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Questions for Kauai


pepcab
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We are on the POA Dec8/18 and when we stop at Kauai I am stuck on what to do. I have always wanted to tour this island and want to make the most of our time. We will be DIYing it so it will be tricky time wise. I was thinking driving through Waimea Canyon and Koke's with stops at Kalalau Lookout and Ke'e beach and possibly Pu'uO Kila Lookout. Then maybe stopping at Polihale State Park on the way back down for the sunset view. Any input on this itinerary for day 1 of Kauai would be appreciated.

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Driving all of Kauai in one day would be too much driving for me.

 

We decide whether to explore the drier southern end of the island or the more lush northern end. Checking your proposed route on Google Maps that’s 7 hours of driving & over 200 miles. Add some time at each destination & that’s too much for me in one day.

 

Due to the inaccessible Na Pali area preventing circling Kauai you’d do a lot of backtracking to see everything in one day. You didn’t say how many hours you’ll be on Kauai but your proposal for one day is too much time viewing the Garden Isle from a car for me.

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AstroFlyer is right - much too much driving for one day Many of the roads on Kauai are 2 lane, often winding, and traffic at certain times of day (especially late afternoon getting back to the ship)can be unexpectedly awful. Pick either the northern or southern route, not both Remember you're on "Island Time" and this is one of those times when you want to enjoy what you're experiencing rather than rushing from place to place.

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We were on the poa a week ago. We rented a suburban from Alamo it wasn’t very expensive . The shuttle from ship to port was just a couple miles . It was raining and all excursions were cancelled but we had prepaid for vehicle so off we went to Waimea canyon anyway . The weather and sights were very nice . It was an easy six hour day trip . We made all the way to the last lookout . We also stopped at kauai coffee plantation on the way back . Well worth the stop.

 

 

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No just for the Thursday in Kauai. The ship leaves around 2:00 on Friday for Nepali coastline so not much time to see sights on Friday unless you are early risers which we aren’t . My brother in law and niece did rent scooters on Friday morning and had a great time and managed to dodge all the chickens .

 

 

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We will be on the POA on 4-21. For Kauai, we have booked a helicopter tour Thursday morning and a rental car to be picked up after the copter. Don't know where we are going yet, but it will be fun. We are not ones to vegge on a beach, but we will enjoy trying all the shave ice and donut places we have seen recommended. We will park the car at the airport Thursday evening and drive some more Friday morning.....unless we decide not to. The BudgetHawaii lady told me there is a parking lot at the pier, but she seems to be the only person in the world who knows about it. We will check it out but haven't seen it mentioned here so are doubting.

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We will be on the POA on 4-21. For Kauai, we have booked a helicopter tour Thursday morning and a rental car to be picked up after the copter. Don't know where we are going yet, but it will be fun. We are not ones to vegge on a beach, but we will enjoy trying all the shave ice and donut places we have seen recommended. We will park the car at the airport Thursday evening and drive some more Friday morning.....unless we decide not to. The BudgetHawaii lady told me there is a parking lot at the pier, but she seems to be the only person in the world who knows about it. We will check it out but haven't seen it mentioned here so are doubting.

 

 

 

Skip the shave ice and donuts and head straight for Hamura Saimin in Lihue on Kress St.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's been a few years since we cruised to Kauai but are heading back soon. I agree the Hamura Siamin was super tasty...and had amazing lilikoi pie! Another foodie favorite we are excited to have again is the Puka Dog in Poipu. If only we could recreate that here at home! In Hanalei, we had shaved ice from a food truck. All memorable.

 

When we cruised with POA, we had two days and managed to travel to both ends of the island in those two days. We also did powered hang gliding over the Napali Coast and even hiked a bit when we drove there. A treat was seeing the Coast from the ship as we sailed away! Our friends really enjoyed a kayaking excursion.

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We just got back last week. We rented our SUV for only 1 day. We got out early, rented the car, drove to the closest waterfall and went on a Cessna with Wings over Kauai. We started driving to the canyon about 11:30. Bring food from the ship. We got the Shaka app. Really cheap and works great ! We stopped at all of the lookouts in the pouring rain and went all the way to the top. Didn't see much due to the rain, but the app provided a lot of information. Rain stopped, so we stopped at all the lookouts again on the way down again. It took extra time, but was worth it as we saw much better views. We wanted to go to the other side of the island, but got stuck in traffic on the way back. It was 6:00pm by the time we got back and was starting to get dark. We didn't want to bother with a car the next day due to the early departure time. We hung out by the beach near the Marriot and waited until Duke's opened at 11:00 to get a piece of the famous Hula Pie.

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Aloha! We didn't visit Kalalau Trail/Ke'e Beach/Pu'u O Kila lookout, but they seem pretty remote so I'd definitely do them on day 1 so there's no worries about getting back to the ship in time. I can tell you that we reached Waimea canyon's top lookout in 30-40 minutes from Lihue. Keep in mind you'll be getting a view of those areas during sail-away from Kauai. I guess it all depends how close of a view you want!!

We were on POA 4/7-14. We rented a car for both days. First day itinerary was Wailua Falls then driving to the north shore (using the Shaka Guide app) Went to Hanalei Bay and walked the pier and beach, walked through town, shopped, had lunch at a food truck - poke bowls! Then some shave ice at JoJo's. Stopped in Princeville for more sight-seeing and a drink at a local tiki bar. We were back in time to change then hit Duke's (which is walking distance to ship) for dinner/drinks/relaxation - super amazing day!!!

On day 2 we drove to Waimea Canyon. Glad we didn't bother stopping to take pics on the way up because they don't compare to the view from the top!!! Luckily we had a gorgeous, clear day and our pics are amazing. We were back in time to return the rental car, take the shuttle back to the ship and make it to Duke's for lunch/drinks/more relaxation - it was another incredible day. I love Kauai <3

As for overnight parking, we were concerned, but there is FREE street parking right along Nawiliwili Rd (58) between Wilcox Road and Waapa Road. We were shocked when we saw others parked there so we grabbed a spot for the night. There's only room for about 10 - 12 cars so grab one there if you can! Aloha

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  • 1 month later...
We will be on the POA on 4-21. For Kauai, we have booked a helicopter tour Thursday morning and a rental car to be picked up after the copter.

 

Could you let me know which company you booked the helicopter with, or was it a ship tour?

Thanks

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Has anyone done the Tubing The Ditch tour or the plantation with the railway? Is a rental car recommended or would a taxi suffice? They both seem to be off the same highway and not terribly far apart, just thinking if there is time to do both

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  • 2 weeks later...

We are doing the Zip n Dip thru Princeville Ranch. I have a rental car that we will pick up and she encouraged me to go with the 12:00 slot so we had plenty of time to get the car and get up there. She said driving is not as fast there as it is on the mainland! It's our overnight, so we can see a few beaches up there, maybe catch the sunset before we head back to the ship.

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We flew with Moana Loa helicopters because they are small and all three of us had a window. Not really since we flew doors off, but nobody had to look over another person to see outside. The bigger copters seat some in the middle and the view is not as good. You have no choice of where to sit because they use to weights of passengers to balance everything. If driving to Princeville, I again recommend the Shaka guide I installed on my phone free. The tours are purchased within the app. We used the North Shore Kauai Tour, which gave us the location of several beautiful beaches and told us how to get there. We did not get all the way to Princeville because of rain, but the Tour goes all the way.

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  • 3 months later...
We will be on the POA on 4-21. For Kauai, we have booked a helicopter tour Thursday morning and a rental car to be picked up after the copter. Don't know where we are going yet, but it will be fun. We are not ones to vegge on a beach, but we will enjoy trying all the shave ice and donut places we have seen recommended. We will park the car at the airport Thursday evening and drive some more Friday morning.....unless we decide not to. The BudgetHawaii lady told me there is a parking lot at the pier, but she seems to be the only person in the world who knows about it. We will check it out but haven't seen it mentioned here so are doubting.

We are planning to take a helicopter ride with Blue Hawaiian and we want to rent a car directly following the ride. I called BH and they said that they could not drop us by the car rental place (Thrifty) even though its less than a mile from the Heliport. How are you handling your car rental after your helicopter ride? Not sure what to do. Thanks!

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We flew with Muana Loa helicopters (fantastic)\ We took a shuttle from the ship to the shopping center where the Muana Loa office is located (there are three shopping centers nearby so pay attention to the name of the one you need) The girls at the office drove us to the airport for our ride and then, after the ride, dropped us off at the Dollar office at the airport instead of bringing us back into town. We were lucky, because we assumed we would stay at the airport for our car, without even thinking it might not be possible. We didn't realize how spread out the various rental places are around the airport and thought we would walk. So our experience won't help you. If Blue Hawaii can't do that, where will they bring you? If they bring you back to the ship, does Thrifty have a shuttle at the port? You might think about trying to get your car before you do Blue Hawaii. Take the Thrifty shuttle to pick up your car and then drive to Blue Hawaii. Have a great trip!

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We just got back last week. We rented our SUV for only 1 day. We got out early, rented the car, drove to the closest waterfall and went on a Cessna with Wings over Kauai. We started driving to the canyon about 11:30. Bring food from the ship. We got the Shaka app. Really cheap and works great ! We stopped at all of the lookouts in the pouring rain and went all the way to the top. Didn't see much due to the rain, but the app provided a lot of information. Rain stopped, so we stopped at all the lookouts again on the way down again. It took extra time, but was worth it as we saw much better views. We wanted to go to the other side of the island, but got stuck in traffic on the way back. It was 6:00pm by the time we got back and was starting to get dark. We didn't want to bother with a car the next day due to the early departure time. We hung out by the beach near the Marriot and waited until Duke's opened at 11:00 to get a piece of the famous Hula Pie.

 

 

 

Did you have to get a day pass to use their facilities? Were you able to get chairs for the beach?

Thanks

 

 

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Did you have to get a day pass to use their facilities? Were you able to get chairs for the beach?

Thanks

 

 

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The beach adjacent to Duke's is a public one and anyone can eat/drink at Duke's. Using the Marriott's pools and other facilities are a different story.

I think the person you quoted said they brought food off the ship. Not a good thing to do - not just on a Hawaiian island but anywhere else in the world where agriculture is a mainstay of the economy and such a thoughtless/selfish act is often illegal as well. Likewise, leave the sand alone. It's the hitchhiking "bugs" you can't see that invades/decimates crops in journey locations that follow.

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