Dave & Alisha: Aloha! Part 3

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Aloha! Part 3 - Kauai

Alisha says:

Day 7: I had a bucket list of things to do on Kauai so we started checking them off. We first headed to Waimea Canyon, which is a really neat canyon that has also been called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It is 10 miles long and up to 3,000 ft. deep. We did a hike along the rim that went to the top of Waimea Falls.

We then finished up the day with some really good snorkeling at Poipu Beach. It was like snorkeling in an aquarium, there were tons of fish. There was even a seal taking a nap on the beach.

Day 8: We drove to the north side of the island and hiked part of the Kalalau trail. To hike the whole trail is a 22 mile round trip (which I really, really wanted to do but usually requires camping out one night and since we were traveling with another couple we couldn't do it) But, the first couple of miles down to the first beach was so amazing. You get these incredible views of the Napali Coast and the water below is a really beautiful aquamarine color. I love, love, loved it! After that we were hot and sweaty which meant only one thing, beach time! We went to Tunnels Beach which is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to. This was possibly the best snorkeling spot of our trip. You snorkel out a bit and then the ocean just drops off. It was a little eerie at first but we saw a lot of cool fish and even a few turtles that we got to watch and swim by for a long time. This was possible my favorite full day of our trip.

Day 9: The morning was filled with sightseeing. We stopped at the Spouting Horn, and then also took a walk along the cliffs by Shipwreck Beach. In the afternoon Dave and I took a boat tour of the Napali Coast. The company we picked was super, the boats were small (there was only 7 total people on ours) and the captain was great. The captain said that we were treated to an exceptionally nice day on the coast, he said it is usually cloudy, raining and windy but the ocean was fairly calm and the sun was shining. We saw some spinner dolphins. They came and were swimming right by the boat, a few even jumped up in the air for us. We stopped and snorkeled and saw more cool fish, turtles and two reef sharks! At first I was a little nervous but we had been told that you don't have to worry about them so we had fun watching them. The coast was amazing. Really scenic and beautiful. Our boat was also small enough that we got to drive in many sea caves along the way. On the return trip we saw a whale and her calf. It was super cool!