In October of 2018, my family took a trip to Hawaii to celebrate my father’s journey with overcoming cancer. Hawaii is my dad’s favorite place–but I wanted this adventure to be something different and something unique. I had first seen photos of the Napali Coast popping up on my social media feed a few years prior and I knew it was an island my family would love. They were skeptical at first, because we read Kauai was more of a sleepy island and didn’t have as much attraction to offer the children as other islands like Oahu did, but with a little convincing, they were sold.
This blog will be slightly different than my previous posts. I don’t have a list of restaurants I visited, I didn’t keep detailed mental notes of the beaches I went to, or the different districts I explored. Instead, I am writing this blog to help jog my father’s memory of a trip that meant the world to me. We visited the island a few months after he completed chemo. I’d say he was only about 45% recovered when we went, he was still weak, and not totally himself. Chemo brain affected him longer than we thought and he doesn’t remember this trip as vividly as I do. Therefore, this post serves as a token of my appreciation for how much this trip meant to me, sharing my love of exploration with the people who mean the most to me: my family.
Where to Stay:
We toggled back and forth between staying in Kauai’s South Shore, Poipu and the North Shore, Princeville. We ended up choosing to stay in Poipu because we were going in October and we wanted to play it safe with the weather. The South shore of Kauai gets significantly less rain than the North. Poipu is also a more developed area and we thought it would be better for a family vacation.
Poipu was a great choice! It was beautiful and had everything we needed. If I were to go back, I’d likely split half of my time between Poipu and Princeville. Because we explored so much of the island, staying in two different locations would’ve have allowed us to spend less time in the car. That being said, driving in Kauai is an adventure in itself. Definitely rent a car in Kauai and spend time driving the island. If you choose to stay in the South shore, make a day trip to Princeville. It is beautiful and the beaches there should not be missed!
Trail Chasin: Your Must Do Trails
I would be lying if I said hiking wasn’t the thing I was looking forward to most when visiting Kauai. I made a list of six hikes prior to visiting and I was going to do everything in my power to make sure I was able to do at least four of them. Lucky for me, Hawaii is three hours behind so it was easy for me to wake up at sunrise to do some of them. This was a family trip and I wanted to be with my family as much as I could. Thankfully, my little sister willingly agreed to do all of them. It was on this trip I learned how much she hated hiking..I think this trip also taught her how much she hated hiking, but she thanked me for the views later :).
Kalepa Ridge:
Our first morning we woke up and immediately headed towards Kalepa Ridge. The drive alone was beautiful. I learned right away that the best way to see Kauai is to get in the car and drive. There were so many beautiful spots to pull off the road and just admire the scenery. If you’re visiting, I encourage you to adventure beyond where you’re staying. If you only have time for one hike, this is the one! It’s short and sweet and gets you up and close with the Napali Coast–a must see spot. It was so special seeing these views with my sister–I was in total awe. I kept thinking, “Man I wish I could teleport my parents here, right now, to see exactly what I’m seeing”. Thankfully they can enjoy the pictures, without the added work.
Wailua Falls:
Wailua Falls is a beautiful waterfall, which can be overlooked from the road, but you can also illegally hike down to the bottom. The hike is short, steep, and muddy. There were ropes to prevent you from sliding down and they most certainly were necessary. If you’re able to hike down to the bottom, the best views are when you’re standing beneath the fall. My mom went along for the drive and it was fun to experience some of this with her, even if she watched us from the top. I couldn’t help but think, “my dad would have been so proud watching us kids hike down to this fall”. He was taking a needed nap while we did this, but I tried to take good photos so he could experience it too.
Queen’s Bath:
This was one of the more memorable highlights of the trip. Queen’s bath is a muddy trek to a volcanic tide pool. My mom really wanted to do this with my sister and I and I am so glad she did. It meant so much to me to share this experience with her! My dad drove us and waited in the car while we did the hike. It broke my heart he couldn’t do it with us, but in typical John fashion, he told us to “have fun and be safe”. You could tell he was tired, but he was patient as we hiked down and swam in the bath. Though not a long hike, it can be strenuous for those who do not hike. It was a lot of downhill stepping to finally make it to the ocean. Please *note*, to check the tide before doing this. It can be very dangerous depending on the tide level.
Sleeping Giant:
Towards the end of our trip we woke up in the middle of the night to begin the Sleeping Giant trail. It was pitch black and the trail was covered in frogs. I nearly stepped on at least 12, they didn’t move even when your foot was coming towards them. Watching the sunrise on Kauai with mile long views of greenery and then the ocean was a memory I’ll remember forever. Remember when I said this was the trip Morgan learned she didn’t enjoy hiking? Well it was this trail. We almost had to drag her to the top of the mountain, but she made it 🙂 This was another moment I kept thinking, “wish my parents could experience this”.
Must Do Activity: Helicopter Ride
When we were planning our trip to Kauai and my dad hadn’t yet known we were all going, I kept telling my mom how bad I wanted to do a helicopter ride with my dad. I knew my mom and sister wouldn’t be interested (they’ve bone done them and didn’t enjoy the experience) but figured it would be something my dad would enjoy, or at least do for me.
We could not have picked a worse weather day to go. It was raining and gloomy but poor visibility didn’t take away from this moment. This was the one thing I really wanted to do with my dad and although his health was still suffering, seeing him smile and his face light up as we flew over the Napoli Coast was exactly what I wanted. I’m not sure he knows how much this experience meant to be, but it’s one of my favorite things we’ve done together to date.
Must do Activity: Smith Family Garden Luau
I could not recommend this Luau enough! It was highly recommend by countless family friends and it did not disappoint. Even if you’ve been to a luau before, I recommend checking this one out because the property was stunning! It was so big they had golf carts transport you from the entrance to the ceremony.
My dad wasn’t feeling his best this night. Food was still hard to eat, and being a lover of food, this was hard for him. I remember so bad just wanting him to feel at his best so he could be enjoying what I was experiencing as much as I was, but every once in a while I would catch a glimmer of a smile on his face and it would put me at ease.
Must Do Activity: Capt. Andy’s Dinner Cruise
If I had to pick a highlight of our trip, it would’ve been this sunset dinner cruise to the Napoli Coast. It was incredible. The staff were amazing, the views were beautiful, the food was delightful, and dad’s spirts were the best this day. I’ll never forget him raving about how good the steak tasted. His taste buds were drastically affected by the chemo and his surgeries, so this was the first steak he had eaten in months and he was finally getting some of his taste back. This was the perfect experience to close out our trip. I was certainly not ready to leave, but it felt good going home with such a vivid memory of this cruise. There’s not many things I love more than being on the water, and sharing this with my parents and little sister meant more to me than they’ll ever know.
You cannot take a trip to Kauai without seeing the Napali Coast. I enjoyed seeing it from both the ocean and the sky; however, if helicopters aren’t your thing, for sure opt for the dinner cruise. We even saw DOLPHINS. If you know me, I’ve had a dream to swim with dolphins ever since I was a kid. This didn’t satisfy that dream, but it did come close.
Let’s Chat Beaches
Before going to Kauai, I had a list of 13 beaches I wanted to see. Yes, exactly 13, I have located my list and re-counted them all. Now it seems a bit excessive, but I wanted to experience the uniqueness of as many as we could. I’m not the type of person who has the “seen one, seen them all” mentality. We ended up only getting to a handful of them and my two favorites were: Hanalei beach and Shipwreck.
Hanalei beach was located on the north side of the island. It was beautiful and family friendly. I do recall having to walk fairly far to get to the water, but the waves were relatively calm for children and it was one of the more beautiful beaches I saw in Kauai.
Surprisingly enough shipwreck wasn’t on my list prior to going to Kauai. A local had told us about it and it was right next to where we were staying. This beach was easily my favorite and I didn’t even swim in the water. The waves were HUGE! I would not recommend this as a family beach; however, it was a beautiful place to watch the sunset.
Dad,
I know you don’t remember as much detail from this trip as I do, but I hope these pictures and little stories help bring back some of the memory. I have been fortunate enough to do some traveling, and I can still say this trip was one of the most memorable vacations I’ve been on, and that’s because I got to share it with you. I love you and I’m so glad we were able to celebrate your health in such a magical place. I will cherish these photos and memories a lifetime.
Xox,
Jess
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