Hawaii - Kauai February 2016

Kauai February 2016

This was a magical trip. I remember every day thinking "wow, it just can't get better than this". Zooey (then 2.5 yo) loved every bit of this adventure and I loved every bit of sharing it with her. We did our usual routine of HomeAway/VRBO rental, most meals at the condo and maximizing time spent outside. Each morning was an outdoor adventure and many afternoons we spent napping and then at the pool. Hawaii is perfect for so many reasons but one reason is the ease of morning outdoor activity followed by nap and hotel or condo pool activity. The weather is reliably lovely which is fantastic for all but particularly for toddlers who are always on the go, go, go.

Here are my 6 suggestions for how to spend time on Kauai with young kids/toddlers.

Lanai sunrise

#1. Stay at the Waipouli Beach Resort. This is a fantastic condo resort of course on the ocean, with a great variety of water play activities. There are two small water slides, a "warm" tub (hot tub for kids so not as hot), and a zero entry pool with a sand beach and sandy bottom. The actual beach at the condo is not great for swimming but is gorgeous and lovely to walk down. There is one restaurant that was good the only time we ate at it. I highly recommend seeking out the main farmer's market- we had wonderful food to last us the week by shopping there, plus was a fun experience in it's own right. My husband treated me to a massage outside along the beach which was AMAZING. Highly recommend! We enjoyed the sunrise every morning thanks to the 4 hour time change and a toddler:)

Another lanai sunrise

#2 Helicopter ride. This was a splurge, no doubt, but if there is one place to do a helicopter ride, it seems like Kauai might be it. From the breathtaking waterfalls to the hill vistas to the incredible Napali coastline, you just can't go wrong enjoying these views. My 2.5 year old LOVED IT. LOVED IT. Worth every penny for her as well. She kept shouting "mountain!" "waterfall!" "Hawaii!". Because of the noise and the need for noise cancelling headphones, however, I would only take a kid who you can trust to follow directions and I'd ensure 1:1 adult to child ratio. Ear damage could occur if your kid won't keep on their headphones. Also, motion sickness must be considered for the adults. The last 15 minutes of the hour ride were a little hairy for my stomach and next time I'd take or at least bring dramamine. We used Island Helicopters and would recommend it.

#3 Lydgate Beach Park. This is a fantastic park and beach just minutes from the Waipouli Beach Resort. It is beautiful and there are breakers that create a protected area with waves just the perfect side to lend excitement for toddlers while still allowing parents the chance to relax because the kids are contained in this protected area. Lots of fish to see and sand play to engage in. There is a playground which is incredibly important with littles. We came here the first day for the sunrise the first day and came back multiple other times to play.

#4 Napali Coast State Wilderness Park. Clearly Napali is one of the major highlights of a trip to Kauai. And wow, was it stunning to hike, absolutely stunning.  We walked the 2 miles to Hanakapi'ai Beach (or rock beach). You absolutely get a flavor for how amazing the often treacherous Kalalua trial must be further along. To be completely honest, I felt very nervous doing even these first 2 miles with Zooey on our backs. I started with her on me but just didn't feel confident- was worried I'd slip on the wet rock and there just wasn't a lot to grab on to to prevent a fall off the side on certain parts of the trail. Adam felt fine with her on his back so maybe I'm overly cautious. There were a handful of other folks with baby carriers. Just before the rock beach, there is a stream crossing which I absolutely was horribly uncomfortable with for Zooey. I was fine doing it myself, but I had true terror as Adam traversed this stream with my most precious cargo on his back. But it was fine, the beach was absolutely stunning, so all was well. Without kids 100% do this. With? You need to consider your risk aversion and of course have fantastic hiking boots that can handle wet conditions (we did).

#5 Kuilau Ridge Trail. This is a lovely nearly 5 mile round trip out and back located in the Keahua Arboretum. The foliage is fantastic and there are nice views of the Makaleha Mountain Range. Zooey stayed on our backs the whole way up but there's a lovely grassy area at the destination to run and play (and "dance ballet") and she was able to walk much of the way back down. I highly recommend this hike for any aged kid or adult.

#6 Secrets (Kauapea) Beach. This place is a find. Just incredible. It's not easy to find, there is no marked parking and the trail is barely a trail as much as a hill with lots of wet tree roots that one must "find their way down" but it is so worth it. Whereas I was worried with little Zooey on the Napali coast trial, on this short hill walk I was not worried. I kept her out of the pack, let her climb over the rocks and roots herself, knowing if she fell there wasn't far to go. It's not a cliff drop off, rather than a slippery hill with obstacles. From Kuhio Highway, you turn onto Kalihiwai Road, park at the end of the road (in a residential neighborhood) and take the dirt beach to the west of a person's house. We felt a bit awkward about all of this and asked multiple people to be sure we were going the right way, but again, SO WORTH IT. My recollection is there is a playground about 10 minutes from here too for a nice post beach stop off.

#7 Waimea Canyon. There are various hikes in the Waimea Canyon State Park. We opted for the short Cliff Trail though did add a bit to the walk by hiking on Halemanu Road to get there rather than parking right by the trail head. Zooey was sleeping for most of this, but the dirt road would be very amenable to little hikers. This was a great hike to get a flavor of the gorgeous Waimea Canyon.