Monday I got the Kauai beach resort about 3:00 P.M. For some reason my laptop wouldn’t pick up the wireless internet that the hotel had available on the first floor. The Ethernet connector for laptops in the business center at the Kauai beach resort was also broken. Because I didn’t have the opportunity to plan much of my trip before coming out to Kauai I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out the internet problems. I discovered the wireless network worked on my phone so I looked up local places to eat on my phone. I then went into the town of Lihue and ate. After eating I went back to the hotel and decided it was best if I just spent the $40 for a week of internet in my room. After that I started driving the main road and went to a park with a beach a couple miles away from my hotel. I wasn’t there long because it was already starting to get dark. I went back to the hotel and went to bed fairly early as I was a bit tired from traveling.
Tuesday was a great day. I started the day by driving to a waterfall I remembered seeing signs for when I went into town on Monday. It was a 300 foot waterfall that you could see from the street. Seeing the waterfall from the street wasn’t quite good enough for me. I made my way to the top of the waterfall which is much more my speed (up close and personal). While I was up there I saw a large tree truck hanging out in the river. It was too tempting. I had to chuck it over the waterfall. It made a huge crashing sound when it hit the bottom. I started laughing because it was so loud and bailed out of there before I drew any more attention to myself.
From the waterfall I took a main highway up north until it ended. It was only about 40 miles but took 1 ½ hours to drive. The average speed in Kauai is 35 MPH and drivers don’t go much faster than that so you have to plan for much longer travel times than you would expect.
The highway ends at a beach and trailhead. After looking at all the warning signs I decided to do a hike to a waterfall that they said was “strenuous” and posted signs suggested 8-16 hours for. It was 4 miles and 4 miles out.
The first two miles was a hike to another beach. These trails are popular so in the beginning there are a lot of people going up at the 1 hr per mile pace. They were fairly good about getting out of my way though (especially when I was running). The scenery was absolutely spectacular. There were beautiful views of the sharp green cliffs of north Kauai with the endless blue ocean. This is the most beautiful hike I’ve ever been on.
A view from the trail
After the first two mile hike there is another two mile trail to a large waterfall. Along this trail I was able to see all types of trees and plants. Bamboo on Kauai is huge. Some of it was about 4” in diameter. I also saw some interesting trees that I haven’t seen before. expedited passport
The trail follows a river (which I really like) and crosses the river quite a few times. In some areas the trail isn’t well marked so picking it up again can be tricky. Because it isn’t well marked people getting lost trying to find the trail have worn what looks like a trail into the dirt in some areas which makes it even more difficult to find the right path.
When you arrive at the waterfall there is a large pool you can swim in. I took the opportunity to jump in and swim under the waterfall. It was a nice refreshing break. After I’d climbed the hills around the falls and explored a bit I started heading back.
Waterfall and swimming pool at the end of the hike
I ran a good portion of the trail on the way back. As I was heading back a middle aged couple asked me if I was going back to the falls. Apparently I had passed them, got turned around crossing the river back and forth, and ran into them again. I thanked them for letting me know I was heading in the wrong direction (I must have passed many others that didn’t realize it or didn’t tell me) and turned around. The first 6 miles of the hike weren’t too bad. The 7th mile is a little tough. There is a lot of steep uphill parts in the 7th mile. After making it through the 7th mile I was able to start running again. Right near the end a young couple that was traveling at a good pace said, “we were wondering when you’d catch up to us again.” Apparently they saw me going the wrong way too. The total time it took me was 3H and 30M including the time I spent at the falls and beach (and backtracking). winches
I ran into another group on my way back from the falls. There were two ladies and two kids on their way up. The ladies looked like they were going to die. Unfortunately for them they were on mile 3 of 8. I told them it was another 25 minutes or so to the waterfall and they made complaining whining noises (I realized later when I got back to the beach in the middle that it was was probably another hour or more at their pace).
After the hike I grabbed my snorkeling gear and headed to the beach at the beginning of the trailhead as this is one of the best places to snorkel on the island. I saw a small barracuda, many fish, and some urchins. After running/hiking 8+ miles and swimming my legs started cramping up after being in the water for 1 hour so I decided by body was done for the day and headed back to my car. As I headed back to my car the couple that told me I was going the wrong way on the trail honked and waved as they drove by. Apparently the time I spent at the beach was just enough time for them to finish the last 3 miles or so of the trail. asme bpvc
Tuesday evening I checked out the pools and hot tubs at the hotel. They were very nice. The hot tub had one great hard jet that I took advantage of. After soaking for awhile I wondered off to the beach near the hotel. It was dark so I was exploring more than anything.
Wednesday I headed out to a another waterfall I saw signs for when driving north on Tuesday. This waterfall could be seen from the street but unfortunately was way too far away to get to. After checking that out I went to a local beach. Right when I got there I got a call from a company I scheduled a helicopter tour with for Thursday. They said they had an opening that day so I took them up on it. I made sure I had my camera and extra batteries for the flight and headed to their place.
When we took off the in the helicopter my camera batteries died after two pictures. I changed the batteries and realized my backup batteries were also dead. I did take my smart phone also just in case something ridiculous like that happened and I was able to take pictures with my phone. My normal camera is better than a phone camera but the phone pictures turned out pretty good too.
The helicopter tour was great. We toured the entire island in about 45 minutes. The tour included many waterfalls, mountains, and beaches. There was a fall that was 3000+ ft. It would have broken the world record but because it dumps into pools before continuing in a few different spots it didn’t count.
One advantage of taking a helicopter instead of a plane is the maneuverability. At the major falls the pilot was able to turn the helicopter so people on both sides got a good view and pictures before continuing on.
Picture from the helicopter tour
One thing you will hear about 100 times while on Kauai is a reference to the wettest spot on earth. On average it rains 450 inches per year on a mountain in the middle of the island and that is why there are so many spectacular waterfalls.
Thursday was beach and body boarding day. I rented a board early in the morning and headed to a beach with good waves. The waves in Hawaii are amazing. There are great barrels to ride. I got many good rides and when my stomach was getting chaffed I dumped the board and just went out in my fins. Body surfing was also a lot of fun.
One thing that struck me as strange was that the waves didn’t feel as powerful as California waves. It was a lot easier for me to get out as I didn’t feel like the waves were pushing me back very hard. It was a lot of fun.
When I got back to the beach to relax I noticed some girls next to me kept looking at me. I looked in their direction and one of them was smiling at me so I said “hi” and asked them where they were from. They said they were from France (with their accents). They travel together a lot and never have a plan when they go anywhere. Since I didn’t have a plan that day either I spent most the day with them. Went went into town to eat and went to a local waterfall. In the evening I met up with them again. We went out for dinner at a place in town.
When we were eating dinner they ran into one of the locals they talked to the day before. He invited us all back to his place. When we got there we played ping pong and pool. They went to their backyard and cut down a coconut for us also as we hadn’t tried it. The coconut water/milk was pretty good. The coconut itself was good too. It wasn’t a flavor I expected. When it’s fresh it is like a melon.
We were hanging out until 12:45 A.M. or so until we called it a night. I had to wake up at 6:30 or so the next morning so I didn’t want to stay out too much later.
Friday was a bit packed. I had to return the body board I rented before I went on a tour. I had to be at the meeting place for the tour at 8:30 and the body board place didn’t open until 8:00 A.M. I returned the board and made it to the tour place about 8:28 or so.
The tour was a lot of fun. We had great tour guides. It started with 4 miles of Kayaking up the river. This was my first time on a Kayak. The kayaks were for two people and the guide said he could go with me as everyone else had someone to go with. I asked him if I could go by myself instead (I wanted to mess around). He said that would be fine. It was a relaxing stroll on the river and I had my freedom to explore a bit.
After kayaking we went for a short hike to a swimming hole. There was a rope swing there so I swung into the pool a couple times. Later on in the tour one of the couples said I had welts all over my back when I was swinging on the rope swing. Apparently the mosquitoes were getting me (they always go for me).
After the rope swing we rode up to a location where a zip line was setup. The first zip line was 800 feet. I asked one of the tour guides how I could go the fastest. She said the cannon ball is the best but I can’t do it on this one because the other tour guide has to slow me down at the end. She did say the next one was fair game though. There was a great view as you went down the zip line. I took a video of it as I went down.
The second zip line was 1800 feet. This one the tour guides said we could go upside-down on if we’d like. Following the earlier advice I decided to do an upside-down cannon ball. I got a good amount of speed by the time I got to the lowest point and went higher up the other side than all of the others (haha, I’m competitive and figured he who went the highest won). That zip line was setup in a U shape so you go up, back, then up again until you stop and get off on a ladder. The tour guide said she had never seen an upside-down cannonball before so that is my mark on the zip line course.
After the long zip line we hiked down to another water hole. This one had a small zip line setup over the water hole. You could swing from it into the water. It was about 12 feet off the water or so. I tried it once but it was kind of weak.
There was also a platform that was 18 feet up that you could jump from into the water hole also. I jumped from that at normal height twice. When the tour guide next to the platform was distracted I climbed onto the rails and jumped from those while she wasn’t looking (haha).
After that we hiked again along a river and back to the river we kayaked in on. From there we took a boat back to the starting point.
After the tour I headed out to the west side of the island. I traveled up a mountain to see the Waimea Canyon AKA “the grand canyon of the pacific.” It was amazing. It looked like a small grand canyon only much greener. The dirt (red from rust) and the green trees and plants gave it a lot of color. I rushed to three different lookout points trying to make it before the sun went down. I barely made it to the last lookout point with enough daylight to see the view. It was definitely a beautiful place.
Waimea Canyon lookout point
After seeing the Waimea Canyon it was time to head back to the airport. All in all it was a great trip and I enjoyed every minute of it. I’ll have to see much more of Hawaii in the future.