Family of four traveling to Kauai over the Xmas holidays this year. (15 and 11 year olds). Would appreciate your thoughts on activities and experiences you would recommend for this time of year. Thanks for your input.

Suggest you go to borders or barnes and noble and look for the ultimate kauai guide book. There is really a lot to do on Kauai(especially for outdoor type activities) This book will help you figure out what suits your families needs the best.

gondor,
The seasons really don't change that much to where you are limited to certain activities throughout the year.

The only prob we really have run into during our Nov/Dec or Jan trips is high surf on the No Shore and a bigger chance of rain that really screws up some of the hiking trails...I still have the red dirt stains on my yellow shorts from a NaPali hike 3 yrs ago.
And I really don't want ot tell you how I got it!

The Ult Guidebook is a very good suggie.

Kal

Expect rain and potentially lots of it. Winter is their rainy season and Kauai has one of the wetest spots on earth.

Gondor, we went to Kauai in Feb. a few years ago when our kids were 11 & 13. We took the Na Pali/Snorkel boat tour with HoloHolo Charters. The kids really enjoyed it. We kayaked the Wailua River stopping to hike to a waterfall and the Fern Grotto. We went on our own which I'm not sure if you can still do. We also golfed at the Wailua Golf Course which was only $30 a round. Our kids also just loved renting boogie boards and hanging out at the beach.

I would definately make dining reservations in advance. Our kids got kind of ugly when we would have to wait over an hour to get in some place to eat.

Anyone have specific suggestions for restaurants during the holidays? What restaurants would YOU reserve for Christmas and New Years??? I have children too so that might influence our restaurant choices.

We had dinner at Roy's and Keoki's which are both in the Poipu Shopping Village. We also ate at Duke's which is located at the Marriott in Lihue and at Brennecke's Beach Broiler which is by Poipu Beach Park. Our meals were good and I felt comfortable being there with our kids.

My two sons 11 & 13 loved the beach at Duke's. We had lunch at Duke's, outside dining, then spent the afternoon at the beach. They rented boogie boards and had a great time riding the waves. Its a picturesque small cove beach.