Kauai: Part 1 - The Kalalau Trail, Ke'e Beach, and Hanalei Bay

Since we've been home, I've been browsing through thousands of pictures from our trip and I was hesitant to post anything on this blog because I don't want anyone thinking that we are "rubbing it in."  But then I realized that this blog is for us... it's our way of staying in touch with our families and it's the BEST way to document our experiences.  So, here's a glimpse at our trip to Kauai, Hawaii.  There are a LOT of pictures so there will be multiple blog posts.

We flew out of San Jose because it was a cheap, direct flight.  We made a few mistakes: #1) We parked in the most expensive daily parking lot EVER and #2) We got split up in the security line... Mike ended up in the "precheck" line which took 10 min and I got stuck in the "regular" line which took about 30 minutes (but felt like HOURS).

Once we were on the plane, we were good to go.  Next stop: Lihue, Kauai!

It was raining when we landed, but as soon as we got our rental car for the week, a Chevy Camaro convertible, we immediately put the top down.  The rain and humidity was SO refreshing since Tahoe is always SOOO dry!

We just drove around the island a little bit to get oriented and then headed north to our condo.  We booked this trip through Groupon and I was a little nervous because I thought that maybe the resort was struggling for business and that's why they offered a Groupon.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Our condo was amazing!  We opted for the "garden view" because it was much cheaper, but from our room we could see the start of the NaPali Coast, tons of palm trees/coconut trees/flowers, a river, the pool, and we had a partial ocean view.

Day 2: I woke up to see the sunrise on the beach.  Since it wasn't raining, and we weren't sure what the rest of the week would be like, we headed for the Kalalau Trail (just right down the road from our condo) to do some hiking along the NaPali Coast.

JUST ABOVE KE'E BEACH... GREAT SNORKELING DOWN THERE!

HANAKAPI'AI BEACH - 2 miles in on the Kalalau Trail

 After hiking 2 miles along the muddy trail, you can take a left off the main trail and hike another 2 miles to a 400 ft waterfall... Hanakapi'ai Falls:

The trail to the falls was SO muddy.  We passed lots of people in brand new Nike's that were totally ruined.  It was ankle deep mud in some places.  Parts of the trail were along rock ledges or through streams.  It was not the easiest of hikes.  

But, the reward was worth it: 

 The views of the start of the NaPali Coastline from the trail were amazing: 

 We were very hot and muddy after the hike so we headed straight to Ke'e beach to do some snorkeling: 

We only had a short time snorkeling because the ocean started to get rough and the lifeguards made everyone get out.  

We spent the late afternoon watching the sunset in Hanalei Bay while sipping water from a coconut.   

Here's a short video of our hike to Hanakapi'ai Beach and Falls: