A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Morning | Late Morning/Early Afternoon | Afternoon/Late Afternoon | Evening | Notes | |||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Day 1 | Breakfast at Home | Flight | Flight | Land at Oahu | HA has no free good entertainment options, bring some | ||||||||||||||||||||
3 | Travel Day | Arrive at JFK for Flight to Oahu | Lunch and Dinner on Airplane | Fly to Lihue | The flight can be long! Traveling from the east means you'll likely have a layover | |||||||||||||||||||||
4 | Hawaii Airlines(HA) | Pick up rental car at Lihue | Hawaii airports are small and quick and moving between gates is easy | |||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | JFK to Oahu to Lihue(~15 hours) | Drive to AirBnB in Poipu | Rental car kiosks are right outside of Lihue airport(10 minutes to deplane and get car) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | Jeeps are not needed. I got one and hated how it drove so changed it. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | The roads at night are DARK since there are no street lights on the island. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | Day 2 | Walk to coast near AirBnB | Brunch at Art Cafe Hemingway(7.5/10) | Shopping on the main road in Kapaa | Visit Kukui’ula Village Shopping Center | This island has many chickens! Try the lemonade at Art Cafe Hemingway - delicious - great eclectic brunch | ||||||||||||||||||||
9 | Kap'aa | Drive to Lihue(through tree tunnel) | Kapaa Beach Park walkway | Opaekaa Falls on the drive back to Lihue | Dinner at Eating House 1849(8/10) | The walkway across the street from Art Cafe is really nice, flat and long and you can rent bikes to ride on it | ||||||||||||||||||||
10 | Costco and more shopping | Drive to Kapaa for Brunch | Dessert at the Spot(6.5/10) | Costco for groceries | Kap'aa has some cool eclectic stores to check out but nothing amazing | |||||||||||||||||||||
11 | Opaekaa falls has some nice overlooks of the falls and on the other side of the Waimea River | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | Costco is great for groceries and gas as both are EXPENSIVE on the islands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | Eating House 1849 - highly recommended dinner spot but expensive | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | If you're in the Poipu area, you'll likely return to the Kukui'ula Village area many times - lots of good restaurants and dessert places | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | Day 3 | Breakfast at home | Hike Maha'ulepu trails and visit the beach | Visit Hanapepe | Drive home, recover from seasickness :) | Gillin's/Mahaulepu beach gate is closed due to filming of new THE ROCK movie until sometime in 2019(should be open as of November 2019) | ||||||||||||||||||||
16 | Maha'ulepu Beach | Drive to Gillin's beach but find the path closed | Visit Makauwahi Cave | Captain Andy's Catamaran Dinner Tour(8.5/10) | Ride near CJM stables gets you to Mahaulepu but it's a bit rocky and bumpy | |||||||||||||||||||||
17 | Not Na Pali Coast* Catamaran Tour | Drive near CJM Stables to get to Maha'ulepu | Lunch at Anake’s Juice Bar(6.5/10) | Maha'ulepu has amazing views and great hiking trails | ||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | Makauwahi cave is only open on weekends and requires you to crawl on your knees through a tiny entrance | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | Anake's Juice Bar has great reviews everywhere but I guess I'm just not an acai bowl person | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | Hanapepe was surprisingly dead for a saturday afternoon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | Captain Andy's catamaran tour was great. We booked a Na Pali Coast tour but the weather was bad so we headed south. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | They said we could get a refund, reschedule or just go south with them. We went south and it was worth it. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | We had a group of spinner dolphins swim alongside our boat for 20 minutes, a once in a lifetime experience. Dinner was ok. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
24 | The way back is on sails so seasickness abounds(I know from personal experience) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
25 | Day 4 | Breakfast at home | ATV Tour continued(~3 hours) | Poipu Beach Park | Dessert at Lappert's Ice Cream(8.5/10) | ATV tour was great and surprisingly challenging yet still good for beginners. | ||||||||||||||||||||
26 | ATV Tour | ATV Tour with Kipu Ranch Aventures(8/10) | Lunch at Da Crack(7/10) | Spouting Horn | Dinner at Home | Kipu allows you to change drivers at each stop and the trip takes about 3 hours. Main complaint is too many stops and slow pace. | ||||||||||||||||||||
27 | Poipu Beach and Spouting Horn | Da Crack is a huge hit with locals as there's always a line. Portions are huge and it's a good KETO spot. It's a decent mexican spot. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
28 | Poipu Beach park has good beginner snorkeling and you'll see turtles and seals sunning themselves. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
29 | Spouting Horn is one of those stop it and check it out type of things. The spout is bigger when the waves are higher. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
30 | Lappert's ice cream is DELICIOUS and at Kukui’ula Village Shopping Center. We stopped here a few times during our stay. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
31 | Day 5 | Breakfast at home | Lunch at Beach House Restaurant(6/10) | Farmer's market | Dinner at JO2 Restaurant in Kapaa(8.5/10) | The open door helicopter ride over the island is amazing, pure amazing. | ||||||||||||||||||||
32 | Open Door Helicopter Ride | Jack Harter open door helicopter ride(10/10) | Dessert at Waikomo Shave Ice(9/10) | Snack at home(tropical fruits!) | I'm afraid of heights and my sweaty hands were clutching the seat but the views are unbelievable.MUST DO if you're on the island. | |||||||||||||||||||||
33 | Shave Ice | Wailua falls pit stop | Beach house has a great view but the lunch was mediocre for the price - maybe dinner is better | |||||||||||||||||||||||
34 | Waikomo Shave Ice near Da Crack is a small food truck that has the best shave ice I tried on any island | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
35 | Farmer's markets pop up daily on Kauai. Try the various tropical fruits as they actually have taste here. Starfruit and dragonfruit were my favorite. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
36 | JO2 restaurant is a good asian fusion restaurant in a strip mall in Kap'aa. Expensive but highly recommended. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
37 | Day 6 | Breakfast at home | Canyon Trail at Pu’u Hinahina Lookout | Pihea Vista Trail at Puu o Kila Lookout | Dinner at home | Waimea Canyon is beautiful and filled with plenty of hikes - plan to spend a whole day here, maybe two if you love hiking as we barely scratched the surface. | ||||||||||||||||||||
38 | Waimea Canyon | Waimea Canyon Drive and Overlook | Lunch at Porky's in Waimea(8/10) | It takes about an hour to get to the overlook from Poipu, the roads from the foot are slow and winding. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
39 | Definitely go all the way to the top and do the first part of the Pihea Vista trail, the views are incredible. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
40 | Prepared to be tired after a trip here and bring a jacket since temperatures do drop a bit. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
41 | Porky's is a solid sausage dog place and is conveniently located right when you come down the canyon for good post hike eating. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
42 | Day 7 | Breakfast at home | Lunch at the Lanai(7/10) | Move from Poipu to Princeville AirBnB | Dinner at Kauai Ono(9/10) | The Maha'ulepu beach ride at CJM stables was a letdown as you barely saw the beach. | ||||||||||||||||||||
43 | Horseback Riding | Beach Horseback ride at CJM Stables(5.5/10) | Dessert at Lappert's Ice Cream again | Not many great views and the ones you see, we already saw during our day 3 hike. I'd recommend skipping it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
44 | Move to Princeville | Costco for Gas(2.99 versus 3.99+ elsewhere) | This was our last day in the south as we moved up north to Princeville. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
45 | Outdoor Dinner | Kauai Ono was a fantastic dinner experience. It's a 5 course menu served under an outdoor tent at princeville ranch. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
46 | Not for the picky eater as there is no choice and it is expensive at $60 per person but totally worth it. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
47 | Bring bug spray and note they only serve dinner on Tuesday and Wednesday. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
48 | Day 8 | Breakfast at home | Explore Hanalei/Ching Young Village Shops | Hanalei Beach | Walk down to explore/see Princeville Resort | The road to Hanalei and beyond has one lane bridges, custom is to let ~7 cars pass then go | ||||||||||||||||||||
49 | Explore Hanalei and Princeville | Drive to Hanalei | Lunch at Three Brothers Deli(6.5/10) | Princeville Foodland for Groceries | Dinner at home | Hanalei is a cute little town with a ton of stores and plenty of restaurants and food trucks | ||||||||||||||||||||
50 | Dessert at JoJo's Shave Ice(3.5/10) | Ice Cream at Lappert's | Lunch was just ok, don't recommend. JoJos shave ice wasn't good, flavors tasted fake, pass on this one | |||||||||||||||||||||||
51 | Hanalei beach showed the damage from the 2018 storms but still a very nice beach, decent area for surfing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
52 | The road past Hanalei is now open but visiting the beach at the end of the road requires a reservation(https://www.gohaena.com/carts) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
53 | While closed, it limits what you can do to the north as there's a lot of great hikes/beaches past the blocked areas. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
54 | Foodland is the main supermarket on the island and has great poke and tons of SPAM. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
55 | Princeville resort isn't as fancy as impressive as the Grand Hyatt down south but just as expensive - has a nice private beach though that you can visit even if not staying. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
56 | Day 9 | Breakfast at home | Beach time and snorkeling | Lunch at Coconut's Fish Cafe(8.5/10) | Smith's Family Luau(6/10) | The princeville resort beach isn't amazing and the snorkeling is just OK there. | ||||||||||||||||||||
57 | Snorkeling | Walk to the Princeville Resort beach | Drive to Kap'aa for lunch/shopping | Dessert at Hee Fat Shave Ice(8/10) | Hideaways beach which is behind the tennis courts before the resort is better but harder to get to and neither have good parking in the area. | |||||||||||||||||||||
58 | Luau | Coconut's Fish Cafe(also locations in Maui) has the best fish tacos - SO GOOD. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
59 | Hee Fat General Store has a shave ice place with solid shave ice - get the real fruit flavors! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
60 | Smith's family luau was fine. You get to walk around their big garden then eat a buffet style meal. I probably wouldn't do a luau again on any island - just not my type of thing. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
61 | The pork was pretty good but everything else was rather bland and didn't taste homemade and it takes to long from arrival to dinner to the show. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
62 | Day 10 | Breakfast at home | Kauai Escape Room(8.5/10) | Kap'aa walking around(beach paved trail) | Dinner at home | There's so many farmer's markets in Kauai daily. At this one we got some Rambutan(tastes like grape) | ||||||||||||||||||||
63 | Escape Room in Lihue | Farmer's market in Kilauea | Lunch at Gaylord's at Kilohana(7/10) | Wailua Shave Ice(8/10) | Packing | We also got a sugar loaf frosty. Delicious, check out Banana Joe's if you can't find a frosty at a farmer's market for a similar treat. | ||||||||||||||||||||
64 | Last day in Kauai :( | The Kauai Escape Room is surprisingly good and we've done a dozen+ in various cities. This one compares well to the big city ones. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
65 | Gaylord's at Kilohana has some stores and is on an old plantation. Food was ok but the area is neat and worth checking out. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
66 | Kap'aa has some cool chic stores we came back to and a lot of solid food places plus there's always the beach side walking trail. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
67 | Wailua Shave Ice is solid and apparently they have a location in San Diego and Portland, OR too. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
68 | OFF TO MAUI NEXT! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
69 | Day 11 | Breakfast at home | Flight from Lihue to Maui | AirBnb check in/unpack | Dinner at The Mill House(7.5/10) | Inter island travel isn't long BUT it is tiring and does waste a good portion of a day. | ||||||||||||||||||||
70 | Travel from Kauai to Maui | Check out of AirBnb | Costco for groceries | However, it's difficult to pack a lot of stuff in on travel day even though it's a short trip between islands so keep that in mind when planning vacations. It is a less than ideal day. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
71 | Shopping at Hanalei | The airports are small and quick so you can arrive 45 minutes before a flight and be fine especially if you have TSA PreCheck. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
72 | We stayed in Kihei which is a central location and a solid starting point for any day trips. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
73 | The Mill House was good, not great but it's worth it because the location and setting is awesome | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
74 | Day 12 | Lahaina front street walk | Maui Escape Room(7/10) | Dessert at Island Cream(9/10) | Dinner at Lahaina Grill(9/10) | Lahaina is a great walking area with plenty of stores but was mostly closed in the early morning. | ||||||||||||||||||||
75 | Lahaina/Western Maui Day | Whaler's Village shopping center | Lunch at Hula Grill(7/10) | 2nd Maui Escape Room(IT WAS HOT) | Whaler's Village shopping center is close to the Kaanapali resorts and will validate parking for 3/4 hrs depending on purchase. We got 3hrs from the escape room or 4hrs from the restaurant. | |||||||||||||||||||||
76 | Kaanapali Beach walking path | Otherwise parking is $4/30 minutes so expensive but the beach areas are nice and have a beautiful walking path. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
77 | Lahaina front street/Banyan Tree | Maui escape room was fun but not as good as the one on Kauai. However, it was 95 and we wanted some air conditioning so we did two of them. The military themed one is better than the tesla one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
78 | Island Cream was some of the best ice cream/gelato I've ever had - well worth going out of your way to the random strip mall location. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
79 | The Kaanapali beach walking path is great and long - passes by all of the major hotels in the area. Ululani's shave ice hsa a location here and they're pretty good. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
80 | Lahaina front street is a tourist hot spot towards the late afternoon/evening. Parking is expensive but there is a small amount of free parking on the side of the road and on the south part of the street. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
81 | Front street has the banyan tree(a cool old big tree) and a ton of cool art galeries with local artists and some neat shops. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
82 | Lahaina Grill was fantastic with impecable service but quite expensive($30 apps, $50 entrees) and there's no view which is a shame for the area - definitely a recommendation if you can afford it. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
83 | Day 13 | Visit Haleakala(9/10) | More time at Haleakala | Kamaole Beach Park | Dinner at home | Haleakala is AMAZING - otherwordly place with awesome views and unique landscapes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
84 | Haleakala Crater | Lunch at South Maui Fish Company(8/10) | Packing | We didn't have time to do the Road to Hana(NEXT TIME) as we fly out tomorrow. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
85 | South MauI Fish Company has pretty good fish tacos - my favorite are still at Coconut's Fish Cafe which has locations in Maui too. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
86 | Lots of great beaches in Maui including Kamaole. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
87 | Having a kitchen at home is a great money saver as we could just eat left overs from Lahaina and Mill House(still delicious). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
88 | Day 14 | Breakfast at home | Humpack Whale National Sanctuary(6/10) | Land at Kona, drive to AirBnb area | Relax at home | Ululani's is good, not the best shave ice I had but had to try it since I was on Maui and it was said to be the best. | ||||||||||||||||||||
89 | Flight to the Big Island | Check out of AirBnB | Airport/Flight | Linner at Foster's Kitchen(5.5/10) | The Humpback Whale Sanctuary visitor's center is cute but nothing amazing, they were doing some work on it while we were there. | |||||||||||||||||||||
90 | Snack at Ululani's Shave Ice(8/10) | Check into AirBnB | The flight from Maui to the Big Island is short(40 minutes) and the airports are both a breeze so you can arrive 45 minutes before flight. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
91 | Snack for airplan at Sugar Beach Bake Shop(7/10) | Foster's Kitchen has a nice view but the food there is bland. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
92 | Flying between islands is easy but it is tiring(and made me slightly sick!) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
93 | Day 15 | Drive from Kona to Volcanoes National Park(~2 hrs) | Volcanoes National Park(9/10) | Driving back through Chain of Craters Road | Route 200 home, mountain views | We came here simply for the volcano! | ||||||||||||||||||||
94 | Volcanoes National Park | Stop at Paradise Meadows to buy some gifts | Hiking | Taking the long way back home through Hilo | Shopping at Waikoloa | The drive from Kona to Volcanoes National park is about 2hrs each way but it has cool varied landscapes on the way. | ||||||||||||||||||||
95 | Punaluu Black Sand Beach | Driving down Chain of Craters Road | Dinner at Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine(4/10) | Packing | There's some neat stops along the way. Paradise meadows is a local farm that sells honey, coffee and awesome chocolate nuts. | |||||||||||||||||||||
96 | Punaluu black sand beach is a beautiful beach with black sand(duh) where you can see turtles quite often. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
97 | Volcanoes National Park was closed in spots but still awesome. There was no live lava in the park when we went there. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
98 | The sulfur vent trail was really cool and chain of craters road was neat as well. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
99 | We chose to take a longer route home to see Hilo and the other part of the island. Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine had good yelp reviews but the food was very disappointing. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
100 | Day 16 | Flight to Portland | Flight | Layover | Flight | Flying the other way sucks :(, all day event! |