Kauai, HI

January 7th - February 4th, 2023

The Garden Isle

Typically for our trips we pack our car up with all our belongings and bring them with us to each place, but for Hawaii we of course could only bring what we could fit in our suitcases and bring on a plane.

Our first month in Hawaii we stayed on Kauai, the “Garden Isle”, or the “Adventure Island” as we like to call it. We loved how many amazing hikes and adventures there were to go on. We went hiking, kayaking, ATVing, surfing, snorkeling, tubing, backpacking, ziplining and went on a helicopter tour.

Some of our most notable highlights include driving up Waimea Canyon, kayaking the Wailua River to Secret Falls, going to Allerton Gardens, hiking in the Nāpali Coast, hiking to amazing waterfalls and of course relaxing on beautiful beaches.

Trevor went on an overnight backpacking trip in the Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park along the Kalalau Trail, a 22 mile journey along the beautiful lush green Napali coast that ends at a gorgeous secluded beach.

Mountain Tubing Adventure

The first adventure we went on when we got to Kauai was a mountain tubing adventure through an old sugar plantation canal system.

Floating down the sugar plantation canals, the walls were covered in beautiful green vegetation.

Natalie on a blue tube floating the sugar plantation canal.

The sugar plantation canal we floated down.

Going through the sugar plantation canal tunnels, mossy green and dark.

Floating through the sugar plantation canal tunnels.

Natalie and Trevor standing on an overlook with Mount Waialeale in the background.

The tubing tour first took us up to a nice overlook before tubing where we got good views of Mount Waialeale.

Walking towards where we put in the tubes to float the river.

Kauai Waterfall Off-Road ATV Adventure

We went on an awesome ATV adventure with Kipu Ranch Adventures called the Waterfall Triple Trail Expedition. We got to drive the ATV ourselves and we saw a lot of cool waterfalls and great views.

Natalie and Trevor standing on an ATV in a line up of ATVs.

The line up of ATVs before the tour started.

Getting ready to start the ATV tour.

Natalie and Trevor with green mountains behind them.

The scenery along the ATV tour.

Driving the ATVs was a lot of fun.

The tour provided greats views of the lush green mountains surrounding us.

The half way point along the ATV tour.

Beautiful scenery along the ATV tour.

The tour ended in a hike down to a waterfall. The bamboo along the trail was fun.

The waterfall at the end of the tour. It had rained recently so the water was really murky.

Hanakāpīʻai Falls, Hā’ena State Park

Hanakāpīʻai Falls is an amazing hike in Hā’ena State Park along the beautiful Nāpali Coast. This was our first big waterfall hike on Kauai (7.7 miles), and it was absolutely stunning. The hike into the falls along the Nāpali Coast itself is one of the most beautiful hikes we've ever done.

Views of the Nāpali Coast.

The hike along the Nāpali Coast to get to Hanakāpīʻai Falls.

The hike to Hanakāpīʻai Falls is alongside a steep cliff on the Nāpali Coast.

The river you hike up to get to Hanakāpīʻai Falls.

After you've hiked a section of the Nāpali Coast, you have to hike up alongside a river to get to Hanakāpīʻai Falls.

The river you hike alongside to get to Hanakāpīʻai Falls, as seen from above.

The beautiful Hanakāpīʻai Falls.

Hanakāpīʻai Falls up close.

Hanakāpīʻai Falls

The Nāpali Coast

Limahuli Gardens

After hiking Hanakāpīʻai Falls trail in Hā’ena State Park, we walked over to Limahuli Gardens which is just up the road from the trail. These gardens were beautiful and really fun to explore.

The mountains surrounding Limahuli Garden.

The entire floor of Limahuli Garden was covered in lush green vegetation.

There were these interesting trees in Limahuli Garden with these unique exposed roots.

The Limahuli Garden had these interesting steps carved into the hillside with beautiful green pools.

Views along the path through Limahuli Garden.

Limahuli Garden

Hanalei Bay

After visiting the Limahuli Gardens we went over to Hanalei Bay to see the sunset and it was spectacular. This is one of our favorite beaches out of all the Hawaii beaches we visited.

The sunset at Hanalei Bay.

Helicopter Tour

The best thing we did on Kauai was a helicopter tour of the island. Hiking to waterfalls on foot is amazing, but seeing the island from above is a whole other experience. The tour we went on flew over Waimea Canyon, the Nāpali Coast and Mount Waialeale.

Getting ready for take off!

The cockpit of our pilot's helicopter

Views of waterfalls from the helicopter.

Flying through Waimea Canyon in the helicopter.

Views of the Nāpali Coast from the helicopter

A secluded beach along the Nāpali Coast as seen from helicopter.

We flew over secluded beaches along the Nāpali Coast that probably never see any humans, except for the indigenous people that use to live here.

Views of the Nāpali Coast from the helicopter.

Wailua River

We rented a kayak and paddled up the Wailua river to Uluwehi Secret Falls and Fern Grotto. This was a really fun un-guided adventure that we loved doing.

Kayaking the Wailua River to get to Secret Falls.

Uluwehi Secret Falls

Playing in the water at Uluwehi Secret Falls.

Uluwehi Secret Falls

Natalie standing inside the amazing Fern Grotto in the Wailua River.

Really cool mushrooms along the trail to Secret Falls.

'Opaeka'a Falls

Wailua Falls

Kalalau Trail

Trevor backpacked the world renowned Kalalau Trail in the Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park. The trek consisted of backpacking 10 miles into Kalalau Beach, sleeping the night there, and then hiking back out the next day. The jungle is lush, the waterfalls are amazing, and the views of the Nāpali Coast are incredible. Sleeping the night on the secluded Kalalau beach, which is only accessible via hiking the Kalalua trail, was an unforgettable experience.

The Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park sign

The views of the Nāpali Coast along the Kalalau Trail were truly amazing.

The lush green Napali Coast.

The lush green mountains of the Nāpali Coast.

Beautiful views of the Nāpali Coast mountains.

A stream crossing along the Kalalau Trail.

The Kalalau Trail ends at Hoolea Falls, where you filter water to refill your water supply before trekking back.

A tent with Kalalau Beach in the background.

My campsite for the night at the secluded Kalalau Beach, probably the coolest places I've ever camped.

The sunset at Kalalau Beach, only the 20 or so people that backpacked the 10 miles in were here.

A red dirt cliff along the Kalalau trail

The Kalalau trail often has loose red dirt cliffs that plummeted down into the ocean. Not for the faint of heart!

This was one of the most “sketchy” spots along the Kalalau trail called “Crawler’s Ledge”, a cliff that dropped off straight into the ocean with only a 3 foot wide path to walk on.

I went on a side quest along the Kalalau trail to a secluded waterfall called Hanakoa Falls that added an extra 2 miles to my journey. It was one of the best waterfalls I’ve ever seen.

Views along the Kalalau trail of the Napali Coast.

The Nāpali Coast had a good amount of red dirt that was a bit slippery when wet, which made the hike a bit spicy.

The Nāpali Coast had a good amount of red dirt that was a little slippery when wet, which made the hike a bit spicy.

Waimea Canyon

Waimea Canyon is nicknamed "the Grand Canyon of the Pacific". It's a super deep and wide canyon that you can drive up and the views are astounding. Since Kauai is older than the rest of the main Hawaiian islands, the dirt has had more time to oxidize which gives it a red color.

This was an awesome view of Waimea Canyon as we were hiking to Waipo’o Falls along the Canyon Trail.

Views of Waimea Canyon from the Canyon Trail.

Views of Waimea Canyon from Pu’u Hinahina viewpoint.

Waimea Canyon from the Niihau viewpoint.

Waimea Canyon

Some interesting arch features in Waimea Canyon seen along the Canyon Trail.

We hiked to Waipo’o Falls, nestled inside Waimea Canyon.

This chicken kept following us all the way down the trail to Waipo’o Falls.

Vibrant mushrooms along the Canyon Trail in Waimea Canyon.

Allerton Garden

Allerton Garden, located on the South Shore, is a lush green paradise with beautiful gardens, trees, fountains and statues. Scenes from Jurassic Park were filmed here.

Allerton Gardens had some pretty fountains and pools.

Water feature from Allerton Gardens.

Beautiful pools surrounded by lush nature at Allerton Gardens.

Water feature in Allerton Gardens.

The Moreton Bay fig trees in Allerton Gardens that were featured in Jurassic Park.

Some velociraptor eggs hiding in the tree roots.

Moreton Bay fig trees in Allerton Gardens.

Allerton Gardens

Koloa Ziplining

Koloa has some of the best ziplining on Kauai, we lived the tour that we went on.

Ziplining in Koloa

Ziplining through the Kauai jungle was amazing.

Natalie and Trevor holding their ziplining handles.

A ziplining platform with a lake behind it.

Our ziplining crew on the Koloa Ziplining tour we went on.

Sleeping Giant

Legend has it that there was giant who feasted so much at a party that he laid down for a nap and never woke up. Climbing on top of him was a lot of fun and provided great views!