Aloha e komo mai. On the Island of Kaua’i, this means “Welcome!”

Day 1- Poipu

I’ve been looking forward to my honeymoon for the longest time. It took me A LOT of years to find my prince charming, but I finally did.

Life works in mysterious ways and somehow I ended up marrying my gym crush.

Some couples go on their honeymoon right after their wedding, others decide to wait a few months to go on theirs. It’s a personal decision and there’s no right or wrong time to do it. But don’t wait too long.

I’m so blessed to have a husband like mine. We make a pretty good team. When we were planning our wedding, we divided our responsibilities. I did the wedding planning, and he planned our honeymoon.

My husband booked 8 days/nights in Kauai, and 8 days/nights on the Big Island. But towards the end of our stay on the Big Island, we realized how much fun we’re having and we didn’t want to go back home yet.

It happened to be Memorial Day weekend anyways on the following Monday, and we’re both going to be off. My husband knew how much I enjoyed visiting Maui in 2021, so he surprised me by extended our honeymoon 5 more days.

I am not here to brag about what an amazing and long honeymoon I had, but to share our itinerary with you. If you’re going to Kauai for the first time, you can have some ideas of things to do, and places you can visit. I don’t know about you, but when I travel I want to see as many places as possible. Which can put a lot of stress on me some times. So I’m here to give you suggestions and make it easier for you. I hope you get some ideas on how you can spend your honeymoon or vacation next time you’re in Kauai.

“Don’t wait for too long to go on your honeymoon. Get married and go. Life’s too short to waste another day not celebrating you union.”

Valentina

We left on May 10 and flew from LAX to Lihue Airport, Kauai. It was an 8:15am early flight, and we landed in Lihue around 11:25am.

As soon as we got out of the plane, picked up our luggage, and we went outside. The weather was very warm and welcoming. A little more humid than California, but I’m not complaining at all. I love warm weather. We brought our golf bags too since we’re planning to go golfing a few times on each island.

While we waited for our luggage, we saw this woman, who was singing and dancing at the airport. She was wearing traditional Hawaiian attire and looked beautiful. What a cool way to welcome new tourists, right? We felt on vacation immediately. I don’t know if everyone appreciates live music, but I have great respect for musicians. Of course, being former musicians with my twin.

We first went to Costco to get some food, snacks, and beverages. We had two bedroom villa reserved at the Marriott Waiohai Beach in Poipu with a huge kitchen. We had to go get food, because the only restaurant located on property was the pool bar. The hours of operations didn’t suit us well and we needed a backup plan in case we wanted food during the day.

Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club– Immerse yourself in the beauty of Kauai at the Poipu resort.

We also went to Target to get a cooler. One thing I would recommend to everyone going to Hawaii is to buy a cooler. They’re only $8 or $10 dollars and you can take it with you to the beach. Pack a cooler with different beverages and snacks. Then enjoy the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Once we checked in at the hotel around 4pm, we put our swimsuits on and went to the beach for two hours. The water was so nice and warm, we didn’t want to leave the beach.

That night we decided to take it easy and go to the local bar by the Hotel, called Brennecke’s Beach Broiler. It was Taco Tuesday night and we both ordered 4 tacos. Anna, the bartender was looking at us like we’re crazy, because the tacos were huge. If you ever go to Poipu and are looking for a casual night out, Brennecke’s is a cool spot to check out.

Brennecke’s Beach Broiler in Poipu Beach on Kauai’s South Shore.

Day 2-Kauai Coffee Estate

“The warm Pacific sun, rich volcanic earth, abundant mountain rain and cool trade winds of Kauai create ideal conditions for growing outstanding coffee.
Kauai Coffee Company

On our second day, we had tour at the Kauai Coffee Estate. This place was huge, it’s considered to be the largest coffee farm in the United States. The view from the main building was picturesque. You could see the plantation fields and the ocean.

Once we entered the gift shop, the smell of fresh coffee was everywhere. I LOVE coffee. We grabbed a fresh cup of coffee and headed to the coffee presentation, which was outside on the patio.

A very nice and knowledgeable lady was showing us different methods to make coffee. What I learned during the presentation was shocking for me. Light coffee is stronger than dark roast coffee. I had no idea. I thought it was vise versa. The reason is that the beans are denser than a dark roast beans. Now, don’t judge me for not knowing this before. I’ve always ordered dark roast, thinking it’s stronger. But I was so wrong.

After the presentation, we took a tour through the coffee orchard. We learned how coffee is grown, harvested, and roasted on the island.

Afterwards, we went to the gift shop, and I bought a few different bags of Kauai coffee. We have a Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine , which makes such good espresso.

WAIMEA CANYON STATE PARK

Our next stop after Kauai Coffee Estate was Waimea Canyon. They call Waimea Canyon the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Not surprising at all, it’s breath taking. The State Park overlooks the deep, colorful gorge of Waimea Canyon. It’s located on the western side of Kaua’i.

We stopped and got some dry mango fruit on our way to the Canyon. A little snack never hurts, right? We made a few different stops to take photos and videos of the canyon. There’re a lot of stops you can make to see the majestic canyon. One in particular is the viewpoint of Ni’ihau Island.

There’re plenty of picnic tables if you want to have lunch. If you are a hiker next to forest reserves, you can find a lot of hiking trails. Get a brochure for visitors from your hotel or local gas station. Locals and tourists enjoy seasonal trout fishing, pig, and seasonal goat hunting.

Kalalau Lookout

My husband was pretty excited to show me Kalalau lookout. Unfortunately, we didn’t get lucky with the weather. It was very cloudy. When it’s sunny you can see the ocean and the canyon at the same time. I looked at photos afterwards and saw what I missed out on. Well, on a positive note, that’s a perfect excuse to go back. I recommend it to everyone if you are in Kaua’i.

One thing you should know about Kaua’i is that it’s full of rosters and chickens everywhere you go. There are different theories of how these chickens ended up on the Island.

The most popular one is that in 1982 Hurricane Iwa hit the Kaua’ Island. The winds were so severe, that they blew chickens out of farms and scattered them across the island. Then, they started multiplying.

A local resident told us that there are currently around 400,000 chickens and roasters on the island.

At this point, we’re quite tired and decided to head back to the Hotel. We packed our cooler and went to the beach for a few hours. It’s so crazy, how cloudy it was on one side of the island, and how sunny it was by the beach.

That night we decided to stay on property. We bought some fresh tuna steaks the day before, and we grilled.

If you ever go to Marriott Villas, you will notice a lot of grill stations. My husband and I were swinging on the nearby hamic while we were grilling the tuna and some veggies. We’re on the phone talking to friends and we burned the veggies. Anyways, the tuna was to die for.