Hawaii: Paradise found for the mind and body on Kauai’s north shore

Accommodations

Each of the Hawaiian Island’s has it’s own distinct personality. Kauai, the oldest of the Island chain has the benefit of centuries of fertile soil, vegetation and tectonic action, transforming its northern shore into the prehistoric backdrop recognizable from Jurassic Park. Having visited Kauai before, my husband and I knew, without a doubt, that the north shore was where we wanted to spend our time. With no set budget in mind, we went all out and booked 4 nights at the Princeville St. Regis. While definitely a luxurious option, depending on time of year, this St. Regis often offers rates under $500, definitely worthy of the view; often cited as the best sunset view in Kauai.

Food and Beverage

The north shore is a good hour’s drive from the Kauai airport, and we didn’t want to wait that long to get our first taste of paradise; thankfully Costco is just around the corner from the airport! Sounds a bit counter intuitive to go to a large, national chain to get local fare but when it comes to yummy poke, Costco delivers. We also wanted to stock up on reasonably priced wine for the week. Thank you Costco for our first evening meal of poke, seaweed salad, shrimp cocktail and of course, Maui onion flavored potato chips! And thank you St. Regis for providing the bubbles to match. Future Poke cravings were overwhelmingly satisfied by the inexpensive, wide selection at the Princeville Foodland.

Kauai Costco’s finest

The St. Regis also delivered on my favorite morning delight, espresso. The in-room illy espresso machine literally changed the way I viewed pod-based espresso. For months I have been trying to force myself to pretend that Nespresso is a viable substitute for barista-prepared espresso with no success. This illy coffee, on the other hand, is top notch. My very observant husband saw the enjoyment in my eyes and proceeded to buy me the same machine for my birthday a month later.

Morning view (with espresso)

Hanalei (10 minutes from the hotel) offers a wide range of culinary delights. Our go-to favorite for a night out is Bar Acuda, owned by San Francisco chef transplant, Jim Moffat. Reservations recommended. On the other end of the spectrum, check out local tasty taro-based delights such as taro hummus alongside Hawaiian classics at Hanalei Taro & Juice Company‘s food truck.

Savory salad at Bar Acuda

Activities

No coach potatoes wanted on this vacation, regardless of what my husband may say, so we were sure to mix beach relaxation time with physical excursions. Yoga is one of my favorite ways to relax so I was very pleased to find Yoga Hanalei, a yoga studio in downtown Hanalei that offers a traveler’s package (3 sessions and a mat for $40). The 1.5 hour class was my husband’s first yogi experience, but our teacher was very patient and helped ease him into the practice. The post yoga juice definitely helped with his recovery.

Building on our theme of core-inspiring “lifetime sports” we decided to invest in stand up paddle board (SUP) lessons. Hawaiian Surfing Adventures provided board rentals, rash guards and stellar instruction. After 45 minutes we had graduated from the lazy river and were able to take our chances in the ocean break. All parties escaped without injury and I look forward to continuing my training on future vacations.

Finally, the absolute must do of any trip to Kauai is the Napoli coast hike. We have done the waterfall hike twice and it truly is breathtaking. Note of caution that you need to be in decent shape: agile enough to ford streams by climbing over large rocks, and strong enough to carry lots of water. The eight mile round trip hike takes a good seven to eight hours (must account for time spent swimming in the waterfall).

Another, less daunting option is to take the trail 2-miles in to a secluded beach and relax there. Whichever option you choose, be sure to leave early as the final 2-mile stretch back in the late afternoon has little shade and can get very hot. Both times we have underestimated the amount of water we needed to bring, as it is hard to prepare for how thirsty you will be for those last two miles. For the extremely adventurous, you can take the full Kalalau Trail all 11 miles from Ke’e Beach to Kalalau Beach which typically requires a night of camping. This corner of the island is so treacherous that there is no road to connect, only this trail. If that’s not your cup of tea, you can experience the trail via the horror movie A Perfect Getaway.

Post hike hydration

Post hike relaxation

On our “off day” we enjoyed snorkeling off the shore of the well-kept beach, napping in lounge chairs and partaking in a complimentary ukulele lesson in the St. Regis lobby. Little did I know that this free lesson would lead to the purchase of a ukulele from the charming Hanalei Music Strings & Things and countless nights of listening to the same 4 chord song played over and over again.

“Ukie”

Wrap Up

We left the trip feeling refreshed and pampered, exactly what we wanted. I’m not convinced my husband will be trading in his ukulele for a yoga mat anytime soon, but that’s OK, we are allowed to have different interests!