iceeu2

Where do I start? March 14-25th is when we were there. I am watching my video now of our sunset boat trip up the NaPali Coast. Rugged cliffs, brilliant blue water, whales tail slapping, spinner dolphins, never ending waterfalls, caves, lava rock, and oh yes swamp!(?) - Saw where they did a Baywatch Hawaii rescue episode - and you could just see that gorgeous Harrison Ford (Six Days & Seven Nights) all around you! The power cat we went on was thru Holoholo Charters. A nice boat, but a bit crowded. Heavy swells on the day we went, so quite rough at times. Captain Scotty and his crew were terrific and very informative. Just to rant a bit, and this will be the one and only time - their reservationists and check in people are very abrupt, and certainly not the friendliest of people. Grief, for a while there, I thought I was back in Atlanta (where they have forgotten what the definition of southern hospitality is). All in all, this tour was great with pretty good food, endless beer, wine, soft drinks and those wonderful tropical juices, plus champagne at sunset. By the way, we took their complimentary shuttle to and from the Marriot in Lihue which was a nice part of the trip. Our shuttle driver (after the trip) was great, gave us some wonderful Local dining tips (which I will cover later).

Helicopter tour - We did the Inter-Island helicopter tour. This is the one with no doors on them! Pretty scary at first, but oh how majestic. We got great photos from the new digital camera (which I thought was unnecessary since we already had a digital - changed my mind now that I have seen the wonderful photos). We were fortunate that the weather was beautiful, so we had great views of everything! The waterfall landing was great. Definitely go the extra bit and do the waterfall landing with this company. You get to swim in the pool at the base of the falls and they also give you a pretty good sandwich. Our pilot was Luca, an Italian Stallion, who was a great pilot and tour guide-difficult to understand at times -but he probably didn't understand my southern drawl either. I will forgive him for not knowing who Bette Midler is since he gave us some good skinny on Harrison Ford. This tour was wonderful and definitely worth the price.
ATV tour - We did this tour through Kipu Ranch Adventures - and it was by far my favorite of the guided tours we took. What beauty, how awesome, just majestic. This tour is on a private ranch owned by who else but the Rice's, I believe. I think one thing that made this tour so spectular were the people - from the reservationist to the tour guides. Debra was the money changer - Juliette drove the mule - Frank (a fireman) was our main tour guide - Puhono was also a tour guide. These were the nicest of nice people during our entire trip. I won't give everything away in case you take this tour, but I will say wildlife, Jurassic Park, Mash, Six Day and Seven Nights, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Nevernever Land. Just spectacular, marvelous, awesome. Gotta find some different adjectives!! They also have a great poster by Harry Wishard in their bathroom. I don't remember everything, but I called back and Debbie went and got some info for me, so I could find this wonderful print - it says "Experience Heaven Without Dieing" - that is exactly what we did on this wonderful island of Kauai.
The end of the guided tours for now.
Next part will be cover our favorite eats while on vacation!!

dolciani

iceeu2, we are planning a week at the Marriott Kaui in Lihue this summer for a 1 BR villa. What was your opinion of the hotel, rooms, service, etc?

iceeu2

dolciani, the Kauai Marriott is a very nice resort....I am on my way out the door for the rest of the weekend, but send me your email address and I will reply to you tomorrow night.

carolinagirl

Icee,
we are going to Kaui in late July..I can't decide on where to make our home base, Lihue, or Princeville. Did you get to venture to any other towns or would you recommend staying in Lihue? We will be there for five nights. Thanks for any advice you can give...my email is [email protected].

Hanalei

Hi Iceeu2,

Did you bid Priceline for Marriott in Lihue and Hawaii Prince in Oahu? I thought I saw yours posts there.

We are going to both hotels in June. Would you let me know what kind of room Priceline customers get at the Marriott? Did you get the one with windows that did not open? How was the room? Was it decent and how many sq. feet approximately ? Was the bathroom small just like what the other poster on BFT mentioned? My email is [email protected].

Thanks,
Cathy

valboyer

Enjoyed reading your post. I leave April 5 for Lauai-can't wait. We are doing the sunset cruise on the NaPali coast as well, but with Kauai Seatours. Time won't permit the ATV or helicopter trip but we are doing a Luau and of course playing golf at Princevill and Poipu Bay and seeing just about all the other sights. Any restaurants you can recommend or perhaps NOT recommend? Went to Maui 2 years ago and thought it was great, but heard Kauai is even better!

Kal

I still don't get the thrill of
Kauai. ;-)

If you find or re-post "Part II" do it on this thread so it won't get separated. Want to hear mo' 'bout any new restaurants, tours etc.

Is the Mexican restaurant you mention it the other Kauai threads the one located on the side of Safeway near Panda Garden and A Pac Cafe?

Welcome back?
Kal
<[email protected]>

iceeu2

This is part 1...Favorite restaurants is part 2...and Icee's Trip report, part 3 is just general info..

JBX

Great trip report, iceeu2. Helping a friend research for a vacation in Hawaii and your information is very helpful. For others who want to review the other threads you posted, here's those links ...

� Favorite Kauai Restaurants � > > >
http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=1&tid=34409802


� Icee's trip report - part 3 and final � > > >
http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=null&tid=34409920

iceeu2

ttt

iceeu2

topping for bogart

iceeu2

ttt for Mcllroy....

iceeu2

How can I get this under my trip reports and how can I get my date changed on my member profile?

iamq

I can think of at least one person around here who appears to have pull with Katie. Maybe you could give her some brownies and she'll put in a good word for ya.

I can't believe you've been going to that damn place for sooooooooooo long. Glutton...

GypsyMaiden

When I babysat long ago, they took me to Kaui, and we stayed in a HUMONGOUS rental home. It was on stilts right next to a Buddist monestary. Groceries were purchased, rental cars rented, and the we played and played for 8 days. If I could go and do it again, I would do it the same way. What a BLAST and WHAT real relaxation.......bliss

iceeu2

Dear Bill,
I cannot even figure out how to send this to Katie!!!!!

Katie_H

iceeu2-- this isn't showing up because you deleted this account originally and then re-registered as the same name. ---that's why you're name is in gray at the top (it's not associated with your current account.) When someone deletes their profile, they delete the "connection" between their posts---though the posts are still there.

I can look into whether we can fix this; it might take awhile. There are a few other people in this boat.

I can tag these as trip reports in the meantime.

By the way, you can send a thread quickly by clicking the feedback link in the corner when you're on this page. That form "captures" the address of where you clicked it. You can also copy and paste the url.

Thanks!

iceeu2

Thank you.