Eating and Sightseeing Through Kauai

^{This trip was taken on May 2022.}

Returned from a 5 night Kauai and 3 (really 2 since we had an early flight back) night Oahu trip. Our redemption isn’t the best and honestly it kills me looking at the points usage. Quick backstory, I erroneously transferred 180k MR to ANA in hopes of it being a wedding present for my friend and fiance. Well found out ANA rules forbid using their miles outside of your family. Fast forward 33 months, my ANA miles are set to expire, COVID restrictions, and no set plans to use the ANA miles, I had to use them.

We landed in Kauai at 9p and Turo couldn’t drop off the car in LIH. There were no Lyft or Uber drivers and we didn’t want to wait for a taxi, so we walked 1mi to our Turo host’s shop. It wasn’t a bad walk, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Stayed at the Tip Top Motel for the night night and ate breakfast at the cafe below. The room wasn’t anything special but the cafe has really good food. Highly recommend their banana pancakes and country fried steaks. I thought I had pictures but I couldn’t find any on my phone. I’ll have to ask if Carolyn has any.

There was a farmer’s market happening nearby so we drove to Grove Farm Market to check it out. There we found some sugarloaf pineapple (definitely try to find this!). It was definitely the best pineapple I’ve eaten. It was sweet but not tart. I also rediscovered an old vegetable that I haven’t seen since I was a kid in the Philippines. It’s called the kamias and I was overly excited. I bought bag and bit into it… The taste is super sour and tart. It is not a vegetable you just bite into. But it was a nice nostalgia trip.

We continued our drive to Kalapaki Beach. We didn’t go in the water because our focus was on sightseeing. We stopped by this Thai food truck, Anatta’s Thai Street Food, for a light lunch. Once again forgetting to take pictures of the food. At least I got the food truck this time.

We continued our drive to Wailua Falls. On the way back we stopped at this little fruit stand on State Hwy 583. The banana we got from there was so tasty. Payment is through honor system. You pick your fruits and drop cash in the dropbox. While checking directions, we saw Kapaia Suspension Bridge so decided to make a pit stop there. We pulled up and thought it was a private property but there were signs showing were visitors can park. There were these little

Checked into The ISO- the room has a nice beachfront view, but there isn’t a real beach you can go to. Hiked the Sleeping Giant during golden hour and ate at Russel’s (really good vegan food) on the way back to the hotel.

Next morning drove to Princeville to check out Queen’s Bath (i’d skp) and kayak Hanalei River. The hike to Queen’s Bath is steep, muddy and slippery. To me that was fun. Though unless you want to hangout here for a while, I wouldn’t take the time out to visit.

We rented the kayak from Kayak Hanalei. Afterwards we ate Hanalei Poke and Wishing Well Shaved Ice, highly recommend these two spots.

Unfortunately, we could only get Haena State Park Passes for the 430p window so we decided to kill time at Tunnels Beach. Well, everyone had the same idea and we couldn’t find parking. We turned into a random street and found a beach access path in the neighborhood. We found a nice little beach that had only two other people situated far away. We practically had the beach to ourselves for 2hrs before other parties trickled in.

Got to Haena State Park and hiked to Hanakapiai Beach at a fast pace. The only people we had crossed were those that were returning.

We completed the hike just as the sun was setting.

Checked out The ISO the next day, grabbed a bite at a cafe called Java Kai then drove westward to Waimea Canyon around noon and checked in to Kiahuna Plantation in Poipu.

Definitely go to Waimea Canyon in the morning because the fog covered a bunch of the views by the time we got there.

On the drive back to Kiahuna Plantation we stopped by a spot called Red Dirt Waterfall. The area seemed straight out of Mars. We ended up talking to some local hunters who generously offered us some goat (sadly had to turn them down). A couple of them worked in a power plant in the area when they were younger. Right across the waterfall offers another amazing view at the Waimea Canyon. For dinner, we stopped by a restaurant called by Da Booze Shop. Despite the name, there isn’t any alcohol (or tobacco) in the property (you can learn the background of the name when you visit). Instead they have delicious food. We ordered mahi katsu and furikake fries, and let me tell you, that mahi katsu hit.

We had an early day the next morning to do a raft tour of the Na Pali Coast. We saw spinner dolphins, sea turtles, snorkeled at a private beach, learned some movie trivia and had an amazing view of the Na Pali Coast. We went with Kauai Sea Tours and highly recommend them.

We didn’t do much the next day as we were exhausted. We checked out of Kiahuna Plantation and did a quick food tour for breakfast before flying out to Honolulu. We ate poke from Kauai Poke Co.Food Truck (no longer a food truck but have their own restaurant!); loco moco from Kiawe Roots (closed as of 2025); and washed it all down with saimin and lilikoi chiffon pie at Hamura Saimin.

This was our first time in Kauai and it definite became our favorite island.

Redemption Item	Cash Price	Points Used	CPP
SAN>LIH (used Companion Pass)	$129.00	8,630 Rapid Rewards	1.4948
2 nights The ISO	$516.68	67,700 ANA	0.7632
2 nights Castle Kiahuna Plantation	$658.24	89,200 ANA	0.7379