Itinerary Comments

May 8th-May12th

May 8th

Arrive 4 pm

Drive north..explore

Mermaids Dinner

Check in Hale Makai Cottage North Shore

Relax

May 9th

early breakfast Over the falls french toast

9:30 Inter Island Helicopter

Shrimp Station

Not sure if we have time to go to Waiema Canyon

2:30 Zip only at Princeville

dinner-open

May 10th

Open

Will hike Kalalau to the falls 10th or 11th depending on weather

Grab drink at Nui?

May 11th

Open

Snorkel...relax

Sunset dinner at Beach House

May 12th

Breakfast

Depart for Maui

Thinking about sunset dinner or breakfast at Princeville resort. Also heard Mediterranean restaurant has great views.

Thanks in advance

Itinerary Comments

Just a few thoughts following our week on Kauai this month:

Arrival day: I would try to be in Haena by dark (7:30) due to curvy roads and one lane bridges. Your drive from the airport will take 1hr+ ... so with a stop at Mermaids (and to pick up supplies?) it won%26#39;t leave a lot of daylight time to explore.

May 9th: Is your helicopter tour at 9:30 or is that the time you need to be there? I think you%26#39;ll need to allow 1 3/4 - 2 hours to get to Port Allen (commuter traffic through Lihue could be slow.) From Port Allen to Waimea (Shrimp Station) is 15 minutes further along, but if you have to be back in Princeville for a 2:30 Zipline, you may need to head right back from Port Allen, depending on what time your helicopter tour ends and what time you need to check in for the zipline. (The drive from Waimea to the end of the Canyon Road is another 45 minutes, so definitely no time that day, but you%26#39;ll see the canyon from the helicopter.)

With all of the driving on May 9th and an hour plus drive on the 12th to the airport, I would skip another trip to the south shore and the dinner at the Beach House. Instead, I would relax and enjoy the north shore for those two days.... there are great beaches (Ke%26#39;e, Anini) and restaurants as well.

Highly recommend the 2 mile Kalalau hike - allow ~4 hours for it, including a rest at Hanakapiai beach ...but no swimming there! ... reward yourselves with a swim at Ke%26#39;e beach afterwards. Get there early for good parking, and cooler hiking conditions.

Enjoy!

Itinerary Comments

Thanks so much thats great advice.

There is an airport in Princeville----I%26#39;m staying North Shore and was going to check and see if they did helicopter tours from there but I decided not to do the heli tour and instead do a sailing tour from Hanalei to see the Napali Coast. I drive enough at home----just don%26#39;t want to do alot when I%26#39;m on vacation. Or even a helicopter tour from the Lihue airport would eliminate the necessary drive to Port Allen.

I would reschedule your zip for one of your open days - you%26#39;ll want to see Waimea and other sites on the South Shore (Spouting horn, tropical botanic gardens, etc.).

You may also want to rethink any kind of big or heavy breakfast before the heli trip if there%26#39;s a remote possibility of getting motion sickness (and just because you%26#39;ve never gotten motion sick before doesn%26#39;t mean it won%26#39;t happen this time!). That might be good morning to grab a yogurt and some fresh fruit...

Have fun!

There are helicopter tours from Princeville airport. If you are staying on the north shore, I would definitely take one from there rather than driving all the way to Port Allen, unless you plan to spend the rest of the day in that area. So, I would either change the helicopter tour to Princeville or change the zipline tour to a different day and spend the rest of your time after the helicopter tour at Waimea canyon.

Great info...we will change the zip line to Sat so we can hang out south.

Don%26#39;t change the heli trip. Inter Island is a great company to tour with. Not sure if Luka is still flying for them but he is fantastic and has a great Italian accent! IF you can, do the waterfall tour they have...it%26#39;s a blast!

Enjoy your trip!