The Island Life

Our Hawaiian vacation has been a dream. This is my first trip to Kauai. Heck, it is my first trip to Hawaii and it has been way better than I ever imagined it could be. The island is so beautiful words cannot describe it. I see every minute why they call this the garden island. It is green everywhere and beautiful flowers just grow here. Today was easily the best day yet. We woke up a little early here, which isn't hard because we get a rooster wake-up call around 5am every morning. Everything is so chill that doesn't even bother us. There is absolutely no nightlife in Waimea so we like to turn in early and wake up early. We drove out to Poipu to the Kukuiula Small Boat Harbor where we met up with our snorkel tour.

When we were planning Kauai snorkeling was one of the top activities on our list. We initially thought we wanted to snorkel somewhere along the Na Pali Coast, but after some research, we found out you see a lot more sea life if you snorkel off the south side of the island. The waves beating against the cliffs on the Na Pali coast make it more difficult for sea life to survive. We found Kauai Sea Rider Adventures, which has great reviews on trip advisor. They greatly exceeded our expectations. It was awesome! We arrived and they got us all fitted with our gear. We had a few minutes to explore the harbor before they loaded us into the zodiac raft. I will admit I was a little nervous to brave the ocean on such a small vessel.

Riding on the raft ended up being a highlight of the tour. The boat is known for its speed and maneuverability. It is the same raft the Coast Guard uses to rescue boats. It provided a pretty smooth ride overall. At the roughest, it wasn't any worse than cruising across really choppy water on Flaming Gorge. For the first part of our adventure we cruised along the coast and stopped by some pretty beaches. We were all assigned to watch for dolphins - we saw two pods. It was so cool. The dolphins loved the boat. We would spot them and drive over. After we watched them swim around the boat for a while we would take off and they would jump through the wake. It was amazing that they would all jump in unison. It looked like so much fun. We stopped by the beach where they filmed the opening scene in Gilligan's Island, and scenes from Jurassic Park and Pirates of the Caribbean 4.

The weather ended up being perfect for our tour. There was a north wind, which kept the waves down. Since it was such nice weather our tour guides asked if anyone had a pressing appointment after our snorkel adventures - we had a cool group and no one did so they decided to extend the coast tour up to a couple of additional beaches. On our way, we saw the second pod of dolphins and we also stopped by a beach cave. Captain Nick backed our vessel right into the cave. After the sea cave, we went up to the beach where they filmed The Descendants. It was a pristine beach - so beautiful with the big green mountain in the background. It is difficult to get to this beach so no one was there, just us. As we left this beach we hit a really big wave, which was exciting to fly over. Afterward, Nick joked we should all get an "I survived Kauai Sea Riders shirt."

We had a short ride after that to our first snorkel spot. They tied the boat down and Tony, our snorkel guide, gave some brief instructions before we all jumped in the water. I have never snorkeled before and was a little nervous about how well I would do. Tony hung out with a boogie board and I thought I would spend some quality time on the boogie board, but as soon as I got in the water I quickly realized it was awesome. It was so relaxing. We swam around among fish and turtles. There were so many turtles. I loved it and I got some great pics. Buying an underwater camera for this trip was a great investment.

We loaded back up and went to one more snorkel spot near a reef. This area wasn't as cool as the turtle area, but it was still fun to see the reef and there were some fish. This one was more of a group snorkel - we all had to stay by Tony because the current is strong and could have pulled us into a dangerous area. After we made a big loop we climbed back aboard the boat and headed back to shore where we ate a little lunch with our group before heading our separate ways.

Snorkeling was one of the most amazing adventures we have had on a vacation. It was relaxing and fun and thrilling all at the same time. We cannot say enough good things about the Kauai Sea Riders. The crew was so much fun and extremely helpful. It was an A+ experience.

Our next stop was Poipu beach where we spent the next few hours bumming around. It was dreamy. This was a picture-perfect beach. The sand was white and the water was crystal clear. It was a little rocky if you went deeper, but that meant there were beautiful tropical fish in the shallow water. We lounged around for hours napping, reading, and watching the Yankees game on my phone. It was perfect. Anytime we got too hot we would go walk into the water. It was great. After a while, we needed some refreshment so we found a place to get a fresh smoothie. Alison loved that the girl making our smoothie squeezed a fresh orange to put in our drink. It sure hit the spot.

ready for the beach

Then we drove over to shipwreck beach. Here we really ventured into the waves. They were huge - a few times they knocked us off our feet. One was so strong that when it hit me in the back it gave me a welt! It was fun to be in the water and play in the waves.

ready, set

go

As the afternoon waned it was time to head back to our little cottage. We got all cleaned up before heading back to Poipu for dinner at the Beach House.

Alison and I love to eat at a good seafood restaurant and we heard this was one of the premier dining locations on the island. It was exceptional. I made our reservations a couple of weeks ago and we got a seat right by the ocean. We couldn't have been more than 20 feet away. The dining area was open, so we were seated on the Lanai watching surfers on one side of us, and seeing the beautiful Hawaiian sunset on the other side. It was a perfect table. The service was exceptional. We ordered some mocktails before dinner - we actually have no idea what they are. The waitress recommended them and they were fantastic. There was a bit of sparkle to them, but not too much. It was a delicious, refreshing beverage before dinner! We ordered calamari for an appetizer and it was served almost like a steak rather than the tentacles and rings that you typically see with Calamari. It was delicious. I got some Mahi  Mahi for dinner and Alison got the fresh catch of the day. Both were spectacular. For dessert, we finished off with some flourless molten chocolate cake. Between our appetizers and the main course, the sun began to set, so we went out and got some pictures. The restaurant had a professional photographer that took photos on our camera. They turned out exceptional. The Beach House was a win!

our "perfect" view

After dinner, we headed back to our cottage and called it a night. It was a fantastic Hawaiian day!