Kauai Travel Forum

Hi all, thanks for everyone who replied to my earlier postings about the colony resort and waimai cottages. I am just overwhelmed with how much there is to see and do. How do you go about making the decision about which area to stay in? We will be going in the summer time. The North sounds perfect because of the relative quiet, the cliffs and scenary, but I wonder about rain and safe swimming beaches for young children. The Coconut coast area and the south coast seems wonderful sunny, but are probably the most crowded areas.

Travelling certainly isn't inexpensive, and I want to make the best decision possible. If anyone has advice or experiences to share, please chime in. We would be traveling with our children who would be 6 and 9 at the time of the trip.

Thanks!

There is a reason that the south coast is crowded - it has lots of safe beaches with coral reefs protecting you from big surf, it is drier than the north, and it is centrally located. In my opinion, it's worth it.

When looking for a safe beach, ask the local lifeguards, or anyone you see who is carrying fins and a mask. They'll know what is protected from the surf.
Teach your kids to watch out for the portuguese man-o-war jellyfish ( not really a jellyfish, FWIW ) which has a little sail-like flap sticking out of the water from which its name is derived. If they are around, you'll hear people calling out "Pochos! Pochos!"
That, and get lots of sunscreen and your kids should be fine.

We stayed at the Hilton not too far from the airport. It's right in the middle on the east shore with a great morning sunrise and worked out wonderfully for us. Two days we headed south and two days we headed north. The snorkling on the north shore is great with calm water at Tunnels. Becareful where you park - you will get a ticket if you're parked illegally. There is public parking available but it gets pretty full. Half the people go to the beach, the other half goes hiking.

Here's some info on the North Shore. Tunnels Beach is good for children as it's protected by a reef so the waves are usually very mild. It can get crazy if there is a storm brewing off the coast. It's nice as well because it is small but the flip side is that it's hard to find parking near the access because there isn't much. You need to be there by 9am in order to get one of the 3 or 4 spaces. The main beach in Hanalei is usually pretty calm as well. It's big and wide and a large horseshoe shape.

I've stayed on the North Shore (Haena) twice: once in April and once in September so I'm not so sure about rain in the summer months but it didn't rain much when we were there. Just short showers but nothing torrential or lasting all day. The North Shore is the best because it is so quiet and relaxing. A day trip to the south shore is easily doable. One day we drove around the island to Waimea Canyon and checked out places along the way. It was a bit of driving but hey, you're in Hawaii!

The following link is to a blog I put online about the planning that went into our 2006 trip. It's a little long-winded, so this link is just to the page about our decisions regarding accommodations on Kaua'i. At the bottom of the page are several links to accommodations that are not the usual picks for the average traveler. You may want to have a look at them if you are anyway interested in something off the beaten path.

http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=87&subpageid=268281&ck=

Aloha! I live on Kauai and am glad to help. My best advice is to stay both places. Otherwise you're going to spend a lot of time driving. You're right about avoiding the Coconut Coast--there's always a traffic jam and it's not what I call relaxing. A great beach on the north shore is Hanalei. It will be flat in the summer. Waimea won't be crowded and will give you a different perspective on our island. I would stay away from Poipu which is undergoing massive development and is torn up at the moment.

Best Aloha,
Rob from Kalaheo

Hi
Hanalei Beach with it's White Sand and beautiful view is a treat. Great place for Windsurfing and Boogie Boarding..Little rough on the Swimmers though..
It sort of reminds me of Kailua Beach over here on Oahu.

We will be leaving tomorrow for our 12th trip to kauai.We always stay on the north shore as it so peaceful and uncrowded.We stay at either Alii Kai or
sea lodge.Tunnels beach and Kee beach are both great.Kee beach is excellent for kids.We usually go in may the showers are usually short lived many times occouring in the evening time.
We usually Go to Princeville hotel for sunday breakfast.We go down to poipu and the canyon and drive many places on the island including koloa town
We enjoy Gaylords for a meal WE cant wait to return each time.

aloha