We Left Our Hearts in Paradise Part 1: Kauai

We Left Our Hearts in Paradise Part 1: Kauai

This is an off beat kind of blog post for me, but I feel it could potentially help many people.  I haven't posted for a while due to a whirlwind kind of year that included me getting married, going on our honeymoon, moving from Montana to Idaho, buying a house, and trying to relax somewhere in there.

 As mentioned before, I recently married the man of my dreams back in May.  In June we went on our honeymoon to Kauai....and we can't wait to go back.  The point of this blog post is to outline what we did during our time there to hopefully provide some helpful tips to future travelers.  We really did not spend a lot of money while on the Island due to simple planning and our natural ability to be thrifty.  We spent June 15-21 on the island, doing a straight flight from Seattle, WA to Lihue, Kauai. It was about a 5 hour flight, where they provided free Mai Tai's when we got close to landing, yum! For the record, I don't recommend a red eye flight unless you're able to sleep on a plane easily, we were not, therefore we might have been cranky when we landed back in Seattle.  Luckily that red eye flight was the one going home.

This will be a two part post and I'll start with the basics: airline, car rental, shopping, lodging, good eats, good beaches.  The second part will be most specifics on what we did on each day to help with planning, since I am a planning fanatic. Enjoy!

Basic Details:

Airline: We flew Alaska Airlines out of Seattle, I booked the tickets in March which was probably too late because the price and availability of seats and flights were slim pickings (see note above about the red eye mistake).  Lesson learned.  Luckily we had a companion ticket so we essentially only had to buy one ticket. Since it is a shorter flight, you'll get a typical beverage and snack service, but with a hint of Hawaiian goodness.  The snack was a blend of sweet macadamia nuts and they served POG juice (passion fruit, orange, guava).  They served free Mai Tai's towards the end of the flight.

The Lihue airport was small so you get your luggage fairly quickly, which is great because in June it is super humid, and the baggage claim area is open to the elements.  Coming back through to go to the mainland, you will have to claim any fruits, nuts, etc. you buy...do some research on what is allowed and what is not.  Lychee fruit is not.  They were weird about the sea salt we brought back.

Car Rental: The car rental places are not at the airport, but they have shuttles that will take you there.  We rented a car, but for the life of me I can't remember what company we went through- some discount place.  We noticed that prices are competitive there.  I think we paid less than $200 for the week for an economy car. And, unless you really really feel the need to go off roading in a RENTAL CAR (which isn't recommended for somewhat obvious reasons), get the economy rental, you'll thank me later.  Remember: gas is more expensive on the island ($4.90 a gallon).  We rented a Nissan Versa and were getting 40 miles to the gallon, I think we filled it up once and we drove a lot.  From North Shore to West Shore (since you can't drive completely around the island due to the Napali Coast) it was about an hour drive.

Shopping:  The first thing we did when we got our rental car was dig out my handy GPS I brought and punched in the local Walmart.  On the plane, I made a grocery list of things we knew for sure we needed like milk, juice (POG juice is so yummy, try it on the plane if you can), sodas, beer, condiments, snacks, etc. Other things we bought right away was a bamboo beach mat for $2.  Sand comes right off of those, much easier than a towel.  We also bought snorkeling gear at Walmart and my husband bought fishing gear, because anywhere he goes he needs to fish.  He brought 3 or 4 fishing poles on this trip.. FYI Walmart does not have grocery sacks, if you want your items bagged you will be charged 50 cents for a reusable tote- which came in handy later on in the trip, but if you're super thrifty bring your own bags.  Walmart also has a good selection of souviners and beachwear.  There is a Costco in Lihue, as well as a Home Depot, a small mall with various stores in it...etc.

Lodging:  There are plenty of places to stay on the island, we stayed at a family member's time share in Princeville on the North Shore.  We stayed at Bali Hai by Wyndam and it was a 2 bedroom 2 bath condo. It came with a fully equipped kitchen, living room, dining room, balcony, and jetted tub...although because it was so humid you didn't really want to sit in a tub of hot water.  Anyways, this condo was very nice, clean, and the staff were super friendly.  We were greeted with a Lei and Puka shells.  The grounds at this resort were kept nice with tons of greenery and flowers all around.  The North Shore is mainly for people that enjoy golfing and are retired, I noticed.  I could be wrong, but that is what was observed.  Super quiet which we enjoyed.  Our resort was also by the famous Queens Bath (google it as I probably shouldn't support tourists going there....but, it was amazing....)  In Princeville there is a grocery store, gas station, and a small market place with cute swanky shops in it, and THE BEST Shave Ice on the island.  And it is called Kauai's Best Shave Ice, for good reasons...make sure you get the mac nut ice cream in the bottom first!

Books/Other info:  Do yourself a favor and buy this book: The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook.  It maps out the entire island with what to do, see, eat on each shore.  I always had it in my hand while we were driving around.  I also picked up Kauai Trailblazer and it has trail maps for different hikes and other outdoorsy things to do on the island.


Next Post: Part 2 will have a more detailed list of what we did and where we ate.