Oops! Also forgot to say that Sushi Blues has a younger, hipper crowd than most places. Your teens will like it. (They serve chicken and maybe even steak too--not just sushi.)

We've eaten at the Princeville Hotel three times at Cafe Hanalei and have enjoyed all the meals very much. It is expensive, but the food and the service was exceptional all three times.

-Bill

Aloha netzie!!! Mahalo for the kudos for my last trip report...

Relocating w/ only 5 nights will really eat up a chunck of your precious time. If you do the northshore, which would be my choice-no surprise , it's really no problem to drive south, hit Waimea Canyon, Poipu... south shore stuff. Ya just make the day of it...

You would not regret staying in Hanalei or Princeville for your entire stay, but you might regret having to schlep all your luggage halfway through... food for thought.

Whatever you decide, fill your days with ALOHA ...

Good call IMO on North Shore - we always stay on the North Shore no matter what time of year and day trip to other areas so we can enjoy the lush scenary every morning and hike along the NaPali coast trails.

Not sure what the surfing skills are in your family but just wanted to throw out that when my family stayed once at the Hanalei bay resort condos years ago(which are great as we could access the pool, Happy Talk Lounge, etc), a guy was at the pool offering surfing lessons on Hanalei bay. None of us had ever surfed before and we took him up on the offer (I was in my late 20s and my sisters and niece were 30, 20 and 8 respectively). The bay was a perfect place for beginners as he helped us time the small waves so we could all "get up" on the boards. There were other "real" local surfers there as well although I don't know enough to compare surf quality between north and south shores during the summer.

You MUST do the Kalalau trail hike. I'm an avid hiker and managed to drag my mom (NOT a hiker), Dad, and sister on the approx. first two miles of the Kalalau Trail to the beach (a group of us hiked on to the waterfall while Mom and Dad rested on the beach).
Anyway, the best part is that my Mom did the hike in her Ked's which as many know, are probably the worst possible shoes you could wear on the slippery red mud of Kauai! The poor thing slid one foot for every two feet on the trail's ups and downs and I recall that we actually had to pull her back up the trail from the beach through some of the steep parts! Despite all of this, she loved the view so much that she kept a (relatively) good attitude and didn't regret going!

My family and I still put that trail on our top 10 all-time list of gorgeous hikes (on a sidenote, my husband attempted to propose to me at the waterfall but got thwarted by a rather stinky German guy that befriended us and wouldn't leave but that's another story).

You will not regret staying North Shore - kayaking on the river is really fun too!

Thank you all so much! We're set on staying the 5 days on the North Shore now, it's just a matter of finding a condo that suits our needs. I tried to contact the HBV unit that Makai1 stayed in - but never heard back. I'll go to VRBO and check out other condos in Hanalei. After I find something, I'll post back and ask you to critique my itinerary. You guys have been a tremendous amount of help! Thank you very much, fodorites!

netzie-

We rented a condo through Kauai Vacation Rentals and had a positive experience. Here's the website - it has a good search function. Happy planning!

http://www.kauaivacationrentals.com/index.htm

aloha netzie... you won't be sorry to be on the nor shore the whole time!

Contact Melissa at 877.TO.KAUAI (877.865.2824) or email, [email protected]
She will call you back promply if you leave a message. Let her know makai1 referred you. They appreciate the referrals.

Happy hunting... have fun!!

ps the website for the villa is www.kauaivilla.com

aloha

Kauai villas is very nice but I don't think they have a pool.

Hi!

Good to hear that you have decided to stay on the Northside. We were in Kauai last month and stayed in a terrific condo #118 at the Pali Ke Kua Condos which is in Princeville (walking distance to Princeville Resort). The condos sit on a high bluff and has amazing views. Our condo was one bedroom and we went through Remax Kauai. You could check www.remaxkauai.com regarding larger condos on the northside.

We've been to Hawaii many times and Kauai is so beautiful and lush especially on the north side. Of all the islands, Kauai, reminds us alot of Tahiti. It will be very convenient to do amazing hikes on the Napali coast and close to beaches. You can easily drive to the south side of the island. We've stayed in Poipu before but loved the north side as it is not so developed.

We hiked the Kalalau Trail while we were there. It does have amazing scenery but the trail was very muddy and slippery. We bought walking shoes that we could throw away at the end of our vacation. We remembered the last time we did this hike how hard it was to get the red dirt stain off your shoes.
During the summer, the trails may not be as bad so you probably won't have to worry.

We had our best dinners and enjoyed the fabulous views at the Princeville Resort restaurants. It is pricey but worth the splurge.

Have a fantastic time in paradise.