One week itinerary in Kauai, Hawaii
Kauai island is known as the “Garden Isle” because the island is rich in mountain ridges and forests. This travel itinerary for Kauai will show you what you can do on this green island for one week.
Summary
Day 1
Hanalei Valley Lookout
Maniniholo Dry Cave
Haena Beach Park
Limahuli Garden
Queen’s bath
Day 2
Kilauea Lighthouse
Kahili Beach Preserve
Nourish Hanalei
Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge
Okolehao Trail
Day 3
Anini beach
Boat tour with Na Pali Coast
Day 4
Tunnels beach
Holey Grail Donuts
Kenomene Ocean Sunset Outlook
Day 5
Waimea canyon
Waimea canyon lookout
Canyon Trail
Kalalau lookout
Day 6
Opaekaa falls
Historical sites
Kayak on Wailua River
Day 7
Tree tunnel
The Spouting Horn
Poipu beach
Kauai Plantation Railway
Wailua falls
Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail
Day 1
Today’s itinerary will be on the north west side of the island. This is a less populous side and more distant from the airport and shopping, but the road quality is good and the areas along the coast are generally quite accessible.
Hanalei Valley Lookout
You will have a wonderful view of the Hanalei Valley from here. Hawaiians still use this valley for growing taro.
Maniniholo Dry Cave
This is a cave just off the road. You can park at the Haena Beach Park parking lot, then walk across the street to go to the cave. This cave has a large opening and is easy to explore.
Haena Beach Park
This is a wonderful place for you to have a picnic with ocean view, tide pooling or snorkeling. While we were tide pooling there, we saw tiny fishes, sea urchins, sea anemones, sea cucumbers and many other creatures that I don’t know their names.
Limahuli Garden
This is a botanic garden featuring an ancient Hawaiian layout. There are some endangered local Hawaiian plants there. This is the place that taught me what taro plants look like, and it includes many other native and invasive plants in distinct “gardens.”
There is a 0.7 mile loop trail inside of the garden. You will see some interestingly shaped mountains along the trail.
Queen’s bath
Queen’s bath is a unique tide pool. There is very limited parking there. For us, since we were staying close by, we just walked from our airbnb to the Queen’s bath. The trail to the Queen’s bath is 0.8 miles. It is not difficult, but part of it can be muddy, slippery, and there are some thorny plants that you have to watch out for.
There is a small waterfall at the end of the trail:
At the very end of the path there is an enclosed pool connected to the ocean but surrounded by rocks. It is called the Queen’s bath because only royalty were allowed to swim there in older times. Be very careful if you go down to water level because many people have drowned in the area when large waves sweep them into the ocean.
Day 2
Today we are at the north side of the island.
Kilauea Lighthouse
If you are visiting the lighthouse, be sure to get a reservation in advance; reservations are required for all visitors. However, even the lookout point outside the lighthouse is exceptionally beautiful.
Kahili Beach Preserve
Another great place for tide pooling.
Nourish Hanalei
This is a food truck with vegan options (acai bowl, wraps). The outdoor seating area provides another lookout point for the Hanalei valley.
Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge
Okolehao Trail
Okolehao Trail is 2.8 miles with 856 ft elevation. It is a moderate to difficult hike. There are three viewpoints in total. We only hiked up to the second point because the trail gets more difficult as you get further up, and it was very hot. The views are worth it though, even without going all the way up to the top. I don’t remember at which viewpoint we took this photo:
Part of the trail involves climbing up a hill with a rope (rope is already there).
Day 3
Today we are still at the north side of the island.
Anini beach
Anini beach has calm ocean conditions. It is well known as one of the safest and most protected beaches along the north shore of Kauai. The reef here is one of the largest in the state.
The water is shallow. There were lots of corals. When we were snorkeling there, we did not see many fishes there, but we saw a giant green sea turtle. To get to the best fish areas you have to swim far away from the shore, which may not be comfortable for inexperienced snorkelers. However, even close to shore it is a beautiful area and well worth visiting.
Boat tour to Na Pali Coast
We booked a 2 hour Boat tour with Na Pali Coast Hanalei Inc. This is one of the highlights of the trip.
We saw the beautiful mountain ridges formed by igneous dikes when the original volcano of Kauai was erupting:
There are multiple waterfalls you will see on this tour. Nearly all of them are spectacular.
One of the waterfall is inside of the a cave:
Day 4
Tunnels beach
This is our favorite snorkeling location on Kauai. You need to go early for parking.
There are lots of reefs and fishes. The water is very deep, but there are no big waves. There are some boats there as well, please watch out for them. Similar to Anini beach, there is a protective reef far off the coast, but unlike Anini there are many fishes and occasional turtles relatively close to shore. The area is called Tunnels because of unique underwater crevices cross-cutting through the seafloor.
Holey Grail Donuts
It is a food truck that sells really good vegan taro donuts. They also have seasonal flavors.
Kenomene Ocean Sunset Outlook
It is a beautiful place to watch the sunset.
Day 5
Waimea canyon
Waimea Canyon is called the grand canyon of the pacific. It’s not nearly as old as the grand canyon of Arizona, but it has a similar grandiose scale and is an incredible area.
Waimea canyon lookout
You can get a beautiful view of the canyon from this first lookout point, but don’t get too attached to it because many other lookouts up the road are just as good, if not better.
Canyon Trail
This is a 1.8 mile one way, 2-3 hours difficult hike to two waterfalls.
The last part of the hike is like walking on the moon. The very end of the hike is also the steepest and scariest part, and the view of the waterfalls is actually pretty disappointing since the trail ends at the very head of the waterfall and you don’t really get to see how far it drops over the edge. If you are uncomfortable doing the climb down, I recommend enjoying the views of the canyon and head back to look at the waterfalls from one of the many viewing points along the road.
Kalalau lookout
You can directly drive there. There is parking there. Unfortunately, when we were there, it was too foggy to see anything, but in clear conditions this is one of the best spots for viewing the entire Kalalau valley from the top.
Day 6
Today we will be exploring the south side of the island.
Opaekaa falls
You can see it from the road. There is no need to hike.
Historical sites
Most of these sites are relatively minor, in the sense that there is little information available about them and even less protection or park resources dedicated to them. But collectively, these sites along with many others convey the history and values of ancient Hawaiian civilization in a really unique way.
Poliahu Heiau (Hawaiian temple)
Holoholoku Heiau
Pohakuho Ohanau (Royal Birthstones)
Hikinaakala Heiau (foundation ruins of an ancient temple)
Kayak on Wailua River
We booked a guided kayak tour from Duke's Kayak Adventures. The tour we booked is the secret falls kayaking, which includes a 4 miles kayak + 3 mile hike (round trip) to the secret waterfall.
Day 7
This day is even more adventures on the south side of the island.
Tree tunnel
This is basically a drive through a road that has big trees on both sides.
The Spouting Horn
This is a blowhole. If you look carefully, you might see turtles in the water when they surface to breathe.
Poipu beach
We went there for more snorkeling. There are big fishes there, but the waves are big and it is rocky. This was not as good of a snorkeling spot as what we experienced on the north coast. However, keep in mind that good snorkeling spots are seasonal; generally the north side of the island is better during the summer and the south side of the island is better in the winter.
Kauai Plantation Railway
It is a 40 min train tour. Along the way, you will see different fruit trees. They will stop the train for you to feed pigs, pet horses and donkeys,
You can also tour the historical house in the Kauai plantation for free. There are shops and restaurants inside.
Wailua falls
This is another waterfall that you can simply drive there. You can see the waterfall from the parking lot.
There is no trail to get to the bottom of the waterfall. We saw some people doing that anyway, but we don’t think it looks safe.
Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail
This is a 3.7 mile out and back trail with 318 feet elevation. Along the trail, you will see a historical landmark called Waiopili Heiau, and the Makauwahi Cave. The cave is very special; it is one of only a handful of limestone caves in all of Hawaii, because most of Hawaii is comprised of volcanic rock.
I hope you will enjoy your trip to Kauai. It is my favorite island in Hawaii. How about you, which Hawaiian island is your favorite?
Fun fact:
There are many wild chickens on this island. They like to walk around you when you are outdoor dining in restaurants. While it is tempting to feed them, it is actually illegal to do so. The wild chicken population keeps growing because they don't have any natural predators on the island.
Check out the itineraries for other Hawaiian islands:
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