Before our big round-the-world trip that’ll start on 7/30/19, we visited Hawaii. The main purpose of the trip was for M’s soccer tournament in Oahu, and we decided to tack on another 4 nights in Kaua’i before heading home.

Kauai is Hawaii’s oldest and northernmost island, draped in emerald valleys, sharp mountain spires and jagged cliffs. Centuries of growth have formed tropical rainforests, forking rivers and cascading waterfalls. The laid-back atmosphere in Kauai was a welcoming change after spending a week in the hustle and bustle of Oahu, along with the intense socccer matches. The island is small enough to tour in one day, but that doesn’t leave much time for hiking and other activities. If you have a few days in Kauai, I would recommend spending one day to drive from one end of the island to the other, then go back during other days to do hikes and other activities at a more leisurely pace. Here is a description of our around-the-island drive, followed by a review of the Kauai Marriot Resort, where admittedly we spent most of our relaxing time on the island.

Wailua Falls

This is an ideal first stop only if you stay in Lihui. Given the lack of sufficient parking, it’s best to go before 9am to get a parking spot. Since we stayed in Lihui, we decided to stop here first at around 8:45am before going to the western end of the island, and the plan paid off. We found parking immediately and got some nice pictures before two tour vans showed up at around 9am. The view is nice from the bridge. It seems that there’s a way to hike down despite the signs prohibiting it, but given the height of the bridge, it would be a heck of a hike to get back up.

Here’s a tip – Once you beat the crowd at Wailua Falls, head back to Lihue to pick up food for lunch and snacks before heading west. They start selling lunch food at 8am and have sandwiches and other hot food. We opted for sushi and put the sushi lunchboxes in a cooler and got some ice, which worked out quite well.

2. Waimea Canyon State Park

Waimea Canyon - The Grand Canyon of the Pacific

Lots of tourists; getting a clear picture without other tourists takes a bit of luck and creativity.

Waimea Canyon is nicknamed the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific”, and the view from the Waimea Canyon Lookout is majestic. There are several scenic view spots to stop at along the way to the lookout at the end also. There are lots of great hiking trails around here, but we had a full day ahead of us and therefore didn’t linger around very long.

3. Spouting Horn

Spouting Horn is an impressive blowhole. The waves erode lava rocks on the coastline which creates narrow openings like the Spouting Horn. With each wave, water shoots upward when it is forced through an opening and creates a loud wind howl, hence the name Spouting Horn. I’ve seen many blowholes before, but don’t remember ever hearing such loud howling sound anywhere else. It is quite an amazing experience.

We also saw a nice snorkeling beach on the way to Spouting Horn where lots of people had snorkeling gears on. We didn’t get to stop here, but it might be worth a stop if you have snorkeling gear with you.

4. Poipu Beach Park

Poipu Beach is about 10 minutes away from Spouting Horn. This is a popular beach in Kauai, so it’s very crowded. It’s a great beach, but with so many beaches along the coastline, I personally would rather find one that’s less crowded. It was a good restroom break for us though, and the kids had fun at the playground while we took a break from the driving.

5. Maha’ulepu Heritage Trail

Ok, full disclosure, we ended up skipping this trail during our day of driving around the island, and went back to it in the late afternoon on a different day. The trail is absolutely amazing, we just did not feel like doing the hike in mid-day heat under the July sun. Especially in the summer, the heat and humidity is a brutal combination. The hike is so much more enjoyable after 5pm. When we did come back to it, we parked at the Shipwreck Beach parking lot and walked eastward along the beach. There were not a lot of people, and there were several spots where we had our own beach and water spots. It’s an easy hike without major elevation changes, and there are amazing views along the way. The hike was unique in that we were walking in sand the whole time! We took our time on the hike, took plenty of pictures, and let the kids enjoy their “private beach”, and before we knew it, the sun was setting and we ended up turning back before getting to the golf course. It’s a fun hike with plenty of places to stop and have fun, this hike was one of the highlights of our Kauai trip.

6. Manini-holo Dry Cave (across the street from Ha’ena Beach)

This was a hidden gem in my mind. It is deceivingly large! Most people just stay near the opening, take some pictures, and turn around, so if you’re willing to walk deeper into the dark cave, it’s a surreal experience. Such a major contrast… there’s a massive beach park across the street, and on the other side, a deep, pitch-dark cave where you can walk in as deep as you want with no one around you. Make sure your phone has enough battery, or bring a separate flashlight. You’ll need it.

7. Haena State Park / Wet Beach / Kalalau Trail

Kalalau Trail is the most highly rated trail in Kauai according to Tripadvisor, but you need to make reservation for the trail and for parking well in advance if you want to do the hike. We tried making reservation the week before but had no luck. Many revieweres say it’s not suitable for pre-teen kids, so perhaps it was good that we didn’t get to go. The Wet Cave was also closed when we went in early July. We did find some nice, shaded streams near the entrance for us to dip our toes in, which was quite nice. Water is cold, but it was a cool brief stop in that it provides a stark contrast to the sunny beach experience; you can play with the water while staying cool in the shade. A very enjoyable experience in a hot and humid summer day.

8. The drive itself

There are several great stops along the way, such as coconut stands and random beaches and places to access the water. It’s worthwhile to take the time and find interesting stops along the way and find your hidden gems! This gorgeous beach we found on our way back from Haena Beach was huge and nearly empty!

Kauai is a beautiful island and we’re glad we took some time away from the pool and beach at our hotel to explore the island. Having said that, we still spent the majority of our time enjoying the pool and beach at the hotel, and we loved every minute of it. It was the kind of relaxing vacation we wanted. Here are some things to note about the Kauai Marriott Resort.

Kauai Marriott Resort

This resort is beautiful! Since Kauai isn’t as touristy as Oahu, the land is cheaper, so Marriott can afford to create this massive resort with plenty of landscaping, making it feel spacious and airy. The rooms are quite spacious, and the condition of the room lives up to the Marriott reputation. The staff is very friendly, making the stay enjoyable.

Upon check-in, they have a prize spinning wheel for elite members (maybe they let everyone spin it?), and gave a bucket and shovel to each of our kids, as well as two vouchers for smoothies. The mandatory resort fee ($35/day) comes with two Mai Tai drink vouchers. I only had one, wasn’t a fan. The girls loved their combination fruit smoothie though, it was quite good. I used points for our room. “Partial ocean view” is actually a gorgeous view! We loved that we get to see the pool and the beach, so when one of us are in the room, we can still see the others in the pool.

One thing to note is that Marriott’s Kauai Beach Club is at the same location and shares the same common areas (pool, beach, restaurants, etc.). Here’s a pictures from their website (not from my camera) just to illustrate this: The left side building is the hotel, the right side building is the beach club.

The pool, touted as the “largest pool in the state of Hawaii”, is the highlight of this resort. It’s also a beach front resort and has a private beach. Food prices at the pool was acceptable, and it’s great to be able to order food by the pool so the kids can spend more time in the water. Food quality was ok, not fantastic but not bad either. Convenience is key with poolside food.

In addition to the pool and the beach, there are also several activities available each day, typical of vacation clubs. There is also a gigantic gym, a large garden, and several shops and restaurants. We visited each place briefly, but as you can tell, the girls didn’t have proper workout gear on. They sure liked the rowing machine though. Megan and the girls participated in the pool aerobics, which was fun. Ivan took a surfing lesson (costs extra) on the beach; it was his first time ever surfing. It was listed as a 90 minute lesson, including 30 minutes on land and 60 minutes in water. Sounds like a lot, but in reality, each of us only got to try surfing three times. Sadly, Ivan was not able to stay standing on any of his tries. The sun was in his eye… yeah, that’s it.

Overall, we all loved it here at Kauai Marriott Resort. We had contemplated staying in Disney’s Aulani for a night in Oahu before coming to Kauai, and we’re so glad we didn’t do that. We visited Aulani briefly, and while it is a fantastic resort in its own right, there were so many people and the resort was so jam packed, it was hard to find some personal space to relax. Kauai Marriott Resort was much more spacious; there’s never a lack of space in the pool, and there are plenty of beach chairs around the pool (although we needed to get creative and move things around to find shade). It was a much better way to relax for us. Highly recommended for anyone visiting Kauai!