One Month to Go--what should I have planned by now?

We%26#39;re going the first week in Oct. I%26#39;ve planned a Zip %26#39;N Dip, Dinner reservations at Beach House, and that%26#39;s it so far besides accomodations, rental, and flight.

I%26#39;m about to book Smith%26#39;s Luau and would love to figure out how to:

1) see Na Pali coast--not sure what tours on North shore are running since it%26#39;s right at the change time. Any advice here?

2) Canoe down the whatchamacallit(name has left my brain right now) river on a Sunday. Where is the place right at the mouth I can rent a canoe to do it by ourselves to see that waterfall area before you hit Fern Grotto? Does that need to be planned in advance and is it open on Sunday?

3) Plan some short or long day hikes to see the best of Kauai

What else should I consider now? I don%26#39;t want to miss anything!!!!

(We%26#39;re staying at Marriott Lihue 3 days on South Shore, and 5 days on North Shore at Sealodge).

TIA!!!!

One Month to Go--what should I have planned by now?

I%26#39;d book a Na Pali tour leaving from the west side just in case the weather prohibits the boats from leaving from Hanalei.

You mean the Wailua River. The place right at the mouth of the river is right by the main road north from Lihu`e.

You might want to get a copy of Kaua`i Explorer to plan your hikes. One good one would be the Hanakapi`ai Trail, which is the first 2 miles of the Kalalau.

Note that the Marriott Lihu`e is not on the south shore but about 20 minutes from Po`ipu.

One Month to Go--what should I have planned by now?

Helicopter ride? That%26#39;s what I would plan to do. I do not think any boats will be going out of Hanalei any longer. You would need to do a boat trip out of Pt Allen while you are staying at the Marriott.

It is not crowded here so any other dinner reservations I think the Marriott concierge can assist you with or just wing it when staying at Sealodge. I have only made one dinner reservation last night at BarAcuda and I did not need to. If you are there on a friday night I would, but during the week places are not busy.

Canoe Up the watchmacallit on sunday....

Not sure , but I believe you mean ';kayak'; ';up'; the wailua, and do check to see if the kayak rental company is open on sunday....I do know there are no kayaking tours lead by guides on sunday.

Also , just for reference, you will be kayaking UP the wailua, since if you ask to kayak down it, you will soon be in the ocean.

No biggie, we know what you mean. But, you will be talking with the kayak rental people.

Also, kayaking to the eddy out and then hiking to the falls is a great idea, and much better than going to the fern grotto, IMHO.

It does not sound like you have any kayaking experience, so you might ask for some tips before you head off on your kayak adventure.

You can check in the UKG, and get the phone numbers of the different Napali Boat Tour companies, and let them know your visiting dates, and find out their availabilities.

Hiking: While on the east shore, at Kalapakai Marriot, you can head west and drive up waimea canyon road, and hike the kukui trail for great canyon views, or go to the end of the road and hike the Pihea Trail, and get those fabulous photos of the Kalalau Valley.

You stated that you '; do not want to miss anything ';, well in one short visit, you are going to miss a lot....we came for 12 years, and did not okole sit, and still had all kinds of new things to experience when we finally moved over.

So, as mentioned, you might pick out some planned paid activities, and then have fun seing the free natural beauty, and slow down a little.

It seems that you already have your week pretty well taken care of.

We do not know your likes nor your physical condition, so take a look thru the guide book and just select things that feel good to you.

And, TIA.....relax a little and you will still have plenty of opportunities to enjoy the garden island, and also will want to return for subsequent visits.

Also, we live just across the road from Kalapaki beach and the marriot, and I believe you will enjoy the resort...grassy areas, and palm trees up to the sand, lovely beach, easy swimming, and great pool and several jucuzzis, and plenty of places to eat or have a libation. Either on property or within walking distance.

And, then you will be visiting the beautiful north shore, and you will have Hanakapiai trail to Hanakapiai beach to hike, and beautiful beaches, and magical lush surroundings.

You are almost here....

Denny

Aloha! Me - I would say plan no more . . . you have already booked several things, so leave time to let nature/paradise to take over when you arrive. You%26#39;ll never know what you feel like doing until that day arrives . . . and how nice it is to be flexible and not feel guilty about that. Enjoy your time on Kauai!! :)

Aloha from Kaua%26#39;i!

As far as taking a guided kayak tour on the Wailua River on a Sunday: ';Guided Wailua River Tours are not available on Sundays as mandated by State of Hawaii law.';

Maybe you could go on another day of the week?

Do you need to take a Na Pali coast trip from the North Shore? There are many more boat tours departing from the West Side of the island (an easy trip from the South Shore)- either Port Allen or Kikiaola Small Boat Harbor just outside of Waimea town. Captain Andy%26#39;s is one that I particularly recommend - Holoholo Charters is also very good. Your chances of going out might be better also from the West Side - altho%26#39; usually early October is okay for Na Pali. Just depends on what Mother Nature throws at us!

I%26#39;d also make reservations about 2 weeks ahead if you are planning on going to dinner at the Beach House - this place is famous for its location and sunset views - it books up quite early and I%26#39;d recommend calling well in advance.

If you are planning on doing a zip-line at Princeville Ranch - then I%26#39;d also try to book that ahead of time.

Malama Pono,

Janet

Hi Alieck.

We JUST returned from Kauai ( literally!) and from one who stayed at the Marriott in Lihue for six days I can tell you that you don%26#39;t need to plan much more to your fixed schedule. WE are SOOOO glad that we took the advice of the experts here and spent our first two days just chilling out on the grounds and getting really atuned to the island pace! You can run yourself ragged in a real hurry by trying to do everything at once.

I haven%26#39;t posted our trip report as yet; I%26#39;m still gathering thoughts for that, but we found that by only scheduling a few things in advance we felt a lot more at ease on a daily basis. Now, we aren%26#39;t hikers so that wasn%26#39;t on our agenda at all, but we did hope to kayak. The Kalapaki beach facility did not offer tours on Sunday, of any kind and I%26#39;m thinking that they did not rent on Sunday either, but I could be mistaken about that. If you would like to do a heli tour, you should book that soon, I think, as we were closed out for our entire trip- plane tour as well. And by the way, the plane tour is MUCH less expensive if that interests you. Either one seems to book up several days in advance- we were unable to connect on either event and we tried from our first hours on property.

Two things you will want to know regardless- (insert tongue in cheek here) :)- in Kauai, an ABC store is not a liquor store- its a sundries shop like the ';Wings'; stores on the strand at Myrtle Beach. Attire is VERY casual everywhere- even at Beach House we were surprised to see many many people in casual shorts and t%26#39;s or tanks.You don%26#39;t need much beyond your swim attire, a couple pairs of shorts and enough t%26#39;s to make you presentable. Add hiking attire if that%26#39;s what you like to do and you are set. And by the way- ask for a window seat when you reserve at Beach House- we didn%26#39;t do that but arrived early enough to catch a great sunset. If you are going to hike, bring shoes and clothes that you dont care too much about as the red dirt truly gets into everything. You%26#39;re from western NC, so you probably are familiar with the red clay of Georgia...its got nuthin%26#39; on the red dirt from Kauai!

Hope your trip is half as great as ours.

Footloose

Thanks all, for your suggestions.

About the river, we would like to kayak UP the river on Sunday, as I read in previous posts since the boat tours do not run on Sunday, it%26#39;s less crowded and you can enjoy it more. My concern, however, is that maybe the rental places to get kayaks for Sunday may not be open.

Is anyone familiar with that scenario? I guess I can just call around the company%26#39;s in UKG and see. That book also had something about it being illegal to do it on your own without a tour. However, other TA posters said that is not the case.

According to this company%26#39;s website, they are the only outfitter allowed to rent kayaks on the Wailua. There are limited number allowed per day, they only rent two-seaters and they do not rent Sundays.

www.kayakkauai.com/wailuariverrental.html

I guess if you are really set on going on your own and on Sunday you could rent your kayak the day before at just about anywhere. But you will need to think ahead to get a car that has racks to transport your boats and such.

Given that school has started and thus cut back on the number of people out and about, you might want to consider a shift in your planning and go on a weekday tour....that way you get the guide and don%26#39;t have the hassle of caring for your kayaks%26#39; transport, etc.

Just a thought...

Footloose

My impresssion that you have to get a permit to kayak this river if you%26#39;re not with a tour.