July 29, 2021

Going to the Garden Island: Traveling to Kauai, Hawaii

I wrote a little bit about our Kauai trip previously, but I wanted to write an in-depth travel post covering our time on the island. It feels like more people than ever have vacationed on the islands recently or are planning on traveling to Hawaii soon, so I thought that the details of our trip might prove useful. Patrick and I spent two weeks solely on Kauai. We spent one week on the South Shore (Poipu) and the next week on the North Shore (Princeville). The Garden Island nickname is very fitting for Kauai – it’s one of the most lush places that I’ve ever seen. The whole time that I was there, I couldn’t get over the towering trees and how wild and undeveloped the island still felt. I think my blood was two-thirds rum by the time we left from all of the Mai Tais, and my stomach was happily full from lots of fresh seafood and poke bowls. I’ll share more about how we spent our days on the island and also what the prerequisites were for us to vacation there.

We visited Kauai the last two weeks of May. I believe that some of the restrictions have changed since then, but when we traveled, even though we were vaccinated, we still had to fulfill a lot of prior requirements. It basically felt like we were traveling internationally even though we weren’t. We submitted lots of information online and also had to order, complete, and mail back an approved live-videoed Covid spit test. This test had to be received, processed, and updated with a “negative” result within 72 hours of our flight. In other cities, they have approved testing places you can visit, but there wasn’t one close to us in Santa Barbara, so we ordered a test online from Costco. While we were there, mask wearing was still very strict too. Again, restrictions probably have changed, but it’s definitely something to look into and to be aware of before you book a trip.

I thought that Hawaii might not be as busy because of the many required steps to travel there, and I was very mistaken. Everything from rental car companies to restaurants were slammed while we visited. We booked our rental car months in advance luckily, but most people we talked to were unable to get a car (or would have had to shell out crazy amounts of money for one). Word to the wise, book your rental car as soon as possible (or maybe check availability before you book your vacation). We are not big restaurant reservation people (we usually wing it), and I don’t suggest this either. If there are nights you want to dine out or specific restaurants that you want to visit, book ASAP. To put this in perspective, we had multiple servers tell us that right now in Kauai it’s like their two week Christmas holiday time craziness all of the time now. We booked Airbnbs/Vrbos early on too, so reserve your lodging in advance as well if feasible. We had a wonderful time and it was absolutely worth going, but I wanted to warn people to anticipate that the islands will most likely be busier and more expensive than usual.

Pineapple coconut shaved ice at Matcha-Ya

While we were in Kauai, we went on lots of long walks and hikes, played tennis, snorkeled a ton, went on a Na Pali Coast boat tour, enjoyed lots of amazing meals and cocktails, and relaxed in the sand and by the pool. There are countless places to visit and see, but we didn’t want to have a jam-packed schedule, so we decided to have a more casual vacation. We spent most of our time around Poipu and Princeville, but I have included some West and East Side recommendations too. There is still a lot of construction on the road to Hanalei from Princeville, so we did not spend as much time there as anticipated. If you are driving to or from, look ahead to see the time windows that you can go as traffic can be horrible. I am listing the attractions that we went to and the restaurants we frequented during our 14 days in Kauai below. This list is an amalgamation of recommendations from friends and Instagram messages, my own research online, and lots of wandering around/seeing what was nearby. I hope that this helps if you are planning on visiting the Rainbow State soon! Please feel free to comment with any other favorite spots or questions that you have. I know we will definitely be back at some point – Aloha for now!