recommend it if that is what you're after.

Inferno · 03-14-2010, 11:23 AM

Me and my family are planning a trip to Hawaii for Christmas. Both my parents and sister have gone the past year and they loved it so much that if they ever could afford it they would move there in a heartbeat. Two things I definitely want to do is visit Pearl Harbour and go see the volcanoes. But I'd also really like to go deep sea fishing.

Jordan! · 03-14-2010, 12:38 PM

I'm booked to stay at the Kauai Beach Resort. http://www.kauaibeachresorthawaii.com/

I was hoping to find a place with a kitchenette but I couldn't find a place that was quality+price range.

FurnaceFace · 03-14-2010, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bouw N Arrow

I'm booked to stay at the Kauai Beach Resort. http://www.kauaibeachresorthawaii.com/

I was hoping to find a place with a kitchenette but I couldn't find a place that was quality+price range.

There are lots of condo's for rent. The one we rented was in the Kiahuna (sp) complex and we had resort benefits like an on site excursion coordinator so we just booked the helicopter tour and snorkel trip through them.

Jordan! · 03-14-2010, 12:50 PM

Can anyone recommend a good snorkel site?

FurnaceFace · 03-14-2010, 01:03 PM

Assuming you have a car, there are places in the south. Poipu Beach park has a decent area and even makes the this top 10 list.

http://www.bestplaceshawaii.com/tips...norkeling.html

And a couple of other lists:
http://www.kauaiexplorer.com/guides/...snorkeling.php
http://www.tropicalsnorkeling.com/ka...ng-hawaii.html

The Napali coast sites are supposed to be good although I have no experience with them. The weather is pretty tricky on that coast.

I wish I could remember the name of the company who we did our tour with, they were really good.

EDIT: Found the company. http://www.kauaiseariders.com/
I appreciate tours like this with someone who has studied the animals you are going to see and Tara has the experience. I recall her saying the week before she had Disney/Pixar our scouting locations for a movie.

Ducay · 03-14-2010, 05:29 PM

The Poipu snokerling are mentioned is pretty wierd. Its located right on Poipu beach, which is a pretty busy public beach. I just happened to randomly go snokerling there, and low and behond, as soon as I got in the water I was surrounded by all sorts of colorful fish....which I was not expecting on your typical touristy beach.