Kauai-2nd day early departure, what to do?

[juneybugel]

We are sailing on the POA in January 2016. For the Kauai 2 day stop we are doing a helicopter tour the first morning we arrive. We are then renting a car around 12:30 pm and doing the drive up to Waimea Canyon with a hike or two along the way.

 

For the 2nd day we depart Kauai at 2 pm and will have the rental car back around 12:30 pm. Where would be best to go for the morning? I don't want to venture too far but would like to do something. We're not ones to lay on a beach but are more about exploring and appreciating beautiful scenery or whale watching (this trip is all about whale watching for me, much to my partner's chagrin!)

 

Is it worthwhile to spend some time around Poipu?

 

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

 

Rhonda

[CruisnDeb]

We are sailing on the POA in January 2016. For the Kauai 2 day stop we are doing a helicopter tour the first morning we arrive. We are then renting a car around 12:30 pm and doing the drive up to Waimea Canyon with a hike or two along the way.

 

For the 2nd day we depart Kauai at 2 pm and will have the rental car back around 12:30 pm. Where would be best to go for the morning? I don't want to venture too far but would like to do something. We're not ones to lay on a beach but are more about exploring and appreciating beautiful scenery or whale watching (this trip is all about whale watching for me, much to my partner's chagrin!)

 

Is it worthwhile to spend some time around Poipu?

 

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

 

Rhonda

 

What time are you doing the helicopter tour? I ask because they recently changed the port arrival time to 10:00 am.

[punkincc]

We are sailing on the POA in January 2016. For the Kauai 2 day stop we are doing a helicopter tour the first morning we arrive. We are then renting a car around 12:30 pm and doing the drive up to Waimea Canyon with a hike or two along the way.

 

For the 2nd day we depart Kauai at 2 pm and will have the rental car back around 12:30 pm. Where would be best to go for the morning? I don't want to venture too far but would like to do something. We're not ones to lay on a beach but are more about exploring and appreciating beautiful scenery or whale watching (this trip is all about whale watching for me, much to my partner's chagrin!)

 

Is it worthwhile to spend some time around Poipu?

 

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

 

Rhonda

 

 

Poipu might be an option. If you get an early start, you could drive up to the Princeville/Hanalie Bay area. The road dead ends up against the start of the Na Pali coast which you will sail along that afternoon. You can hike a bit of the Na Pali trail if you are adventurous and keep an eye on the time.

 

Being less adventurous, we opted to stick close to the ship on the second day and walked to the beach and shopping area at Kalapacki Bay just down the street and enjoyed drinks beachfront at the Duke's at the Mariott.

 

Do check with your heli tour. We did ours the earliest tour on Day 1 which I believe was a 9:00 pick up. Best visibility tends to be early in the day, as clouds tend to gather on the mountains as the day progresses. You could switch your heli to am of day 2, giving you all of day 1 to explore as far and as long as you want.

 

We will be on this cruise as well. Come on over to the Roll Call and join the discussion.

[Susan-M]

If you were beach people, then Poipu would work, but since you're driving that way the day before you could swing through Poipu to have a glance and then on to Waimea Canyon. The only problem is that sunset is between about 6 and 6:30 during January, so you would want to keep an eye on the clock if you don't want to be driving back in the dark from Waimea Canyon.

 

I'd suggest heading north as punkincc mentions, but with a 12:30 rental return, I don't think I'd attempt to get to the end of the hwy (at Ke'e Beach) and hike part of the trail. Perhaps go as far as Hanalei and return - here's a route that includes Wailua Falls and Kilauea Lighthouse - you could do some or all of these stops, but the one at the top of my list would be Kilauea Lighthouse.

Edited July 29, 2015 by Susan-M

[juneybugel]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I saw on cruise critic that our port time had changed for arrival in Kauai. We were originally scheduled for a 10 am helicopter ride but have now changed it to 12pm. We wanted to book the helicopter ride for the first day in case it was bad weather and we couldn't go we could always try to get a booking for the second morning.

 

Driving up to the lighthouse seems like a nice idea. Definitely going to look into that further.

 

I think driving up to the Napoli coast might be a little too ambitious and I'd worry about getting back on time.

[punkincc]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I saw on cruise critic that our port time had changed for arrival in Kauai. We were originally scheduled for a 10 am helicopter ride but have now changed it to 12pm. We wanted to book the helicopter ride for the first day in case it was bad weather and we couldn't go we could always try to get a booking for the second morning.

 

Driving up to the lighthouse seems like a nice idea. Definitely going to look into that further.

 

I think driving up to the Napoli coast might be a little too ambitious and I'd worry about getting back on time.

 

It is a 12:00 pick up or a 12:00 tour with an earlier pick up? The reason I ask is that there is paperwork and a safety movie to watch, maybe an hour before you actually get on the heli. And we waited awhile after our tour to get the video they record of your tour. Unfortunate that you are going to spend nearly your entire full day in Kauai doing this tour. But I understand you wanting to book the first day in case of bad weather. Darn 10:00 arrival!

 

Once the port time change is made, I'd try to find out what time people are actually getting off. I'd be very surprised if the ship was not there long before 10:00. In our experience, the ship is usually docked an hour, two or even more than the time listed as "arrival time". The "arrival time" is usually when you are actually walking off the ship. Maybe you can move your heli up a bit earlier.

[juneybugel]

Actually we rescheduled for 11:30 am tour, my apologies. We are going with Mauna Loa Helicopter tours and have to be there 45 mins prior to check-in. Supposedly it's a 10 min walk from the pier to the shopping mall to check in. We figure we will have our rental car and on the road by 1:30 pm.

 

I appreciate you pointing all of this out though as it's something I wouldn't have thought of. I'm assuming the 45 min check-in prior to tour is to do the weigh-in and paperwork, etc.

 

I'm really thinking now the 2nd day we will be on the road by 7am and up to the lighthouse and spend some time at Hanalei Bay. Looks like a nice place to check out and still have time to get back to the ship by 1:30 pm

[punkincc]

Actually we rescheduled for 11:30 am tour, my apologies. We are going with Mauna Loa Helicopter tours and have to be there 45 mins prior to check-in. Supposedly it's a 10 min walk from the pier to the shopping mall to check in. We figure we will have our rental car and on the road by 1:30 pm.

 

I appreciate you pointing all of this out though as it's something I wouldn't have thought of. I'm assuming the 45 min check-in prior to tour is to do the weigh-in and paperwork, etc.

 

I'm really thinking now the 2nd day we will be on the road by 7am and up to the lighthouse and spend some time at Hanalei Bay. Looks like a nice place to check out and still have time to get back to the ship by 1:30 pm

 

 

So you have to be there at 10:45 for your 11:30. Not sure when the new 10:00 port time change starts, but do follow this to see what time people actually get off.

 

My concern is that by 10:00 am, the entire ship is going to be ready and wanting to get off NOW as soon as the OK is given. You could be stuck in a very long line. This happened to us once in Alaska. Luckily we had priority escort off bypassing the lines, not that it did us any good, since other people on our tour were stuck in line and we had to wait nearly an hour for them to get off.

 

There are a couple shuttles which run continuously down to that same, I assume, shopping area. If your timing is right, you might luck out and catch one rather than walk. But 10 to 15 min sounds about right to walk it.

[juneybugel]

So you have to be there at 10:45 for your 11:30. Not sure when the new 10:00 port time change starts, but do follow this to see what time people actually get off.

 

My concern is that by 10:00 am, the entire ship is going to be ready and wanting to get off NOW as soon as the OK is given. You could be stuck in a very long line. This happened to us once in Alaska. Luckily we had priority escort off bypassing the lines, not that it did us any good, since other people on our tour were stuck in line and we had to wait nearly an hour for them to get off.

 

There are a couple shuttles which run continuously down to that same, I assume, shopping area. If your timing is right, you might luck out and catch one rather than walk. But 10 to 15 min sounds about right to walk it.

 

Yes, the new port time is not ideal. It's going to be a mess at the rental car agency I'm sure. I will definitely be watching for POA reviews to find out what time the ship actually docks and they start to let people off. We were told about the shuttle as well but definitely could walk if time is running short. Thanks for your help

[mainecooncat]

Actually we rescheduled for 11:30 am tour, my apologies. We are going with Mauna Loa Helicopter tours and have to be there 45 mins prior to check-in. Supposedly it's a 10 min walk from the pier to the shopping mall to check in. We figure we will have our rental car and on the road by 1:30 pm.

 

I appreciate you pointing all of this out though as it's something I wouldn't have thought of. I'm assuming the 45 min check-in prior to tour is to do the weigh-in and paperwork, etc.

 

I'm really thinking now the 2nd day we will be on the road by 7am and up to the lighthouse and spend some time at Hanalei Bay. Looks like a nice place to check out and still have time to get back to the ship by 1:30 pm

 

Hi juneybugel:

 

Did you get to take the helicopter trip with Mauna Loa? We were thinking of using them in November and wondering how it was?

[kgymn]

You would easily have time to drive up to the edge of the Napali coast and back before sail away. We did that and stopped at a couple beaches and did some quick shopping and were back to the ship in plenty of time. You can make it as early a morning as you wish, since the ship is already in port, so you still have quite a bit of time. The one lane bridges and the gorgeous scenery along the northern coast were a highlight of our day.

 

~Katy

[juneybugel]

Hi juneybugel:

 

Did you get to take the helicopter trip with Mauna Loa? We were thinking of using them in November and wondering how it was?

 

 

Hi Mainecooncat, our cruise isn't until January 2016 so we're still waiting!