Hawaii bound - looking for suggestions!

[aqua-nut]

Toward the end of July my wife and I are going to Kauai! We've never been and are looking for suggestions about places to stay (prefer being able to cook - condo/house best) and good snorkeling sites. Neither of us are SCUBA capable. Hiking is also a favorite activity.

We're not looking for fancy accommodations (read $$$$, ).


So, where have you been that you would go back to?

 

[patchin]

Hike the Napali Coast back to the first waterfall. Take a morning zodiac excursion along the Napali coast for dolphins, turtles, waterfalls and snorkeling. Helicopter trip will show u stuff u can only see by air, but it's big bucks. There's a float trip down the canals in the center of the island which sounds fun. Didn't snorkel there, but there should be lots of info online. Next time I go (haven't been there since my first honeymoon 32 years ago), I want to hike the Aliki Swamp up on the mountain. Next time we talk I will tell you the story of getting lost in the jungle!

 

[Kmooresf]

We got a Condo in "Princeville" when we were there. Just found it on the internet. Much quieter area and close to "Tunnels Beach." I could spend EVERY DAY at Tunnels Beach. Great snorkleing, beautiful scenery and FREE! Parking can be a bummer, but if you get there early you should be ok. Steve covered the rest.

Great place for condo or home rentals.
http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/hawaii/kauai/north

 

[patchin]

Also try http://tradingplaces.com/rentals/hot-deals-weekly-stays

 

[lattehiatus]

No recommendations from me, since I can hardly recall anything about Hawaii after two decades - just wanted to wish you lovebirds a fun and happy trip!

Next time we talk I will tell you the story of getting lost in the jungle!

Please share!

 

[sfsuphysics]

As much as it my cringe me to say this, find a Snorkel Bob's shop, and ask them for good snorkeling places. I didn't find much decent snorkeling when I went, although it was the winter time and was told the water/wind changes direction from the Summer which affects how snorkelable some places are (every beach we stopped at along the North shore was closed due to waves), plus we just came from Maui which was all sorts of awesome rolled up into one, plus at the Maui airport they had these large kiosks with nothing but pamphlets one of which basically showed where all the good Snorkel spots were in each region of the island, we didn't find anything similar at the Kauai airport.

 

[rygh]

Hiking is great on Kaui.
Boat ride on the Wialua river is fun.
We never did the helicopter ride due to weather, but that looked really cool.
Snorkeling was disappointing, so no recommendations there.

I would recommend staying near the airport. More central, cheaper.
We stayed at the Princeville, and regretted it. Ohh...the rain... All depends on when you go though.

I particularly liked the beaches and canyon on the west side, and hiking on the north side.

 

[aqua-nut]

Thanks everyone. Lots of good info.

I've been doing some research since I first posted. Seems Kauai is very short on the child friendly snorkel spots my wife loves.

I've got a line on a condo close to Tunnels Beach, which is one of the really easy beaches this time of the year. I love hiking too so we will get some jungle time!

 

[sfsuphysics]

Just North of Lyndgate State Park there's a very young kid safe snorkeling area. It's basically a wall of stones and what not that protects you from the surf making what essentially is a thigh/waist deep kiddy pool in the ocean. Now there are no corals in here, it's all man made, but it you won't have to worry about the surf taking you out, there are fish in the area hell I even saw a flounder trying to be all ninja like on the sandy bottom, it's just lacking the reef look/feel. However totally kid safe, which I'm assuming is translation for your wife might not want to let the waves affect her too much . If you look at Google maps you can actually zoom in and see it right along the shoreline.

However it's about 30 miles away from Tunnel's beach which translates to around an hour to get there. But if you end up staying elsewhere, say over on the east side of the island it's something to look into. But yeah to reiterate didn't see too much in the way of snorkeling in the winter time, I realize summer could be different, but I went around just about the entire damn island looking.