Kaua'i (Hawaii part 2)

Warning, this may be my longest, most picture-filled post I've ever done, but it was so hard to choose just a few pictures because everything we saw on Kauai was so beautiful. And was had such a wonderful time, I want to transport you all there for just a while.

We arrived in Kauai and headed north to Hanalei Bay Resort. The whole island was really lovely, especially the north shore where we were staying. We picked up a few groceries for meals and checked in. Our room was very nice with one exception: it didn't have a real bed, just a fold-out hide-a-bed. Maybe I knew that when we booked it, I can't remember. I believe I thought when I read the description that when it said it had a couch that folds-out into a bed, it meant a real bed PLUS the couch, who knows. Anyway, besides being the creakiest, spring-filled bed ever, it was not unbearable so after looking at our alternative option that had a real bed but no kitchen and down three flights of stairs, we decided we could live with a couch-bed for a week.

There was not a view of the ocean from our room either but I think this view from our comfy balcony pretty much made up for it. I think this was just as lovely.

Another view of the mountains from our balcony.

Hanging out at the resort pool. It was an awesome pool area.

On Sunday we went into Hanalei Bay for church at the Hanalei Bay branch. It seemed like a good branch that was used to supporting twice it's actual number in visitors every Sunday.

Hanalei Bay branch church building

The rest of Sunday we just settled in, relaxed, napped a lot, and walked around the beautiful resort.

We took a boat tour of the gorgeous Na Pali Coast. It was almost certainly the most spectacular thing we did there so there are lots of pictures here. I was a bit wary of a 5-hour boat trip knowing that I often get a bit seasick on boats but I used all the tricks I've learned from dive trips (Bonine, don't sit in the exhaust, watch the coastline, etc) and luckily the water was super calm, so I didn't have much trouble at all.

Ready for an awesome boat tour.

Beginning of the ride, note the nice calm water. Mountains aren't too steep either.

We saw a pod of about 150-200 dolphins, they just kept coming and swimming past us, more and more, some babies by their mothers' sides. It was amazing. One dolphin even jumped all the way out of the water and Jeran got that on video.

We saw a bunch of sea turtles swimming along. We even saw a rare endangered monk seal swimming around in the water, which is apparently not too common to spot (they're easier to spot lounging on a beach).

I don't remember what this place was called but there was a cave that led into a donut shaped pool where the Hawaiian royalty and others used to go on outings. They'd cruise in and hang out on that center rock and swim around.

The tunnel entrance into that pool

Waterfall into the ocean

  

This famous arch, apparently we've likely all seen it in movies, like Pirates of the Caribbean 2, etc.

Craggy peaks on the Na Pali coast

While snorkeling, we came across this little 3-4 foot white tip reef shark. How exciting.

"Not too cold yet"

After the boat ride, we drove back up to our hotel and got cleaned up. We took a nap then had dinner at a little diner called Hanalei Gourmet. Jeran wasn't too impressed with his burger but I liked my local chicken sandwich.

The next day was Jeran's birthday! Happy birthday!!! We went to nearby Kilauea Lighthouse and Wildlife Preserve. It was so beautiful. The lighthouse is out on a point and there are gorgeous views in all directions. It is a bird refuge, with tons of red-footed boobies and albatrosses hanging out there.

Kilauea Lighthouse

Selfie!

You probably can't see them, but the white specks on the hill across this little inlet are all red-footed boobies.

The view from the lighthouse west towards Hanalei Bay.

That afternoon we just relaxed by the pool and read and napped and chilled.

A few waterfalls into the pool, one of which you could climb behind.

This is the hot tub. It had sand on the bottom and a nice waterfall or two.

That evening we went down to the beach (you have to go down a fairly long paved trail to finally get to the beach shared between Hanalei Bay Resort and the St. Regis).

Sunset approaches Hanalei Bay

Jeran prepares for a sunset snorkel.

I sat on the beach and read my book, took pictures, and kept an eye on Jeran.

Jeran saw an octopus in its hidey-hole.

It was a lovely end to a nice, relaxing day.

The following day we went to Queen's Bath, a little tide pool near our hotel that apparently can be so dangerous as many people have died there, being snatched by a wave and swept out to sea or crushed against the rocks. Luckily for us, it is summer with calmer waves on the north shore and we went at low tide, so it was pretty calm.

The hike down to the tide pools. These weird trees were everywhere on Kauai.

Queen's Bath. We decided not to swim, but we watched the ocean, the critters in some of the other tide pools, and the people for a while.

That afternoon we lounged by the pool again until we got hungry. We went to Fredrico's Fresh-Mex restaurant and it was super good. I had an enchilada wrap that was pretty amazing and Jeran had fish tacos that were apparently really good. Then we went back and repeated the sunset snorkel at the resort beach.

These are actually sunrise at the resort beach that Jeran took one morning while I was still asleep.

We went to Tunnels Beach bright and early the next morning. It was a lovely stretch of beach supposedly known for great snorkeling and it didn't disappoint. We saw lots of fish and many sea turtles. You have to stay back away from the sea turtles but it was nearly impossible when you would swim over a section of reef and they would rise up out of a dip in the coral they were breakfasting in.

Turtle

Turtle

Turtle with Mindy in the background

After snorkeling, we hung out on the beach for a while. For lunch we went to Bubba Burger, which is apparently a popular and famous place, because they have pictures all over with all sorts of celebrities with the staff at Bubba Burger. We also had some more famous Shave Ice, which really hits the spot on a hot humid day in the sun. Then we swam at the pool and lounged, then went all over the resort taking pictures of every different type of flower we could find. There were sooooo many. I won't include more than one for now, but there were diverse flowers everywhere at the resort and around the island.

Sigh, now the final day. Usually we are good and ready to head home at the end of a vacation, but this was so relaxing and refreshing, not to mention the daunting tasks awaiting us at home, that we didn't want it to be over all ready. We packed our bags and checked out of the hotel. We drove back to the far south towards Waimea Canyon, stopping at a few waterfalls along the way. This worked out pretty well because we wanted to do activities this day that didn't require showering afterwards, and the airport was in that direction anyways.

First stop: Wailua Falls. When we saw this one, Jeran said he had imagined that more of our time in Hawaii would be spent at places like this, and maybe if our trip had been longer we would have, but what we did do was nice too.

There was a person down swimming in the pool at the base of this falls, which I believe is what Jeran pictured us doing a lot of that we actually didn't do any of. Might have been nice. Maybe next time. :)

Then we drove to Opaeka'a Falls:

Then we drove up, up, up Waimea Canyon to the three lookouts:

Beginning of Waimea Canyon

The grandest canyon in Hawaii.

The view of the Na Pali coast from above through the clouds from the top of Waimea Canyon.

Jeran at Waimea Canyon

One more quick stop at the rather disappointing Spouting Horn and it was off to the airport for the first of four flights homeward bound.

Spouting Horn. Not half as cool as La Bufadora.

Goodbye Hawaii! I don't know when we'll ever get to come back, but it was a magical trip and just what we needed to unwind from the stress of the spring and summer before Jeran starts his Masters program.