Kauai - Day 5 (Tuesday, May 17, 2016)

Sunrise at Queen's Bath, Spouting Horn Park, lunch from Fish Express, airport (left Kauai at 2:42 p.m. and arrived back in Oahu at 3:24 p.m. with Island Air).

Sunrise at Queen's Bath.

 A little dip in Queen's bath in the morning.

View up the coastline from Spouting Horn Park.

 Blow hole at Spouting Horn Park.

Kauai - Day 4 (Monday, May 16, 2016)

Kalalau trail to Hanakapi'ai Beach, Ke'e Beach, lunch at Tiki Tacos, St. Regis Hotel, pizza to-go from Tiki Man Pizza for sunset at Hanalei Pier, ice cream at Pink's Creamery (again).

 On the Kalalau trail to Hanakapi'ai Beach. 4 miles round-trip, approximately 2 hours.

Kalalau trail to Hanakapi'ai Beach.

Kalalau trail to Hanakapi'ai Beach.

Hanakapi'ai Beach. People have died here from the strong ocean currents, so no one was in the water. There are signs posted everywhere warning people not to swim here.

View of Ke'e Beach from Kalalau trail. We relaxed a little bit at Ke'e Beach after the hike. A nice little protected snorkel spot with a lifeguard.

Lunch at Tiki Tacos. "Mexican food with a Hawaiian Heart".

 The view of Hanalei from St. Regis Hotel and the St. Regis Hotel Beach on the left.

We bought pizza to-go from Tiki Man Pizza, brought fruit and salad from Costco, parked our car on the beach at Hanalei Pier, set up some chairs, and watched the sunset. 

Perfect sunset at Hanalei Pier.

Kauai - Day 3 (Sunday, May 15, 2016)

Queen's Bath, Waimea Canyon, lunch at Brick Oven Pizza, Hanapepe Valley Lookout, Poipu Beach, Costco for groceries, sunset at Hanalei Pier, a cooked dinner at the condo.

Our condo is only a few minutes away from Queen's Bath. Short hike down early in the morning.

Queen's Bath. Can't see them in this picture, but there were two turtles down there.

Queen's Bath.

Queen's Bath. Where the river empties into the ocean.

Waimea Canyon.

Waimea Canyon.

Waipo'o Falls at Waimea Canyon. It's a two-tiered, 800 foot waterfall.

Closer view of Waipo'o Falls at Waimea Canyon.

Catching sunset at Hanalei Pier.

 Sunset time at Hanalei Pier.

Kauai - Day 2 (Saturday, May 14, 2016)

North Shore Charters to take a rigid-hull inflatable boat up the Nā Pali coastline and snorkeling at Tunnels Beach (check-in at 7:00 a.m.). 2nd lunch at Chicken-in-a-Barrel. Wailua Falls. Kilauea Lighthouse. Hanalei Valley Lookout. Dinner at Postcards. Ice cream at Pink's Creamery.

North Shore Charters: I called to make reservations just a few days in advance. With kamaʻāina it is $139 per person. Otherwise it is $149 per person. You check-in at 7:00 a.m. at their office in Kilauea where you sign the waiver and they provide you with dry-bags to place your things. This is a good time to put on sunblock and use the toilet. They then load everyone into their van and drive you to Anini beach where you board their rigid-hull inflatable boat. You're going to get wet even if you decide not to snorkel, so it's a good idea to wear clothes that can get wet. The tour is about 4-4 1/2 hours long. After going up the coastline, they'll take you to a snorkel spot, depending on the conditions, and provide you with snorkel gear, which is all decent equipment. They give you lunch at this time consisting of water/soda, sandwiches, chips, and cookies. All-in-all I thought it was a great tour. The group size is small and their boat allows them to enter certain caves. Best to sit on the left side if you want to take pictures.

Going up the Nā Pali coastline with North Shore Charters. Caves and mini-waterfalls.

Going up the Nā Pali coastline with North Shore Charters. More caves and mini-waterfalls.

Going up the Nā Pali coastline with North Shore Charters. If you hike the Kalalau Trail, this is where it ends, at Kalalau Beach. Caught some dolphins on the bottom right.

Going up the Nā Pali coastline with North Shore Charters. Pod of spinner dolphins.

 Going up the Nā Pali coastline with North Shore Charters. Looking down the coast. Caught more dolphins on the bottom left.

Going up the Nā Pali coastline with North Shore Charters. In one of the caves. Waterfall to the left.

Going up the Nā Pali coastline with North Shore Charters. We entered through the arch into an enclosed area with an open roof.

Going up the Nā Pali coastline with North Shore Charters. Looking up after passing through the rock arch.

Going up the Nā Pali coastline with North Shore Charters. The arch we just entered from.

The rigid-hull inflatable boat we rode on. Stopped at Tunnels Beach for our snorkeling spot. The usual spot they snorkel at up the coastline was murky, so this was the 2nd choice. Ate the lunch they provided us with here.

 Snorkeling at Tunnels Beach. Tunnels Beach is where Bethany Hamilton got her arm bit off by a shark.

 After the tour with North Shore Charters we went back to the condo to shower and change and then went to eat again at Chicken-in-a-Barrel for some BBQ.

The Sampler Plate at Chicken-in-a-Barrel has a little bit of everything: chicken, beef, pork, baby back ribs, brown rice, and chili beans.

Wailua Falls. A 173-foot waterfall.

Made a short hike to the bottom of Wailua Falls.

Kilauea Lighthouse. If you want to enter the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, it is $5 per person. It is a protective breeding ground for Hawaiian seabirds. 

 Right outside the Kilauea Lighthouse were nēnē (Branta sandvicensis). It is also known as the Hawaiian goose and is the official bird of the state of Hawai'i.

Right outside of Kilauea Point we also found a nest of wild chicken eggs.

Hanalei Valley Lookout. A view of the Hanalei river and taro fields.

 Hanalei Valley Lookout. The taro fields.

We then had dinner at Postcards and grabbed some ice cream at Pink's Creamery.

Kauai - Day 1 (Friday, May 13, 2016)

Flew from Oahu to Kauai with Island Air. Left at 10:52 a.m. and arrived at 11:39 a.m. Picked up our rental car. Picked up some poke and fried chicken to-go at Fish Express and ate lunch at Hamura Saimin. Groceries at Costco. Checked into our condo at Pali Ke Kua in Princeville. Checked out the beach from a pathway down by our condo. Walked over to Hideaway Beach. Sunset from Pali Ke Kua. Cooked dinner at the condo.

The propeller plane we took with Island Air. 

 Lunch at Hamura's Saimin. We tried to go to Mark's Place but they were closed for the day for a catering event.

 Regular size special saimin at Hamura's. Comes with vegetables, won ton, boiled egg, roast pork, fish cake, green onions, and ham.

On the way down to a beach from a pathway at our condo.

 The beach down by our condo.

 The beach by our condo was a bit rocky, so we went to go look for Hideaway Beach, a short walk away. This is the path to go down to Hideaway Beach.

The pathway going down to Hideaway Beach.

Hideaway Beach.

Hideaway Beach. We didn't want to have to hike back up the path in the dark, so we decided to catch sunset at our condo.

Catching sunset at our condo at Pali Ke Kua.

 The warm lighting of the setting sun.

We cooked dinner at the condo and had an early night because we needed to get up early for a ride along the Nā Pali coastline the next morning.