Kauai Trip - February 2017

I was very excited to visit Hawaii for the first time. We visited from February 16-26th and stayed in Princeville at the Hanalei Bay Resort. We had a beautiful view of Hanalei Bay and could watch surfers in the distance. If we were there in the summer it would have been full of sail boats, but in the winter it is a little rough for them. For the most part we had nice weather. It was generally nice for half the day and then would cloud over by night. We had a couple afternoons with some rain where it rained so much in the mountains that waterfalls would appear for awhile.

We did a ton of sightseeing. We saw the farthest northern part of the island to the opposite end of the road at Waimea Canyon. There is only one main highway through Kauai and we almost drove the whole thing (which actually isn't as far as it sounds!) I couldn't get over how lush and green everything was, especially on the north side. There were so many trees and plants everywhere.

I think I had three main favorite parts of the trip. Number one was most definitely the catamaran whale watching trip. I have zero good pictures of it because I think we quite possibly went on the windiest and roughest day! There was no way I could hold on and take pictures and keep my camera from getting soaked! The waves were huge and you had to hold on like crazy, but it was one of the most fun things I have done. We saw whales and sea turtles and were lucky enough to have two dolphins swim right in front of our catamaran for a little ways. We stood up at the front, so we got pretty wet, but it was worth it! It was supposed to be a 2 hour trip with a short stop for a bite to eat. It ended up being just over 3 hours because we had the most wonderful captain. She detoured out of the way to make sure that we saw sea life. We wouldn't have seen half the amount we did if it wasn't for her and taking way more time than planned!

Number two favorite was seeing Waimea Canyon. It wasn't raining when we got there but it was just building, so we were lucky enough to see a full rainbow. By the time we were ready to go a second one was even slightly forming. It was hard to leave there because it was gorgeous.

Number three was boogie boarding at Hanalei Beach. If it wasn't for fear of getting terribly sunburnt (which fyi happens super easy!) I could have spent a very long time doing it. I didn't realize it could be so fun or I would have tried to fit it in a lot more!

Other highlights included mini golfing, farmers markets (if you ever go get the banana bread!), the pineapple and mangoes, watching for whales and spinner dolphins at the Kilauea Lighthouse and just relaxing.

I definitely have to thank my parents for asking us to go with them. We wouldn't have done it without them! The only thing better would have been if my sister would have been able to join us!

The only thing bad about the trip is it made me want to go again!

There were roosters and chickens everywhere! This chicken hung around her resort with her 8 chicks and the rooster woke us up every day.

Hanalei Bay Resort Beach

Minigolf - It was also a botanical garden, but most of the flowers weren't out yet.

Waimea Canyon

Kilauea Lighthouse and Wildlife Refuge

Opeaka'a Falls

Not the best two pictures, but they show the waterfalls that popped up with all the rain. Once the rain stopped it didn't take long for them to disappear again.