Kauai in January: Itinerary ideas?
 

I’m planning to go to Kauai for two weeks in January and am hoping for suggestions for a good itinerary.

Welcome to Fodor's forums!

Have you chosen a place to stay? Will you have a rental car?

More importantly, what activities and scenery interests you?

We’ll have a rental car for the whole time - and am looking for a mix of chill-on-the-beach and hiking/sightseeing activities.

The Napali Coast and the place where Jurassic Park was filmed both look lovely.

What part of the island will you be staying on?

The Jurassic Park place is in Oahu, right?

Kokee State Park has some hiking options too. You need reservations for hiking Napali so I'd plan around that.

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It is had to find (you have to scroll way down toward the bottom and expand Filming Locations but this info is on IMBD:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107290...ref_=tt_dt_loc

The vast majority of the location filming was on Kauai. Some places are difficult to access like the Blue Hole. My late husband and I tried one September and we got past two gates but turned around when another one was closed.

Many of those places are private land so you might only enjoy the scenery from the road. For that type of scenery, even though the beaches may be too rough, you could spend at least a week around that area (Hanalei to Kileauea) and maybe a week on the sunny side as well. There are condo rentals around Princeville if you find the hotels not a great value.

A quick Google search says Jurassic Park was filmed at Kualoa Ranch on Oahu (not Kauai).

"Jurassic World is set on the fictional Isla Nublar off Costa Rica, but the movie crew used the Mount Waialeale, Olokele Valley, and other Kauai locales for filming. For your own swashbuckling adventure, visit the tropical estate at Allerton Garden or hike to the caves at Waikapala'e, where the movie was filmed."

When the OP lets us know which part of the island they will be on, I will make suggestions.

There have been five (six?) Jurassic park movies, -- Jur Park, Jur World, etc -- and they have filmed in quite a few spots. I think a lot of these spots are pretty interchangeable (lush green valleys with craggy mountains behind them) so unless you are looking for specific waterfalls, beaches, or other locations, either Kauai or Oahu can satisfy the "I was there" feeling.
Here are some details:
https://www.republicworld.com/entert...t-holiday.html

(merged this with my post above)

There are two things to be aware of when visiting Hawaii in the winter: The weather and the surf conditions at the beaches.
1) The biggest is that the beaches on the North side of the island will have much more rough surf and currents. Great for big wave surfers and for watching the ocean.
The South sides will have conditions better for swimming, snorkeling, etc. Also, the commute times between north and south can be long, so I'd stay where you plan to swim (or not). Always ask the lifeguards whether it is safe to swim at any beach, and don't overestimate your strength.
2) The weather can be either gorgeous, or can be rainy. If rainy, many trails are muddy and unsafe. Plan for good weather, but have backup plans for less dramatic nature activities or inside fun.

Kauai is amazing! You're going to love it.

• Waimea Canyon is a great location to visit. It reminded me of a small version of the Grand Canyon. There are some great hiking trails around there, but just driving up to the lookouts is fun.
• If you love hiking, you won't want to miss the Kalalau trail. It is very long (11 miles) one way, but there are a couple of popular stops that you don't have to go the whole way. We went 2 miles (each way) to Hanakapai'ai. It's one of those hikes that I think about often to this day. You can't swim at the beach (it's too dangerous), but it's so gorgeous. Parking is a nightmare and advance reservations are now required (up to 30 days in advance). GoHaena is the website for reservations. It's so worth it though and we didn't find the trail to be too difficult.
• This is one place you might want to consider going on a helicopter ride. It was like the scene from Jurassic park the whole way and our guide even played some of the soundtracks from it. A little cliche, but it seemed fitting.
• A boat ride up the Napali coastline is also worth doing, especially if you get to go snorkeling. We took one of the smaller boats so they were able to explore the caves in the area. The bigger boats can't go in them.
• As someone else mentioned, swimming can be a challenge in Kauai depending on the conditions, so be sure to check with the locals when you're there on where it's safe to swim.

You really can't go wrong with anything you choose while you're there. Have fun and tell us all about it when you're back.