bond

My husband and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary in October. We want to take a second honeymoon. We're thinking of Kauai, however, we don't know much about it. We want to relax and stay on a beautiful beach. Where should we stay? What should we do there - rent a car and travel around the island? Any ideas?

JohnD

In north Kauai, the Princeville Resort Hotel has the most choice in restaurants and luxury accomodations starting around $275 a night, but regardless where you stay you should check out the facilities there (many restaurants with sunset view). The beach in front of the Princeville is good for snorkeling and swimming, but if you travel north you will find outstanding beaches, mountain hiking trails, and river activities. Their is also a nearby heliport for aerial tour of Kauai and Napali coast. If it happens to be raining or the ocean is rough in the north, we found that by driving south to the Poipu area, that the conditions were favorable for beach going or hiking activities. For about half of what it costs to stay at the Princeville Hotel, you can rent condo's in the adjacent Princeville Resort Area, some of these condo's can be found by searching online using "Kauai condo" or look in classified Ads of "Hawaii Magazine" or "The Ultimate Guide to Kauai", try to get an ocean front condo.
I have also stayed at the adjacent Hanalei Bay Resort and have found the condo units there to be a good value.
Favorite Kauai Activities:
1. Kee Beach snorkeling, on a calm day.
2. NaPali coast trail (for rugged hikers, or do helicopter or boat/snorkeling tour) entrance at Kee Beach, where the road ends, north shore.
3. Waimea canyon (Hawaii's Grand Canyon)
Enjoy your Anniversary!

kameha

My husband and I are also celebrating ten years in October and are going to Kauai in the beginning of November. We've been before but with the kids. I think it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We like the North Shore - Hanalei/Haena area. I personally don't want to stay at a resort, because we want privacy. We found what looks like a great cottage very near to the beach, with privacy. Do a search for vacation rentals on Kauai and there are a lot of places with differing costs to choose from, if you want to go that route as well. I think you really need to rent a car if you want to go anywhere other than airport to your hotel/condo/house. It is a small island with a lot to see. Last time we were there we took a helicopter tour which was remarkable! Also did a raft boat trip of the North Coast. Then we took Captain Zodiac, but I don't think they are in business any longer. The Na Pali coast is awesome. You will probably want to drive up Waimea Canyon and at the top you can overlook the Na Pali coast. Also nice to go South for a trip to Spouting Horn/Poipu - although personally I wouldn't want to stay in Poipu because it is more commercial and busier. The town of Koaloa (I think that is how you spell it) is really cute. Go to the web for Kauai tourism and you can request a free guidebook. It has some interesting things in it. Enjoy!

Doug

First and foremost, I would recommend buying the Ultimate Kauai Guidebook from Wizard Publications. My wife & I just recently returned from our honeymoon and we carried that book everywhere we went....very imformative.

DB

Put "kauai" into the search box right there at your top left.

You don't need to know much about it, it is sufficient that you simply desire to go. Rent a car, then discover.