Kauai is the oldest of the Hawaiian Islands and features a dramatic landscape ranging from lush rainforests to massive sea cliffs. Nicknamed the garden isle, it’s the most beautiful place to adventure, relax, and wander! My husband Zach, his sister Nicole, and I were fortunate enough to get to spend nine days on “island time.”

Day 1: Landing on Kauai

Our first day was spent getting acquainted with our surroundings in Poipu, shopping for groceries, and renting snorkeling and boogie boarding gear. We ended the evening with a sunset walk out to the beach, scoping out where we would play with our new gear in the coming days. Of all the Hawaiian sunsets we saw, this was one of the best.

Day 2: The Nā Pali Coast

We took advantage of the time change and woke early the next day for our tour of the Nā Pali coast with Blue Ocean Adventure Tours. We wanted the most exciting and adventurous tour possible, and we got it!

They have smaller tour sizes, zodiac boats, and fun crew members. The ride out to the coast was relatively smooth (more common in their early morning tours), and we saw three schools of spinner dolphins, ate snacks with turtles below us, and enjoyed a swim.

The Nā Pali coast was just as beautiful as I hoped it would be in person, but my favorite part of the tour was entering an open-air cave. About a minute after we entered the cave, huge swells started coming in! Our once playful captain suddenly became very serious and got us out of there as quickly as possible. Once out of the cave, we waited for the waves to calm down and the caption maneuvered the boat back in for a much calmer experience.

The boat ride back to the harbor didn’t go as smoothly as the ride out to the cliffs had. The afternoon winds had picked up and we experienced the “bucking bronco” type of ride the guides had warned us about before leaving. We had our feet tucked under ropes to keep us in place while our hands white-knuckled the top rope to keep us from flying out of the boat. It was thrilling to say the least! We were so exhausted by the time we got back to the condo that we napped the afternoon away.

Day 3: Waimea Canyon

Thankfully we woke rested, although still somewhat sore, the following day. Since this was our first day eating a leisurely breakfast at the condo, we hadn’t noticed the turtles snacking right below our balcony before now. We were up on the second floor, so we had the perfect view of the cliffs below and counted as many as seven turtles at one time!

Next, we headed to Poipu Beach to snorkel. Early mornings are when the fish are most active, so it makes for the best time to snorkel. Poipu Beach is the most popular spot to snorkel on the island and for good reason — it’s a safe spot for all ages to play and there are plenty of fish.

Unfortunately, there were plenty of people too. It wasn’t unusual to spot a new type of fish, only to have the group next to you scare it away or accidentally kick you with their flipper. The number of fish made up for the crowds, so we snorkeled here for hours. Zach’s favorite find was an eel!

We spent the afternoon driving up Waimea Canyon. The number of waterfalls, and colorful cliffs were amazing. However, what I was looking forward to seeing the most was the Pu’u Hinahina Lookout. Our snorkel shop guide had told us it’s often foggy, but the mountain looks like it’s breathing here. If you wait it out, the fog will go away in about 40 minutes only to come back again about 40 minutes later.

When we arrived, we weren’t surprised to see a thick layer of fog. After waiting 50 minutes (by waiting, I mean snacking) with no signs of it clearing, we gave up on seeing the view and enjoyed our drive back down.

Day 4: Tubing

Our fourth day on Kauai was spent tubing on an old sugar plantation with Kauai Backcountry Adventures. This was one of Kauai’s most recommended activities, and although it paled in comparison to how adventurous our boat ride tour was (really, anything would), it was relaxing to spend the day floating through the jungle!

I loved learning about the history of the land and getting the local guide’s tips on what and where to eat. It was fascinating to hear about the movies filmed on this land and the unique characteristics of the fauna.

As if we hadn’t spent enough time in the water that day, we decided to boogie board at Brennecke's Beach that evening. The waves were fantastic and it wasn’t until the next morning that we saw there had been a high surf warning. It was the best boogie boarding we did all trip, although I now know to check surf warnings before getting into the water…

Day 5: Exploring South

The next morning, we drove to Salt Pond Park to snorkel. It’s farther away from the resorts and our aim was to avoid the crowds we’d seen at Poipu Beach. It worked and there were few people in the water, but there were less fish as well. We did see new varieties and larger species though.

After snorkeling, we went shopping. Our first stop was the art capitol of Kauai — Hanapepe. You’ll recognize the town from Lilo and Stitch, complete with the historic swinging bridge. Afterwards, we wandered through nearby farmer’s markets and tried shave ice from Uncle's for the first time. Zach enjoyed the honey toast, as per recommendation from our tubing guides!

That evening we felt up to adventuring more and drove west to the Polihale State Park. It was so it was much less populated than the beaches in the south. We arrived just in time to see the last of the sun set, and I could only imagine how glorious the start of the Nā Pali coastline would be lit up with golden hour sun. The waves here were so gentle and the sand so deep. It was by far the most peaceful beach I’ve ever been on. On our dark drive back to Poipu, we jammed out to Hawaiian tunes like E Pi’I Mai and Guava Jelly.

Day 6: Exploring East

Our sixth day was the last day staying on the southern side of the island. We spent the day driving around exploring new waterfalls and beaches to the east. My favorite moment of the day (nearly the whole trip) was stumbling upon a Hindu monastery. We took a walking tour, wrote down and burned prayers, and meditated in Sacred Rudraksha Forest. This monastery is one of the largest in western countries and is responsible for publishing the first Hindu journal, connecting monasteries worldwide.

That evening we went to the Smith Family Luau. Although luaus aren’t traditional on Kauai, Zach and I spent our honeymoon on Maui where they are. We enjoyed the Old Lahaina Luau on Maui so much that we knew we had to try another. We arrived early to take a tram ride through the gardens and loved seeing the peacocks and chickens. The dancing and dinner were also fantastic!

Day 7: Princeville

The following day we headed north to Princeville. We checked out future snorkeling and boogie boarding spots, more farmer’s markets, and explored as far west as we could before the roads were closed due to the previous year’s flooding.

Day 8: Beach day

The next couple of days were filled with more famer’s markets, an attempt to visit Queen’s Bath (the tide was too high), and snorkeling at Anini Beach. It has the longest and widest fringing reef of the Hawaiian Islands. We saw so many varieties of fish here! We loved how protective the pinktail triggerfish were of their reefs, got to see cleaner fish at work on other fish and the strangest find of all was a spaghetti worm fish! This was by far my favorite place to snorkel.

Finally, we spent our last evening on Kauai at Hanalie Bay photographing the sunset. It was here that we decided we needed to snorkel at Anini Beach one last time before leaving the island.

Day 9: Sunrise Snorkel

The next morning, we arrived at the beach as the sun was rising and logged a couple more hours in the water. Aside from a few fishermen, we had the beach to ourselves. Figuring out how to pack wet swim suits into our luggage was the best problem to have on our way home.

A hui ho! Until we meet again.