In December, I visited the magical island of Kauai and it was one of the best trips I have ever taken. I spent eight full days in Kauai and had the most amazing time exploring the island. The nature is unreal and I was in awe every single day of how beautiful Kauai is. There’s an energy about the island, positive, nurturing energy, that makes you feel safe and comforted while you’re there. My soul is craving to go back, and I know I will one day.
I knew before I went on this trip that I would want to write a blog post about it. Not only do I want to share everything I did to perhaps inspire you to add Kauai to your bucket
How did I end up going to Kauai?
Before I get into my trip, I want to give a little background on how this trip came to be. I had a yearning to go to Kauai for a year or so but I didn’t think it would happen in 2018. I had no one to go with and, while I do want to do some solo traveling in the future, I wasn’t ready to go on a trip by myself just yet. In July, my friend Caitlin posted in a Facebook group we are both in. She wrote that she was hoping to go to Kauai in December once her fall semester was over. Caitlin and I hadn’t met in person yet but we had messaged each other through Facebook so we weren’t complete strangers. I commented that I was interested in going with her and we made plans to meet up once she was back in Florida for school.
The trip started to become a reality once we met in person and began brainstorming ideas. I was so happy Caitlin was going to be my travel buddy because we wanted to do a lot of the same activities and we agreed on just about everything. She is also vegan which makes things easier when deciding on where to eat. We booked our flights and Airbnb at the end of September and then the countdown was on.
Day 1
After a long day of travel, we arrived in Kauai around 9:45 pm on December 6th. We picked up our luggage and rental car and headed to our Airbnb in Princeville, which was 45 minutes from the airport. For most of the drive, we were in pitch black darkness and I was nervous to drive a car I wasn’t used to
I will never forget waking up that first morning. The house we stayed in didn’t have AC, which is the norm on the island, so most windows have screens and are left open. I woke up to the sound of roosters crowing and smiled remembering Kauai is full of wild chickens roaming around. Caitlin and I were so excited to finally see the island since it was dark when we arrived. We went outside to find some chickens and see the neighborhood we were staying in. This was the view from our Airbnb. 😍
Caitlin and I decided to go eat breakfast and stock up on groceries so we made our way over to Hanalei, the cutest small town on the island in my opinion. We stumbled upon Hanalei Bread Company and went inside to check out the menu. As I was walking up the steps, I looked over to my right and saw Pierce Brosnan casually eating breakfast with his wife. I was not expecting to run into a celebrity while getting breakfast at a local cafe in a small town on Kauai and yet there he was. I texted my mom, who is a big fan of his, and she kept texting me to go say hi but I was too shy. Plus, I also feel like celebrities are bothered all the time by paparazzi and fans and I don’t want to be that person interrupting someone’s breakfast. I’m sure he comes to Kauai to escape all that. I did snap a sneaky picture to send to my mom, though.
Anyway, back to breakfast at Hanalei Bread Company, I ordered the avocado toast. I know avocado toast is considered “basic” by some people but I think it’s delicious and I could eat it every day. This avocado toast was especially good because of the bread they use. After we ate, we went to Harvest Market,
We didn’t have a set itinerary for our first day so we just went with the flow and took it easy. Caitlin and I decided to go back to Hanalei to go to the beach and check out some shops. I was eager to go swimming but, when we got to the beach, I saw that the waves were very high and the water seemed a bit rough. A quick google search told me that the surf was 8-12 feet high so swimming in the Pacific Ocean for the first time would not be an option that day.
We did end up walking the beach and laying out for a bit. I think we were there almost an hour when it started sprinkling so we made our way back to our rental car. As we were walking back to the car, the brown paper bag I had put my snacks and Hydro Flask in broke and all my things fell out the bottom so I snatched everything up and used my towel as a sack. When we got to our car, I couldn’t find the car key and realized that I had put the key in the brown bag that had broken. I was freaking out a bit because I had no idea what to do if we weren’t able to find the key. Caitlin and I went searching on the beach and luckily a woman noticed Caitlin walking with her head down and could tell she was searching for something. The woman asked if Caitlin had lost a key because she had found one and it ended up being ours. This stranger was a lifesaver that day and I couldn’t thank her enough. I’m a little embarrassed by this incident because I’m usually very responsible but mistakes happen and no one’s perfect. I definitely learned a lesson that day and, fortunately, everything worked out.
For dinner, Caitlin and I decided we wanted to try Eat Healthy Cafe, a vegan restaurant in Kapaa. It’s an adorable place with a reasonably sized menu. I was in the mood for pasta so I ordered the Vegetable Pasta entree. Unfortunately, I was not crazy about this dish. The sauce on the pasta was a “creamy coconut white wine sauce” that, in addition to the balsamic vinaigrette drizzled on top, made the dish kind of sweet. I ended up only eating a small portion of my meal before I couldn’t eat anymore because I disliked the taste so much. I don’t want to dissuade you from trying Eat Healthy Cafe if you’re ever in Kauai because they do have a lot of other menu items but I would not recommend the Vegetable Pasta.
Day 2
On our second day, Caitlin and I woke up around 6 am and drove to Kealia Beach to watch the sunrise. It was cloudy that morning so we didn’t actually watch the sun rise from the horizon but it was still a beautiful morning. If only I could sit by the beach every morning and listen to the waves crash along the shore.
Once we left the beach, Caitlin and I headed to Trilogy Coffee in Kilauea for breakfast. I ordered a turmeric chai and a brownie. I’m so glad Caitlin found this place because their brownies were delicious. Also, it was my first time trying a chai drink and I was surprised I actually liked it. I’d highly recommend going to Trilogy Coffee because they have a lot of nut milk options for their drinks and most of their desserts are vegan.
After breakfast, we headed to the Daniel K. Inouye Kilauea Point Lighthouse. Right before the lighthouse is the Kilauea Viewpoint which overlooks the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. The wildlife refuge is home to some of Hawaii’s largest populations of nesting seabirds. The viewpoint offers a wonderful view of the lighthouse and I would recommend stopping here to take pictures. While the viewpoint is free to stop at, it costs $10 to enter the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge and see the lighthouse up close. Tours of the lighthouse are included in the admission fee but Caitlin and I weren’t able to go on one. I really enjoyed walking around the lighthouse and snapping pictures of the refuge. There were hundreds of birds dotting the cliff opposite the lighthouse and it was nice to know that those birds and their habitat are protected.
Caitlin and I headed back to our Airbnb after visiting the lighthouse to rest and plan out the next few days of our trip. Later in the afternoon, we headed back to Kilauea to hike the Wai Koa Loop Trail. It was an easy 4-mile walk with no elevation gain. Part of the trail was muddy but it wasn’t that bad compared to the two other hikes we did on our trip. The best part of this hike was meeting a sweet horse who came right up to us. He was so friendly until he realized we didn’t have any food for him. He backed off after a few minutes and we went on our way. Once we got back to the start of the trail, we washed off our shoes from the mud and went back home to eat dinner.
That’s all for the first portion of my trip. Part 2, which will include my favorite day, will be up later this week.