Trip Report--Family of 5 visits Aulani, Kauai, & Maui

[ErinF]

Day 5 Continued (Thursday, June 6th: Kauai)

More pictures from the helicopter....apologies for some of the reflection in the glass. We did wear all dark clothes to help with that, but my skin, the metal part of the seatbelt and other things would sometimes show.



















This is a picture of Wailua Falls, which Paco said was really raging because of recent rains. We’d see it from the ground in a couple of days and there was a stark difference in how much water was falling.



After the flight, they take pictures of your family with the helicopter.



Continued in the next post....

 

[ErinF]

Day 5 Concluded (Thursday, June 6th: Kauai)

We laid low the rest of the day, just enjoying the view from our lanais and listening to the ocean.



We enjoyed the resort as well. The pool was really fun with 2 little slides and a long windy part, kind of like a lazy river but it wasn’t in a circle and had no current.





There were small waterfalls along the windy part and a cool little grotto.









The pool bar/restaurant was uncrowded so it was easy to grab drinks and snacks.





I cooked dinner in our condo this night, but we decided to go out for dessert. Some of the family wanted shave ice and others wanted ice cream, so we found a place that had both called Skinny Mike’s.



Unfortunately they were out of shave ice. All but Sam were good with ice cream. He decided to wait to see if we could find a shave ice place after the rest of us had eaten our ice cream. Well, Kauai is kind of a sleepy island and most little places like shave ice shops close early. We made a couple of stops but no luck, they were closed. Sam ended up settling for some candy from an Island Country Market. We turned in a little early tonight as we had another morning adventure planned for tomorrow.

 

[dachsie]

Oh wow - wish I could do a helicopter tour but out of my price range

 

[Melissa Perez]

Unfortunately they were out of shave ice

This happened to us when we drove early one morning from Princeville to Lihue for dole whip at Hilo Hattie's and the machine was broken! They gave us a discount on our merchandise we were so devastated. So, you're not alone!!!

 

[DisneyinPA]

Wow Waimea Canyon looks almost like the Grand Canyon!

 

[dachsie]

Except Waimea Canyon is greener. Just gorgeous!

 

[cbnsoul]

We were on Kauai when you were! We went to Wailua Falls on the 6th too and couldn’t believe how big it was. Later that day we took the boat tour to Fern Grotto and toward the end of the trip they mentioned that the water was usually green but was brown due to the rain! We went back to Wailua Falls before flying to Oahu on the 9th and the water had basically slowed to a trickle compared to the 6th and the pool below was, in fact, green.

My son wasn’t feeling the helicopter so we did the sunset power boat ride to the Napali Coast. It was beautiful but rough - wouldn’t do that again anytime soon.

 

[stephnerninnie1984]

Thanks so much for the report and all the great pictures! My husband and I went to Oahu for our 6th wedding anniversary 3 years ago and it was just GORGEOUS. We dream of taking our kids one day when they are a little older (right now they are 7 and 4) and exploring some of the other islands as well. It is so beautiful there! Can’t wait to read more!

 

[ErinF]

Oh wow - wish I could do a helicopter tour but out of my price range

It's definitely pricey, I understand. It was 1 of only 2 paid excursions for us.

This happened to us when we drove early one morning from Princeville to Lihue for dole whip at Hilo Hattie's and the machine was broken! They gave us a discount on our merchandise we were so devastated. So, you're not alone!!!

Oh no, what a bummer! At least you did get a discount on your merchandise, that was nice.

Wow Waimea Canyon looks almost like the Grand Canyon!

Yes! Its nickname is the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

Except Waimea Canyon is greener. Just gorgeous!

I know, it really is gorgeous! DS 10 said the canyon was his favorite part of the helicopter ride

We were on Kauai when you were! We went to Wailua Falls on the 6th too and couldn’t believe how big it was. Later that day we took the boat tour to Fern Grotto and toward the end of the trip they mentioned that the water was usually green but was brown due to the rain! We went back to Wailua Falls before flying to Oahu on the 9th and the water had basically slowed to a trickle compared to the 6th and the pool below was, in fact, green.

My son wasn’t feeling the helicopter so we did the sunset power boat ride to the Napali Coast. It was beautiful but rough - wouldn’t do that again anytime soon.

View attachment 416234View attachment 416235

I've heard the boat rides out there to see the coast are amazing, I'm sorry yours was so rough!

Wow, we really were there the exact same times...we flew out to Maui on the 9th and saw the falls that day as well. I have just about the same picture as you of the much less-flowing falls! (I'll be posting it soon.)

Thanks so much for the report and all the great pictures! My husband and I went to Oahu for our 6th wedding anniversary 3 years ago and it was just GORGEOUS. We dream of taking our kids one day when they are a little older (right now they are 7 and 4) and exploring some of the other islands as well. It is so beautiful there! Can’t wait to read more!

It will be so fun to go back with your kids one day! Different with kids for sure, but still fun, and then to explore some of the other islands will be great!

 

[ErinF]

Day 6—Friday, June 7th: Kauai

This morning was our only other paid activity on Kauai…kayaking and hiking to Secret Falls with Kayak Wailua. I was super excited for this! I like kayaking and hiking and I wanted to see a big waterfall up close while in Kauai, so this tour checked off all those boxes. The rest of my family was kind of along for the ride because I’m the planner and this is what I’d planned, ha! I’d done my research and knew this tour was not supposed to be beyond our abilities or anything, we are all generally athletic and in good shape. However, Mason had started having some issues with his feet in the last day or two so we decided it was best for Ty and him to stay back.

We were supposed to check in about 8:40 for our 9am tour. Ty dropped off Sam, Katie and I and we got checked in and grabbed life jackets and packed our things in their provided dry bags. They suggested you bring a towel and water plus snacks/lunch to enjoy while we were at the falls. Dan was our guide for the day. He informed us that this was the first day in several days that they were able to run the tour. As part of the hike, there’s a place where you have to cross the river with the assistance of a rope. If the river is rushing too strongly it isn’t safe to cross. They have some kind of measurement, I can’t remember what it’s measured in, but it must be 200 or less in order to cross safely and it had peaked at 3000 with the rains they’d had the last couple of days! Dan said it was finally at a safe level this morning at around 130.

Here’s Dan giving us some kayaking instruction.



It’s common for there to be first time kayakers, they are very welcoming to all abilities. Dan explained that someone has to be at the back, so not to worry if you were a slower kayak, he would stay at the very back to make sure we were all doing alright. We hopped in a van that transported us about 5 minutes away to the boat launch. Then off we went!







I will say that the kayaking was definitely an exercise in patience and perseverance on my part! Sam had never kayaked before and Katie has limited kayaking experience so I was doing a lot of the work here to row our 3 person kayak. Never mind that Sam and Katie got a little whiny at times because it was hard work. Dan was very encouraging and said I was doing a good job with that heavy kayak. Needless to say, we were always at the back of our group! It was 2 1/4 miles on the Wailua River so it took close to an hour before we got to the spot where we pulled the kayaks ashore. Then we began our hike.

The river crossing with the rope comes up pretty quickly. Here’s the end of the it. It was rushing pretty good and came up almost to our waists at the deepest spot. It required a lot of focus and I dared not try to take a picture until we were all the way across.



The hike is a little less than a mile but because of recent rains, it was very muddy in a lot of spots. Plus there's a lot of climbing over rocks and tree roots.







We saw some resident ducks (geese?) along the way. Dan had some duck food for them that he shared with anyone who wanted to feed them. Katie, my animal lover, loved that!



A small waterfall along the way:



Continued in the next post…

 

[ErinF]

Day 6 Continued (Friday, June 7th: Kauai)

We finally made it to the falls and it was so worth it!





Though nicknamed “Secret Falls” the name is actually Uluwehi Falls. We had 45 minutes to an hour here and we got plenty of pictures, we waded in the water a bit, and we had a nice rest.



Here’s our little perch where we ate our lunch. And guess what? No shortage of chickens all the way up here!







Soon enough it was time to leave. The hike back seemed about the same, but the kayaking went much better. Dan suggested we put Sam in the middle whereas he’d been at the front on the way there. That was definitely a factor, but I also think we were more confident having already done it now.



Ty was waiting to pick us up when we got back at 2:30. We needed a short rest back at the condo, and then we were ready to go out and explore some more. We decided to head north for the first time.

We stopped for shave ice in the Princeville Center. Not sure if it really was Kauai’s best, but it sure was big!







Continued in the next post…

 

[ErinF]

Day 6 Concluded (Friday, June 7th: Kauai)

The mountains are gorgeous along the drive.





We headed down to Hanalei. The bay and beach area there are beautiful.









It was dinner time and we decided to try Chicken in a Barrel. It’s in a cute little shopping center. I just had a salad and the kids ate some random things, but Ty tried their Chicken in a Barrel Plate and really liked it. We got several pieces of their cornbread and it was delicious!





The sun was starting to set, so we started back to the condo. Way over there is the Kilauea Lighthouse, as seen on our drive back.

 

[ErinF]

Day 7—Saturday, June 8th: Kauai

We had a lazier morning this morning since we didn’t have to wake up early and be anywhere at a certain time. Ty walked to Starbucks across the street and enjoyed his coffee on the lanai.



We never got tired of that view outside our condo.

We left around 10 am and headed south. I finally remembered to use the GyPSy guide app for Kauai that I had purchased. We had bought and used the GyPSY guide last summer for a trip to Yellowstone and thought it was really enjoyable and informational. That proved true for the Kauai version, as he told us lots of interesting little stories and historical tidbits as we drove around.

We drove through the tunnel of trees on our way to Koloa.



Then we headed to Spouting Horn. The blowhole wasn’t too impressive on this morning, but it was still neat to see.









The park there had some beautiful hibiscus, roosters hanging around of course, and a row of vendors selling trinkets and souvenirs.





We drove over to check out the Sheraton. Ty and his parents had stayed there on one of their previous trips. It’s a pretty resort and they have a nice little stretch of beach.





Continued in the next post…

 

[ErinF]

Day 7 Continued (Saturday, June 8th: Kauai)

It was lunch time now so we found the Poipu Shopping Village. Katie got a panini from Starbucks, but the rest of us tried out Puka Dog. Ty and I both had the polish sausage dog with pineapple relish and Auntie Lilikoi’s Hawaiian Mustard. It was delicious! We also tried their fresh squeezed lemonade which was pretty good.









We made a quick stop at Brennecke's beach.



Then it was on to the Grand Hyatt. We have friends who stayed there on their honeymoon, and Ty remembered admiring it on previous trips to Kauai with his family.







We think it’s one of the most beautiful hotels we’ve seen. We said we’d like to come back sans kids and stay there some day.

We headed back to the condo for a little break before heading back north again, this time to try and see the Kilauea lighthouse. The kids wanted shave ice so we stopped at Ono Ono shave ice in Kapaa. More huge shave ices!





Continued in the next post…

 

[ErinF]

Day 7 Concluded (Saturday, June 8th: Kauai)

Then Ty wanted to stop at a roadside fruit stand to see what they had. He got a mango/banana/pineapple/guava/papaya smoothie. Whew, that’s a lot of fruits! He liked it!





Unfortunately, because we made those snack stops, we missed getting to the lighthouse before they closed at 4pm. At least we could still view it from outside the gates.







Driving back we listened to more Hawaiian history from our GyPSy guide. At the condo we walked around a little and I got some pictures from the beach in front.

Looking south:



Looking north:



I fixed dinner for us in the condo, and then Ty and Katie decided to try a little boogie boarding. Our condo had come well stocked with boogie boards, beach chairs, and even a cooler. Not sure why it took until now to break out the boogie boards, but there they went.





I took Sam to the pool and Ty and Katie joined us after a bit. I watched the guy light all the tiki torches around the pool, and I soaked up our last night on Kauai.

 

[stephnerninnie1984]

I’m getting a kick out of all the shaved ice! I think in the 7 days my husband and I were there, we ate shaved ice at LEAST once a day.

 

[ErinF]

I’m getting a kick out of all the shaved ice! I think in the 7 days my husband and I were there, we ate shaved ice at LEAST once a day.

It's true...I think there was shave ice to be had just about every day of the trip!!

 

[ErinF]

Day 8—Sunday, June 9th: morning in Kauai and then travel to Maui

We were all up by 8am. Ty and Katie drove across the street to get Starbucks and McDonalds for breakfast. We packed up and were out of our condo at exactly 10am, our checkout time. With the car loaded up, we headed to Opaekaa Falls listening to the GyPSy guide along the way.





The Falls were pretty, and we were also afforded an elevated view of the Wailua River which is where we had kayaked.



Our next stop was Wailua Falls. From the road you can’t really get a full view of the falls. But we had seen them from our helicopter tour. Today’s view of the falls:



And again what they had looked like 3 days before from the helicopter:



Quite a difference! Hard to believe it's the same waterfall!

It was lunch time now and we needed to head towards the airport. We ended up in the area by the Marriott on Kalapaki beach. We made a stop at the ABC store nearby for a few food items and Ty bought a sticker for his Jeep. Then I grabbed some cheeseburgers and fries from Kalapaki Beach Hut.





They were pretty good. We took a quick peak at Kalapaki beach.





We stopped at Costco for gas. It was a pleasant surprise that there was no line! I noted that we spent about $52 for 17 gallons of gas. That’s about $3.06 per gallon and I think we were seeing around $3.85/gallon elsewhere…pretty good savings.

We headed to the airport and Mason said, “It’s Maui time!” imitating Maui from Moana. Ty dropped us and the luggage off while he returned the car. The airport is tiny, but you still have to take a short shuttle to and from all the car rental places.



We got ready to go through security and found out they didn’t have a separate TSA PreCheck line. So we had to take off our shoes, remove all electronics from all our bags, etc. and it really made us appreciate that we usually don’t have to do that. At least the line wasn’t long at all. We were at our gate by 1:40 with our flight scheduled to leave at 3pm.

Continued in the next post…

 

[ErinF]

Day 8 Continued (Sunday, June 9th: morning in Kauai and then travel to Maui)

We departed Lihue about 5-10 minutes early.





We caught glimpses of Lanai and Molokai from the air.



I could also identify the Kaanapali area and Lahaina as we approached Maui.



Our flight was supposed to arrive at 3:50 but we must have been early (after all we left early) because I noted that we had all our bags and were on the rental car train at 4. We had reserved a full size car and for the first time this trip we weren’t upgraded (for free). The kids really balked at the idea of having to all sit together in the back seat, even though they’ve done that as recently as November on our last trip to Disneyland. So Ty asked about an upgrade. It cost $100 more for the week, but we got a brand new Exlplorer with only 700 miles on it. We headed to Costco where Ty dropped just me off to grab the things we needed. I spent about $50 on bottled water, chips, carrot sticks, salad, and fruit. I got a delicious Maui Gold pineapple!

We were driving west toward Kaanapali around 5pm.



We were staying at the Westin Nanea Ocean Villas. We had reserved a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit, but unfortunately we did not get an ocean view. We hadn’t reserved an ocean view so I didn’t expect that, but I thought maybe we’d get an interior view of the pools/grounds. It wasn’t in the cards. We did get the highest floor (6th floor) and our exterior view of the island wasn’t so bad.





After getting all our luggage delivered and getting settled in a bit, we went down to explore the grounds.







Continued in the next post…

 

[ErinF]

Day 8 Concluded (Sunday, June 9th: morning in Kauai and then travel to Maui)

The sun was setting and we were famished so we decided to just eat at the pool bar.





It was really nice and relaxing…we had a great view and it wasn’t busy at all. This is the view from my seat:



Mason and I split nachos (yummy!), Sam and Katie ate kids’ menu food (looks like a cheeseburger and chicken tenders respectively), and Ty says he got a cheeseburger (I had to ask him because I didn’t put it in my notes and it’s out of the picture).





I spied this activity chart on the way back to the room.



Back at the room I grabbed my reusable shopping bags and Ty and I went over to the Times Supermarket to get the rest of our needed groceries. It had a decent selection and prices weren’t too terrible for Hawaii; it’s main strength was it’s close proximity being just 2 minutes away from the Nanea. I probably would have done a little better going to the nice Safeway back in Lahaina, but convenience won out.