My wife and I recently returned from 10 days in Hawaii. The first 4 were on the Big Island. We then went to Kauai, spending the first 3 nights in Hanalei and the final 3 nights in Kalaheo. This is a brief report about the Kalaheo part of the trip. It was our second trip to Kauai. We saw Pierce Brosnan riding his bike in Hanalei, but there was no sign of him in Kalaheo.
We slowly made our way down from Hanalei, snorkeling at Ke%26#39;e in the morning. Our plan was to minimize driving time and spend a few days doing things on the north shore from our base in Hanalei, then shift to Kalaheo to do things in the south and west of the island. We pulled into Kalaheo in mid-afternoon and located our B%26amp;B, the Bamboo Jungle House. We%26#39;d found it on the internet and read many positive reviews on this forum, but you%26#39;re still never sure what you%26#39;re getting. Turned out great. It more than matched the online presentation. Clean, comfortable, much attention to detail. The hosts are really nice, helpful people. It%26#39;s a good place run well by good people.
Kalaheo is a convenient location for a base to explore the southern beaches and the western part of the island. It%26#39;s got good views. It%26#39;s not created for tourists. It seems like a residential community where real people live real lives. Our days were pretty tiring, so rather than drive any distance, we had our first two dinners in Kalaheo. We ate at Brick Oven Pizza and at Kalaheo Coffee %26amp; Cafe, which recently started serving dinners. Pomodoro was closed the night we tried to go there. The food was good, but the restaurants themselves were much like places we could find in some mainland suburb. When we%26#39;re in the tropics we like to get to places that could not exist at home. For our last night we ate at Tomkats in Koloa, which is exactly the kind of laid-back place that we love stumbling across. The food was good. We gave brief thought to one of the more upscale restaurants in Poipu, but they just seemed more formal than we were feeling.
We hiked the Canyon Trail in Koke%26#39;e and liked it a lot. On our previous trip to Kauai we stayed mostly on the north shore and only took the driving-scenic view tour of Waimea Canyon. This time we wanted to get down into the canyon a bit and this was a good trail for us. Good variety, good canyon view. We did get to the pool below the smaller waterfall, which some reports mention as a nice place to take a dip. We didn%26#39;t. The pool itself didn%26#39;t look too inviting and the sign erected by the Dept. of Health warning about possible Leptospirosis contamination made decision-making easy. It is beautiful and my wife and I have a nice photo with the falls in the background. We also enjoyed the uppermost lookout, It%26#39;s frequently fogged-in and requires some patience to wait for the moment when the clouds break and the sea and mountains are revealed----just for a moment. We had shifted fairly well to Kauai Time by then and were only too glad to wait for The Moment.
We saw that we had not shifted completely to Kauai Time when we got to Jojo%26#39;s in Waimea looking for some shave ice. The line was moving in geologic time (having just been in the canyon, we recognized this) and we moved on. Hanapepe%26#39;s such a strange place----will it make it? We liked poking around old Koloa. One post complained about the attitude of shopkeepers there, but we actually had really nice interactions with them. We don%26#39;t buy timeshares or copter tours, so I don%26#39;t know if that had anything to do with it.
We snorkeled at Poipu Beach Park. On our previous trip we%26#39;d only snorkeled the north shore and were eager to discover the southern beaches. But....never moved beyond that first beach. We did see a lot of fish and two monk seals were resting on the sandy spit. Appeared to be one calf. We figured that anytime that we see a mother and calf of an endangered species, we%26#39;ve had a real good day. We%26#39;ll save the other beaches for another trip.
It%26#39;s hard for us to leave Hawaii. Aside from a truly grueling flight, it doesn%26#39;t seem right to be leaving yet. Another few days, a week, forever? I think we%26#39;ll back. I think I have some unfinished business there. And I think next time we%26#39;l spend the whole vacation on Kauai.
No Pierce Brosnan sighting in KalaheoIf Mr. Brosnan is really in training for the upcoming Kona Ironman, there should be some Pierce on bike sightings in Kalaheo soon? That little flat ride (other than the hill by Lumahai) he likes to take from Haena to Hanalei and back isn%26#39;t gonna cut it if he expects to do 112 miles through the Big Island lava fields October 21! Maybe you missed him or he%26#39;s turning back for Haena at Poipu? Or possibly he was working on training for the marathon leg of the Ironman by jogging the Kalalau trail from Ke%26#39;e to Kalalau beach (11 miles each way) during your west side stay?
My fav celebrity sighting in Hanalei was walking past Michael Crichton walking the Hanalei Bay beach one morning. I didn%26#39;t say anything to him but he nodded his head as we past. At 6%26#39;5'; I felt like a midget along side the towering author!
Sorry to go so far off topic....another great trip post (Bond or no Bond)
No Pierce Brosnan sighting in KalaheoSpeaking of celebrity sightings in Hawaii, last year during Dukes birthday celebration, my mom was at the statue while the television crews were getting ready to film.
People gathered around one man for his autograph, so she got in line too. After she returned to the room she asked us who he was.
The ';famous'; guy, nobody knows has been a running joke ever since.
Really enjoyed reading both of your trip reports. You will definitely be back--although it must be a grueling flight home for you. Our interisland plus 6 hours to Vancouver is more than enough time on an airplane for me--how I envy those first class passengers.
We will be going on our fourth trip in March and reading all these great trip reports keeps me going until then!!
Bellman - really enjoy reading your trip reports . . .and I have a question for you, how was the BI? I occasionally think I ought to go there sometime, but I have such a deep love for Kauai, I just am not sure if I would really like it. Yes, the volcano intrigues me, as well as an island of that size, which I think would be fun to explore, but I am just not sure . . . what are your thoughts regarding that? I have also been to Maui, and while I enjoyed it, I found myself constantly comparing it to Kauai, and it just didn%26#39;t hit me the way Kauai does. There is still so much for me to explore on Kauai . . . like more hiking, bamboo forests, etc., but I have a hard time getting motivated to do anything other than snorkeling. I guess I need to go someday for a month or so . . . just as you stated. Mahalo for sharing with us. :)
We certainly don%26#39;t regret having gone to the Big Island, but don%26#39;t expect to go back even though there%26#39;s lots that we didn%26#39;t see. It%26#39;s a strange place. I never felt the affinity that I feel for Kauai. Volcano was strange and fascinating. We did see lava flow into the ocean ( although from quite a distance) and hiked across craters. These are definitely pretty amazing things to experience.Pele is a real force on BI. And I understand that there is good snorkeling in some areas, but we didn%26#39;t snorkel at all there.
Some of the island is very lush, but some of it looks like a Mad Max landscape. Harsh and barren. A place of devastation. I didn%26#39;t find the beauty in it that I find in the desert of the southwest US, as harsh and barren as that landscape is. I think any more trips we make to Hawaii will be spent just on Kauai.
coal, he said it well. Although we have made trips to the BI and this year was our first to Kauai, my wife and I prefer Kauai and would like to check out Maui (but feel Kauai is the right island for us). Now our son prefered the big Island cause it was like visiting 7 other states rolled into one. None of us cared much for Waikiki but north Oahu was better. We usually stay at waikola hilton(BI), (your kids would probably love this place) and don%26#39;t care much for such commercialization or resortness prefering to get out into probably where locals don%26#39;t want us to. I must say though that we did get out and talked to alot of locals on all three islands and found then all to be great (aside from homeless on waikiki at night). One of our most enlightening talks was with a scout leader(from NW BI) and a few of his troops, They were returning from a week on another island. I definitely tip my hat to these fine people. You could tell that they were a little worn out and eager to get home but fine examples of what most think scouts should be.
Thanks for the BI info . . . . knowing me, when ever I have the chance to go to Hawaii again, it%26#39;s probably be Kauai . . . .sigh . . . and that can%26#39;t come soon enough. :)
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