Leaving in a couple weeks with my wife and two boys 8 & 12.

Any recs for food and adventure?

We stayed there a few years ago. It's a beautiful property! I think Kauai Backcountry Adventures is still in operation. We zip lined with them and it was fantastic (amazing views). They also have a tubing adventure.

We also did a zodiac raft tour of the Napali Coast with Kauai Sea Tours that was great. If you are nervous about that being too rough, they also have catamaran tours.

I won't recommend any restaurants just because who knows what's still open.

We're staying there in September for three nights after 4 in Maui at the Andaz. Can't wait to see yalls recommendations.

Get the Kauai revealed book. So many great recommendations

There are a couple of good restaurants at the hotel. Bubbas Burger and Pooka Dog are close by as well. And I can't remember the name of it but there's a oceanfront seafood place in Poipu that I like. I'll look it up.

BTW, my son loves that hotel. I like it too, so we stay there for a while every time we go (we also stay in Princeville). I think we're staying at the Hyatt 10 nights next year!

what hotel is the "forgetting sarah marshall" hotel?

The pool area is amazing.

We wrestled back and forth on how to best see the Na Pali coast. If you leave without doing that, you have missed a great spectacle of the entire earth. The entire coast is not accessible by car, and only small portions of it are accessible by foot, so your options to really see it are by air or by sea.

We weighed our options and elected a helicopter trip. It was a thrill and I loved it. I would not recommend against it, however, afterwards, I actually decided I wished we had picked the boat option.

The argument for the helicopter is that there are parts of the coast you simply can't see any other way, and I wanted to see it all. Also, coolness/thrill factor of a helicopter (ours was doors off) tipped me that direction.

But what I didn't weigh enough was the time factor. Via boat, you get to stare and gawk at the truly jaw dropping beauty of the Na Pali coast. Via air, it was over before it began. .

There are lots of great waterfall in Kauai that you can find easily with the Maui Revealed book (and there is an app now, too.)

And Waimea Canyon is worth the drive, assuming you have a rental car. If not, I'd put it pretty high priority to find another way. The Canyon itself is quite amazing, and you also have a few spots that sit on top of the Na Pali coast to view it from the top, which is also pretty great.

We went two years ago. Picked Kauai to see the Napali coast. We did a boat tour and helicopter tour. Both were absolutely incredible. The most breathtaking landscape you may ever see. If you can do both, you will not regret it. Both offer very unique perspectives.

FWIW, I am not a fan of severe heights so I was a bit nervous about the doors off helicopter tour, but it has to be without a doubt the most exhilarating hour of my life. It was $600, and even then I was ready to did again and again.

If someone knows how to post pics without subscribing I'll share a few . . .

I totally agree...the coastline is one of those natural wonders that should be on everyone's bucket list.

Best way to share photos (I think) is via an Instagram link. I'll share a few from our 2017 trip.

It was hard to get photos and video because the raft was constantly moving. There are more pics and videos on either side of this post (2017 was before I realized you could put multiple pics in a single post).

https://instagr.am/p/BVYdSCQAo7j

The canyon is phenomenal. Loved Queens Bath and Secret Beach as well.

Kauai Pasta is a very small restaurant in Lihue that was excellent and priced well compared to other restaurants on the island. Not sure if it's still in the same location but it was in an old former Taco Bell I believe.

https://www.napali.com/


https://poipushoppingvillage.com/elephant-walk/

Just got back from grand Hyatt. Really great hotel. Pool is fun. Not a water park type thing but real cool. It is very irregularly shaped so lots of areas to explore. We enjoyed it and the beach there is great. Loved the sand. The surf was pretty rough while we were there and the drop off was a bit steep and rocky so could get a bit dinged up, but fun none the less

It's not dated at all, but not the most recently renovated resort. We spent the second half of our trip at the Westin on Hawaii and that was just recently renovated and even nicer than grand Hyatt. Kids still preferred grand Hyatt though, it definitely had more of a resort feel while the Westin jd more of a high end spa feel.

Kauai is great, you'll have a great time.

Every time we have been I have thought about the helicopter and ever time without fail one of those birds goes down in the first day of our trip. Then one of my wife coworkers was in one that went down and spent 6 months in an island hospital before getting back home. I have always wanted to do one but feel like the universe is telling me no

My wife and I did Kauai in 2017 with friends. Spectacular trip. We stayed on Poipu Beach.

-A must do is a Napoli Coast boat tour (we booked through Holo Holo Charters); included snorkeling
-Waimea Canyon hike
-Puka Dogs
-Kalapaki Joe's: fun beach/dive bar. Unfortunately watched the meltdown UCLA game of 2017 here
-ATV tour through the scenes of Jurassic Park
-Find one of the many food stands. Fresh tuna is ridiculously tasty.
-Beaches and water is unbelievable. We spent a ton of time on the beach drinking mai tai's

Enjoy!

BSD said:

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And I can't remember the name of it but there's a oceanfront seafood place in Poipu that I like. I'll look it up.

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I'll venture a guess... Brennecke's or Tidepools?

Aggie87 said:

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BSD said:

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And I can't remember the name of it but there's a oceanfront seafood place in Poipu that I like. I'll look it up.

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I'll venture a guess... Brennecke's or Tidepools?

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The Beach House, actually. Although it does get warm if you do the sunset seating.

Tidepools is good. It's in the Hyatt. I had my 40th birthday there. I haven't had Brenneckes yet.

JoJo's Shaved Ice. Hanalei Village.

Wife and I are staying at the Grand Hyatt in early October, after a week on the Big Island, where we've been several times before. This will be our first visit to Kauai, so I'm very interested in this thread.

We have a rental car reserved with Hertz, but I'm a little concerned about whether there will actually be a car for us as none of the other companies have any availability. Any insights?

dcAg said:

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JoJo's Shaved Ice. Hanalei Village.

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There's a JoJos on the south side too. It's my sons favorite spot!

dcAg said:

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JoJo's Shaved Ice. Hanalei Village.

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and before you hit-up JoJo's, i highly recommend eats & drinks just down the street at Tahiti Nui.....quite possibly the best Mai Tai you'll ever drink....

Tahiti Nui

heck, these 2 guys seemed to enjoy it too.....

And for the Record it is Puka Dog in the Poipu Shopping Village.
Highly recommend the Mango Relish. Pineapple is good too.

Tahiti Nui just turned us away despite our reservations. The grill was backed up and they could not accommodate us.

Figured I would give a post trip update

Napoli Coast Tour - Phenomenal! We took a Catamaran through Blue Ocean Adventures. Really great for our kids ages 8 & 12. They put us on Dolphins, seals, goats, caves. Offered snorkeling and a slide on way back. Provided good bento box for lunch on the water.

"River" Tubing - Really fun! My wife booked this well in advance through Kauai Backcountry Adventures. They take you to these old sugar cane irrigation ditches to tube through five caves (the longest being 3/4 of a mile). The land is undeveloped apparently owned by the AOL founder. Lots of great views on the way out. And they take great action pictures of you floating.

Poipu Beach - Probably the best area for swimming in the surf, doing some snorkeling, and catching sea turtles at sunset. We got lucky and had one on the beach during the day. Next trip we plan to pack a cooler and food and make a day of it.

Smith's Tropical Paradise - We got in late and couldn't do the full luau, but got tickets for the show portion. I think they were $15 a piece so probably the cheapest thing we did. It was fun.

Food

Stevenson's Library at Hyatt - Great sushi. Ended up eating there twice.

Tidepools at Hyatt - Ordered steak wasn't impressed. My wife enjoyed her seafood dish. Great atmosphere.

The Beach House - Solid. They make a great mai tai. We got to catch a wedding during dinner which was cool. Best place to watch the sunset and some good surfing.

Brennecke's Beach Broiler - Solid. Got the fish and chips. Right by Puka Dog and Poipu Beach.

Da Crack Mexican Grinds - Really impressed. Just know they don't have sit down. We took our burritos to the beach. I would eat there a couple times next visit.

Pacos Tacos Cantina - Probably the closest thing to tex mex you'll find on the Island. Great views of golf course. This place was feeling the staffing crunch though.

Bull Shed - Older restaurant on the water. They were out of lobster. Good value. Solid food.

Puka Dog & Kalapaki Joe's didn't make it this trip. Heard good things and will definitely try next go around.

Grand Hyatt - Beautiful property top to bottom. The pool area has everything from lazy River, water falls, slide, hot tubs, and full salt water lagoon adjacent to Ship Wreck Beach (that's a great area to go explore). Staff was great. Views from all parts of the resort. Worth every penny.

That's all I got. Thanks to all of you above for the reccs. Hope this helps some of your future trips.