Waimea Canyon & Hanalei Beach Park

:eek: We plan on going to the Canyon with our rental car on day one. Is it possible to also visit Hanalei Beach Park on the same day? We are going to the beach at the Marriott on day 2 so we will not have a car. What do you think? My husband is a beach addict and will need to be at a beach that day, even if it's for a very short time. Isn't this the "Puff the Magic Dragon" beach?

:eek: We plan on going to the Canyon with our rental car on day one. Is it possible to also visit Hanalei Beach Park on the same day? We are going to the beach at the Marriott on day 2 so we will not have a car. What do you think? My husband is a beach addict and will need to be at a beach that day, even if it's for a very short time. Isn't this the "Puff the Magic Dragon" beach?

The canyon and Hanalei Beach are on opposite sides of Kauai. The island may look small, but it isn't--and the only road (two lane) is packed with traffic. The canyon takes time to explore, almost 1/2 day from where you dock if you want to stop at any of the overlooks or walk out at the top. On the way back to Lihue (your ship area) from the canyon, you pass the road to Poipu Beach, usually ranked #1 or #2 in the WORLD. It is beautiful with excellent swimming areas. And just across from the beach is Breneke's, a very casual restuarant with a dining porch overlooking the park/ocean. Then, if you want to explore another beach, you can go back to Poipu Road, turn right and drive to Shipwreck Beach, just beyond the Hyatt Regency. The beach public access road is just beyond the Hyatt entrance. You can hike up the cliffs, walk around the incredibly beautiful Hyatt and enjoy this beach area, too... all in the Poipu area AND without fighting the very heavy traffic going north to Hanalei.

Enjoy!:) :) :)

If you really want to visit both places on day #1 then I suggest that you take a taxi to the airport as soon as the ship docks. You should be able to leave the ship at 7:00 a.m. Pick up your rental car and then drive directly to Waimea Canyon. There is a neat overlook on the way to stop for a couple of pictures. Make sure to drive to the end of the road to the last 2 lookouts - great view of the NaPali Coast. The drive to Waimea Canyon early in the morning was fairly fast since traffic was coming into Lihue at that time of the day.

After seeing Waimea Canyon then head back and explore the East and North side of Kauai. You will probably want to pick something up to eat - probably in Lihue. There is a store/restaurnat in Waimea Canyon before the last 2 lookouts. There is a gas station on the north side of Lihue. I noticed that gas stations are few and far between in parts of Hawaii. Take your time once you leave Lihue to stop at visit the places that you want to see. You will more than likely leave the north side of the island at dusk if you see the things that you want to see. I believe shuttles run back to the pier until 9:00 p.m. We paid $13.00 for a taxi in the morning. Just don't push yourself too much that you will be over-exhuasted and get sick.

I probably would follow your itinterary if I had to do it over. We took Captain Andy's snorkeling excursion to the NaPali Coast out of Ele Ele after seeing Waimea Canyon. We took pictures at every lookout, stopped at the store, and still had time to drive back to Lihue to shop at KMart prior to being in Ele Ele at 12:45. There were few cars and NO tour buses when we got to the canyon. However, on the way out we saw lots of cars and tour buses. Get there early before the crowds!

Day #2 sounds great. I wish that I would have realized that the beach near the pier was that close. It is only a 5-10 minute walk. There are also shops near the beach. We went to Poipu Beach on Day #2. I wish that we would have stayed longer there. We were there too early to rent snorkel equipment. We wanted to shop at various places after going to Poipu and weren't really satisfied with doing that. The Spouting Horn is near Poipu Beach and is worth seeing. Vendors are set up there. It is a pretty area.

The problem with Hawaii is there is so much to do in all ports. If you leave early on Day #1 then you should be ok as along as you don't mind getting back at night. Also, this will allow you to sleep in and relax on day #2. I believe there was parasailing at this beach. I know there were several activities that werer offered. I am not sure about this.

Gary

I have seen Breneke's mentioned b4 on this thread. Considering dinner here, especially if the ship's food is getting a bit old. How's the food and prices? We're planning to have lunch at Mama's on Maui so the eat-out budget may be a bit thin! Also, does it have a view of the sunset? Mahalo

Thanks for the great replys. We have decided to go ahead and do the canyon first and after we are done see how we feel. If we are tired and don't feel like driving much more we will go to Poipu, but if we are still feel llike adventure we will take Gary's suggestion to head east and then north. So I will have two plans for the afternoon depending on how it goes. Thanks again, I would not have been able to figure this out without your input.:)

I second the idea of going to Waimea and then stopping at Poipu Beach and eating lunch/dinner at Brennecke's.

We stayed for a week in Kauai after the cruise and part of that time we stayed in condos at Poipu Beach. We walked down from our unit to Poipu Beach Park and it is a really beautiful beach and park. As for Brennecke's, we ate there one night and thought the meal was so good that we abandoned plans to return to The Beach House, a more expensive nearby restaurant, in favor of visiting Brennecke's again. The sushi and other fish were so fresh it felt like it was just caught outside. The drinks were great and much better priced than elsewhere. Don't be fooled by the tacky entrance down below- we considered these two meals among the best we had in Hawaii.

There's good snorkeling by the Beach House restaurant. Mantas frequest there.

simonv: If the water conditions are good, we enjoy snorkeling there too.

beachchick