Monday, October 21, 2013

Honeymoon, Day 5 ... (last day in Kaua'i) ... Part 1

Our last full day in Kaua'i came too quickly!! While we really enjoyed Maui, Kauai was by far our favorite island! It was so laid back, less touristy, and chill. If (when) we go back to Hawaii, we will definitely stay longer in Kaua'i.

We decided to fill our last day with lots of activity. We started the day bright and early with a catamaran tour of the Napali Coast. If I remember correctly, our boat left around 6:30 am from Hanalei, which was a good hour - hour and a half drive, which meant we were up and at em around 4:30 am! Totally worth it!

A little background for those who are unfamiliar ... The Napali Coast is on the North Western Coast of Kauai, and is only accessible by hiking, boat, or helicopter. It is where a lot of movies are filmed because it really looks untouched. There are a ton of tour companies who will take you on a boat to see the coast. You can also hike in to a secluded beach, and if you so choose, camp on the beach. We saw a lot of campers, and they would have friends bring them supplies from boats.

We left from Hanalei Bay, and the sun had just risen. It was a little bit cloudy, and the weather called for rain. We were hoping it would stay off a while. I forgot to take Dramamine, and was hoping it wasn't tooooo choppy. Our catamaran was smaller than what one might think of, and it did not have sails. We were joined by two other couples, and two families (which provided entertainment for Patrick and I, as they were a little... odd).  Our guides were awesome. Local Hawaiians, and they knew all the other captains on all the other tour boats. We saw the coast, it was beautiful. They also took us into several sea caves, which was really awesome. Down below you will find a big photo dump of all the photos of the coast. Needless to say, we took a lot! After touring the coast, we stopped at this shallow area, and we were able to snorkel for about an hour. There were a lot of pretty fish, and a sea turtle! We had lunch (really early breakfast) on the boat, which was tasty. After that, we headed on back to Hanalei Bay. It was a bit choppier on the way back, and the guides gave us rain jackets, which I thought was humorous since we were in our swimsuits, but quickly realized why. We were sprayed, a lot. Such a fun tour, and really glad we chose the early morning one because we were back at our car by 11 am, and still had the whole day ahead of us!

Hanalei Bay

Chicken.. they were ALL over

Curvy road... one of many.

Hanalei Bay





Our captain, apparently blowing into the conch shell before a voyage is a Hawaiian tradition






Sea Cave

Sea Cave





Waterfall

Inside another Sea Cave







This scene has been filmed in a lot of movies.

Camping Beach


This beach was in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.



Inside a sea cave. The roof fell down to the bottom of the cave.


Me, after snorkeling.


This is where we snorkeled, and ate lunch.

There's a sea turtle down there somewhere...
After getting back to our car, we decided to head to Devil's Hole for some more swimming....



Honeymoon, Day 4....

On our third full day in Poipu, Kaua'i, Hawaii, we decided to laze by the pool again, and decide what we wanted to do for our last full day in Kaua'i.

We rented a cabana again. Too good of a deal to pass up. But this time, we were down by the lower pools, which was fine for us!

 That night, we decided to go to a Luau! Our resort's Luau was rated really high in our travel book, but unfortunately that night there was an event of some sort on the lawn, and so it was held indoors in their banquet room. A little bit of a let down, but still turned out to be fun!
 We managed to snag some good seats with two families who were really fun!

Below is a picture of the pig, it was delicious!
 They had a HUGE buffet set up of Luau food. We did not hesitate to partake fully.

They also served Mai Tais and Hawaiian beer!

This is my plate... No guilt.

And, of course, there was dessert.
 After the glutinous intake of food, the show started. Although it was inside, the show did not disappoint. It was very entertaining, with lots of variations of Hawaiian dances.






 After the Luau ended, we headed back to The Library for a few drinks, and then called it a night. We had an early morning before us the next day....
Resort at night...