On Tuesday, April 8 we arrived in Kauai where we had a ship’s excursion planned to ride the zodiac rafts along the Napoli Coast. Unfortunately, the winds were very strong and the waves on the Napoli Coast were too rough that our excursion was cancelled. We walked into town and decided to rent a van to drive around the island to view sights. It was a great deal for $65 for the day for a van and walking distance from the port (Hawaii Rental Cars and Scooters – www.hirentalcars.com); they will be available at Maui and Hilo very soon.
We went to Waimea Canyon first and took several pictures from the lookout areas. You could see some waterfalls and the beautiful gorge below. It was a long windy road up and down the mountain but the scenery was beautiful. We sampled a few of Kauai’s little snacks at one of the lookout points and that turned out to be our lunch for the day.
After leaving the canyon we traveled to the south shore area with a stop at the Kauai Coffee Company for a sampling of their different coffee flavors and viewed the coffee trees. On our way to the south shore we drove through Kukuiula, a new development with a golf course. The course and homes looked beautiful. We could only imagine how much the homes cost. Our next stop on the shore was at Spouting Horn where you could watch the ocean water fly up like a geyser out of a blow hole. We were able spot a few pods of whales while we were there. We hung around a while watching the whales and shopped at the local vendors nearby. We stopped at Poipu Beach Park and saw a sea turtle on the beach. Sea turtles are a protected species as you are not allowed to touch, feed or get too close to them. The beach itself was busy with families, snorkeling and a few newer resorts nearby (Marriott, Hilton and the Hyatt). Great beach that is very close to the ship’s harbor.
Amazing how the time goes so quickly as we needed to be back on the ship by 4:30pm. A few photos we selected as we leave the harbor heading to our next stop, Maui!
Wishing our friends Sandra and Richard an awesome cruise from LA to Hawaiian Islands and Paula, Berto, Guillermina, Arturo and their friends a great cruise from LA to Japan!
Hope you are enjoying our blogs!
Greg and Sharon Conrad