My Favorite Things to do in Kauai, Hawaii

I was so excited to experience Kauai, otherwise known as the Garden Isle. We went to Kauai directly after being in the city atmosphere of Honolulu, and you could immediately tell they were two very different places. We spent 3 days on the island and stayed near Po’ipu beach at an Airbnb within a neighborhood that was a short drive from the beach. Kauai felt far more residential than Oahu and less touristy -  It felt like a homey community where I would want to live if I were to ever move to Hawaii. My favorite part of the island is that its land is so diverse and you can experience any type of nature vacation: you can go hiking in a canyon, be a beach bum for the day, walk through the rainforest, or drive around the local towns and uncover the local culture. There is something for everybody here and you can choose your own adventure. 

Morning 

Our mornings were spent mostly preparing for our day trips and seeking out the best place to find coffee. Below I’ve listed our favorite places we were able to find coffee during our time on the island: 

• Kauai Coffee Co - One of the absolute highlights of the trip! I have been a coffee fan almost 10 years now, and I have never been to a coffee farm. This was my first experience seeing how coffee is made and the flower that coffee comes from. We did the self-guided tour around the estate and it was entirely free to us. 

  

  Kauai Coffee Farm

• Koloa Shopping Center:

  • Java Kai Koloa - Such a cute coffee shop in the Koloa neighborhood.  It had an island feel and it was fun to see the combination of locals and tourists come through to enjoy the space. It’s located in the center of a shopping center that is filled with local stores where you should definitely go if you’re looking for more of a local shopping experience. 

  
  

  

  
  

  • The Musubi Truck: Before we left, we made sure to get Spam Musubi from The Musubi Truck which is in the Koloa Shopping Center. They had the best Musubi we’d had on the entire trip, but unfortunately we were only able to get it one of the days. 

Daytime

• Waimea Canyon: Otherwise known as the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific”, if shown a picture at a glance, it would look like it was taken in the Southwest corner of the United States. We took the Waimea drive through the canyon and stopped at many of the viewpoints along the way. Although we didn’t do any hiking, there are many popular hikes throughout the canyon that you can do if you want to spend more time in this natural wonder. 

Views from the Waimea Canyon Drive

• Drive along the Napali Coast: My favorite thing we did in our time in Kauai was drive alongside the Napali Coast to Hanalei. With the green high cliffs that surround the coastline and the ocean, you can understand why many scenes from Jurassic Park were filmed here. One of the things that shocked me the most was the lack of tourists in this area. It almost felt remote and untouched in some parts - I hope that this nature remains untouched in years to come. We stopped at many beaches and Wailua Falls along the way and ended our journey in the town of Hanalei.

  
  

  

  
  

  • Hanalei: I absolutely LOVED Hanalei. It is the cutest town full of local stores and restaurants with the backdrop of the lush mountains. If I were to go back, I would want to experience staying in the Hanalei since we were only there during the daytime, but I would love to see what it’s like in the early morning and the nightlife in the area. This small town is located east of Princeville and is best known for Hanalei Bay and Beach. 

• Tahiti Nui: We ate dinner at Tahiti Nui which was included in a scene from the movie, The Descendante, starring George Clooney. This was my favorite restaurant we went to on the entire trip because the food seemed pretty authentic, unlike a lot of the other sit-down restaurants in the more touristy parts of Hawaii. 

• Beaches

  • Po’ipu Beach: This was the beach that was closest to where we were staying and one of the things that they are best known for is being able to see Sea Turtles. I had no idea that when we arrived at the beach that we would be able to see 50+ Sea Turtles sleeping on and swimming up to the beach. Although there were a number of people there to see the turtles, they were very protected by the beach workers ensuring nobody touched the turtles or put them in danger. Besides seeing the turtles, we were also able to swim here even in the Winter. 

    
    

    

    Sea Turtles on Po'ipu Beach

    
    

    • Puka Dog: You can’t go to Po’ipu beach without first stopping at Puka Dog for one of their famous hot dogs. They are made Hawaiian-Style with different homemade relish sauces to choose from. It’s a must-do if you are in the area. 

    
    

    

    
    

  • Hanalei and Ha’ena Beach: While we were on our drive through the Napali Coast, we decided to stop at both Hanalei and Ha’ena Beach which were located on the north side of the island. Since we visited in late December, the waves were too dangerous for us to swim here but we still were able to sit on the beach and take in how beautiful the beach is. The other beach that we wanted to stop at but didn’t have the time for was Tunnels Beach, which is known for being a great place to snorkel. 

Evening 

• The Shops at Kukui’ula: If you’re staying in the Po’ipu area, I would definitely recommend going to the Shops at Kukui’ula in the evening time. At this center, there’s a number of shops and restaurants you could go to for dinner or for dessert. It’s a bit more commercial than the Koloa shopping center, but it is very convenient and has anything you could really need at the last minute. We got shaved ice for dessert one of the nights at Uncle’s Shave Ice and Tea but also considered getting ice cream at Lappert’s Hawaii. We also stopped by Living Foods, which is a small healthy grocery store that is reminiscent of a better Whole Foods. If we had another day in Kauai, I think we would have gotten ingredients here to make dinner at our AirBnb.