Kauai is one of my family’s favorite islands in Hawaii because of it’s amazing tropical rainforests.

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Days 9 & 10

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Day 9: Kauai (1st Day)

View off the ship while in port at Nawiliwili Harbor, Kauai

Kauai welcome sign

Kauai was my favorite island of the four we visited. To me, it was the prettiest, most tropically lush island. It has beautiful green mountains and cliffs. Kauai is nicknamed “the garden island” for good reason. The majority of the island consists of rainforest reserves.

Lush landscape in Kauai

The only downside, is there is only one main “u” shaped highway that runs mostly around the edge of the island so when you reach the end, you have to turn around and go all the way around to reach the other side. It doesn’t connect. So you can encounter slow traffic.

We swam at Hanalei Bay. It had the most amazing back drop of mountains, water falls and sailboats. (Can’t find my pictures from here 🙁 )

Travel Tip: If you are looking for a beautiful, calm beach for kids, Hanalei Bay is a popular choice. The water is quite clear, has nice soft sand, and little to no jagged, sharp lava rock.

We visited Waimea Canyon State Park which was amazing! (Again missing my pictures from here). We just went to a look out point which had a fence. With younger ones, I’m always a little nervous about walking around drop offs without barriers. We didn’t stay long but the long winding drive was worth it.

We stopped and had Kalua pork nachos and a fruity non-alcoholic drink at Brennecke’s restaurant at Poipu Beach.

We didn’t have time to go to the beach itself, but the waves looked rough. I read somewhere that it has tidal pools for little ones to play in.

We went back towards the ship and parked our car at Anchor Cove shopping center for overnight which I read some people do when they need somewhere to park their rental car as there isn’t any parking at the port that I know of. We were willing to pay a fee but nobody was there to pay. The next morning, we had a “No Parking” warning on our window. Thank goodness we didn’t get a ticket or have to pay a fine.

Day 10: Kauai (2nd Day)

We drove to Opaeka’a Falls to see a double waterfall.

 Opaeka’a falls

Next, we went to Lydgate park which was nearby.

Travel Tip: If you little ones are getting antsy and need to expend some energy, I highly recommend planning some time to go to the park. It has a large playground and some lagoons or tidal pools protected by rock walls so the water is calm and clear. Most beaches in Hawaii are rough and rocky and not very kid friendly. If you want to swim, I’d just focus on going to the protected bays (like Hanelei) or swim in these protected rock coves at Lydgate Park.

Lydgate park has palm trees for shade and picnic tables. It is also great for snorkeling with lots of sea life around the rocks. Of course there are many colorful feral chickens running around on Kauai too. Hurricane Iniki destroyed chicken enclosures in 1992, releasing many of the island’s captive chickens which have multiplied in great numbers over the years.

Feral chicken on Kauai

This day was a shorter day so we had to head back to the car rental agency and the ship.

The next day would be disembarkation day so we started packing up in the afternoon. The kids went to Splash Academy to get ready for their circus performance in the Mardi Gras Lounge.

The circus show was super cute and the emcee was hilarious. My daughter, performed with “devil sticks” (a type of baton-not sure why they are called that) and my son did some plate spinning. My youngest son was an adorable tiger who jumped through hula hoops.

They danced to a song called “Ice Cream and Cake” and “YMCA”. My son got attached to one of the male counselors named “Pip” (a nickname). I’ve been on other cruises and I really like how the number of kids was small and the counselors played games and interacted with the kids a lot more than on bigger, fancier ships with ornate kids clubs. They basically just had a large open room and a side room with a movie screen but they had the time of their lives.

As a sort of finale, the ship cruises along the Na Pali coast. It turns around and goes back the other direction so that both sides of the ship get a good view. We lucked out and had a gorgeous rainbow appear near the coast.

Na Pali Coast with a rainbow

We watched a musical show in the theater that night. It was definitely rated PG13 in my opinion. This cruise ship doesn’t cater to kids in that respect in that most of the shows are more adult oriented. Disney Cruise Line is by far the best cruise line for kid friendly evening shows. I was okay with it as the kids just did other things like going to Splash Academy.

The next morning, the ship docked back at the port in Oahu. We got up, ate breakfast, and then headed off ship. We said good bye to our butler and our concierge  as well as our cabin steward. We got a rental car and drove to Disney’s Aulani Resort and was able to check into our room early!

Disney’s Aulani Resort & Spa

Check out my “Top Ten Must-Dos” at Disney’s Aulani Resort.