After days of non-stop island fun we decided that it was time for a slow day. We planned to just relax on this day. We woke up early like we did every day in Hawaii. We had breakfast by the pool and headed to lay down. I later took a short nap on Kalapaki beach right outside our hotel.
After a couple of hours of relaxation we were ready to explore the island. We decided to go to the South Shore to visit Poipu Beach. The road to and from Poipu Beach was beautiful. I bought a post card with a beautiful picture of this road that says "Highway to heaven".
When I was looking for a hotel for our honeymoon, I considered the Sheraton Kauai. It was my top choice except that it was under remodeling until September and the main pool was closed. After seeing the hotel and the beach I am glad with the choice that we decided to stay at the Marriott Kauai. Poipu Beach was beautiful, but a little crowded.
We had lunch at Brenneckes across Poipu Beach. We had a couple of Mai Tais and then headed to the beach to work on our tans. Brenneckes is a nice, casual restaurant with a large balcony overlooking Poipu Beach.
View from Brenneckes
Everywhere in Kauai there were roosters walking around. EVERYWHERE. I got a magnet that says "The real Kauai" and it is a picture of a rooster.
Rooster at Poipu Beach
Poipu Beach
After too much sun, we started driving around. We took a wrong turn and found a cliff with a beautiful view. We wanted to visit Koloa, a small town. We asked locals were the best beach around was. They told us to go to a Beach at the east end of Poipu Road. We were lucky to have a 4x4 jeep to get there. The paved road ended and we followed a long dirt road. We were too late to make it to the beach. The beach parking lot closed at 6:00 PM and there was a sign saying that gate gets locked at that time. We kept driving on the opposite direction of the beach and found a stable followed by another dirt road that lead towards the water. I later found a map with the information and the address of CJM Country Stables.
Another Beach in the South side of the Island
The following pictures are the ones that we took from the end of the road past the stable and got lost on purpose.
We arrived to Kauai at 5:00 PM. For this part of the trip, we upgraded our car to a 4x4 jeep. It was only $15 per day extra. This was probably one of the best decisions that we made for this trip. We read that most of Kauai is not easily accessible. We planned to do a helicopter tour as well as a Catamaran ride. We had 5 nights in Kauai and we only planned for 2 activities. This is what a real vacation should be like, not like I always do planning 100 things for 5 days.
We checked in at the hotel and this time I made sure that this time I was registered. We stayed at the Kauai Marriott Resort again and I didn't want to get the same thing that happened in Waikiki happening to me again. The Marriott Kauai is located in Kalapaki Beach. This beach is never mentioned in travel books as one of the best beaches in Kauai, but it is beautiful and not so crowded. The hotel was also beautiful and HUGE. We could not figure out the style. We kept saying the hotel designer had an crisis between asian and roman styles and just decided to combine both styles.
The gardens were my favorite part of the hotel
I love to look at Koi fishes
The hotel had an activity to feed the Koi every day at 9:00AM. I was there along with the kids.
The hotel Lobby
Kauai's island map shows all the movies that have been filmed there. It is really an island that is perfect for a movie. Maybe I spent too much time in Islands of Adventure to imagine what it would be like to live in Jurassic Park times. After walking around the hotel, we went to the beach to relax for a little before going out for dinner.
For dinner, we asked a valet for directions to find typical Hawaiian food around. He told us to visit Sone's at the Kukui Grove Shopping Center located about 10 minutes away from the hotel. We drove there, and the food was terrible. The place was packed and we assumed that it was going to be good. I knew that Hawaiian food wasn't great, but this was bad. We stayed around the shopping center because they were having live music. Andre ended up eating McDonalds which he hates, and I had frozen yogurt. I could eat dessert as my main meal every day. When we returned to the hotel, our new friend the valet asked how was dinner. We couldn't tell him that we hated it, so we lied and said it was great. This was a bad idea to ask locals for their favorite food. At least we tried.
This was our last morning in Honolulu. We woke up early, and headed to the Diamond Head. We wanted to go to the top and see Honolulu from a different angle. The inactive volcano is one of the most beautiful sites from Oahu. It was used as a military observation point. You can drive to the base of the volcano and start the hike from there. The park fee was $5.
We expected an easy to moderate hike. It was HARD!! It was "easy" because the trail was marked and paved in some sections. However, there are several sets ofsteep stairs, and tunnels with little air that leave you exhausted. The view from the top is absolutely beautiful and it is worth all the effort. The hike was about 45 minutes going up and 15 minutes coming down.
The first set of steep stairs
The second set of stairs
Waikiki Beach from the top of the Diamond Head
After a shower, we went to the airport to take our flight to Kauai. Our flight was on time and it was less than 1 hour. I always heard that it was easy to travel between the Hawaiian Islands and it really was. We used Hawaiian Airlines and everything was great.
We took advantage of our time difference and woke up early every day. Everything in Hawaii opens early, so it is perfect. The first thing we did in the morning was to ask if our bag arrived. The bag arrived the night before, and we were relived to have it with us since we were leaving for Kauai the next day.
Our second day in Honolulu was our only full day to see this side of the island. Months before our trip, I suscribed to the groupon emails for Honolulu. I bought one for a Catamaran ride to go snorkerling with turtles. We went from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. The ride included breakfast and snorkeling in Turtle Canyon. The breakfast offered was coffee, fruit, and donuts. We also had 2 drink tickets. The actual snorkeling time was about 1 hour. We saw a few turtles, but not as many fishes as I expected to see. I actually forgot about the underwater disposable cameras until now. I want to see how the pictures came out. It was hard to take pictures of the turtles. They were far, and we were swimming in an area where other 2 catamarans stopped. The other catamarans didn't make people wear lifejackets. I know it's good to wear them, but it is hard to swim with them. There were 2 lifeguards that were always watching us, and making sure that we didn't get too far. I felt safe, and I was glad that the current was not too strong. I know how to swim, but I'm not a great swimmer.
We used Makani Catamaran. I got it at 50% off from groupon, but the regular price is $64. According to their website, the package that we took was the Waikiki’s Turtle Canyon Snorkel/Sail Combo (9am –12pm, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays Only). They say that includes Snorkel Gear, Lifejackets, Breakfast Pastries, Fresh Fruit Salad, Complimentary Coffee, and 2 Complimentary Beverages. I will definitely recommend them, the food was not great, but the crew was extremely nice. They recommended one Catamaran company in Kauai that we ended up using. I will post those pictures in a later post.
Before sailing
The Diamond Head
The deep blue Hawaiian water
After the snorkeling and the nice ride in catamaran, we drove towards China Town. We drove a few streets that our book said were the most important and we were not impressed. I did buy a Lei from one of the many shops in China Town. This is the cheapest place to buy leis.
After China Town, we started our drive towards the south east side of the island. I loved this side of the island 3 years ago. The road has scenic stops where you can pull over and take pictures. You do want to rent a car in hawaii to explore the island and get lost on purpose. Everything is beautiful. Driving the coast with many beautiful beaches or heading to the mountains.
One of the most see places along the east side is Hanauma Bay. I have not done snorkeling here, but it's supposed to be one of the best places in the island. it looks very crowded so I haven't been very tempted. I love to see the spectacular cliffs on the east coast. It is probably my favorite side of the island along with the North Shore.
Not so crowded at the end of the day
I made this video while we were driving around the East side of the Island.
By the blow hole that didn't blow too hard, but the volcanic rocks are a sight not to miss
Halona blow hole
Someone trying to jump!!
Another scenic stop along the way
When I was planning the trip to Hawaii, I saw this post from Kristin from Camels & Chocolate about the Byodo-in Temple. I didn't hear about this place until I saw the amazing pictures that Kristin took. My favorite part was the giant Zen Garden around the temple. I wish that they let people move the stones in giant sand box.
The Zen Garden
After the temple closed we continued driving north to see the beaches on the east side. It was almost 6:00 PM and the sun light was almost out. We stopped to take pictures of the "Chinaman's hat" from the Kualoa Beach park.
On our way back, we drove between the mountains instead of the coast. I couldn't stop looking at the different shapes of the mountains. This was a long day and we were ready for dinner and bed. The next day we only had until noon in Oahu and we wanted to make the most of it.
