For our 25th anniversary, my wife & I visited the islands last month, for the 1st time. After a LOT of research, we picked Kauai, and stayed at the Grand Hyatt. I’m fully convinced that we absolutely made the best choice. With no big cities, countless breathtaking views, friendly people and plenty to do, Kauai is the perfect blend of nature and civilization. And the Grand Hyatt was a fantastic hotel, with 5 restaurants, lush gardens and ponds, beautiful birds and fish, pools, and genuinely happy people. It’s perfectly located by Shipwreck beach and the scenic Mahaulepu Heritage trail. Poipu beach is also just a mile away, where we saw tons of colorful fish, sleeping seals and green sea turtles at dusk. I’d also highly recommend an open door helicopter tour of Waimea Canyon with Airborne Aviation. (They also have closed door, but open wasn’t scary at all. It was a smooth ride and we got fantastic pictures.) Also try the dinner boat tour along the Napali coast with Blue Dolphin charters (appropriately named, because we saw plenty of dolphins swimming and jumping alongside the boat.) Kauai really is the happiest place on earth!
My wife and I have visited Kauai on several occasions. We enjoy staying on the east coast due to the centralized location. We can plan our outings based upon the weather. Our favorite place to stay on the Royal Coconut Coast has been the Aston Islander on the Beach. It is welcoming and comfortable, service is provided with genuine Aloha, and there is great walkability to a variety of shops and farmers a market twice a week.
We stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Feb for 7 nights such a beautiful and lush resort! Their signature restaurant Tidepools was our favorite meal of the week. Imagine eating dinner at sunset above a lagoon filled with koi. Pro tip-If you book Grand Hyatt choose a room in a building close to the pool and lobby. Our room was located in one of the outer wings and it's a loooonnnnnng walk to the pools!
We stayed at the condos at Princeville in 2019. It was really nice and great! It was a decent drive to Poipu and Waimea, but the lush tropical environment and mountains were great!
Went last year for the first time and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn I felt the island is small enough that a drive anywhere on the island didn't seem bad at all. I gotta say Hanalei Bay is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been lucky enough to see, I routinely day dream about being there last October!
If you're gonna stay on the east coast, I recommend south of the Wailua River, especially if you have an early flight, as there is a section of road between The ISO and the river that's ALWAYS jam packed with traffic. It once took us half an hour to drive half a mile, and we ended up having to tank gas, and on our last day we almost missed our flight because that same section of road was jammed southbound. We didn't have problems with traffic anywhere else, except that ONE section going southbound.
Went to Kauai in May this year and stayed at Hilton Garden Inn. It was wonderful! We visited the whole island and Kapaa was the perfect distance from driving to the north and to the south/west.
@@TheHawaiiVacationGuide stayed in Ocotber of 2021. Rooms were pretty dated and a tad small but were clean and comfortable with a great view of the ocean and they even provided loungers just outside our glass sliding door which I loved!
Hi, thanks again for another informative video. We stayed at the Waimea Plantation cottages about 6 yrs ago. We chose this location for the proximity to the grand canyon of the pacific and the napali coast. The cottages are really cool and private. The beaches are red from being fed from the Waimea River and not recommended for swimming. Good times 🤙
I stayed at the Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach Resort. It was convenient to reach both the north shore and the west shore. Agree, not great to swim. The current pushed you down the shore, and became difficult to swim against. The town seemed to close up early as well.
I love all your contents on everything in Hawaii. I have been a long time subscriber & have always recommend my friends and will keep doing so to check your youtube and websites for great infos. Hoping to see you and Erica break 100K subscriber as well.
Thanks so much Vin for sticking with us and recommending us! It felt nice to hit 75k this last week and 10 million views. Vanity metrics but fun to track.
My family and I stayed at the Plantation Suites Hotel in Kapaa. Was very affordable and it being east side gave us a shorter drive when we wanted to bounce between north and south shore. No crazy amenities but only a three minute walk from the beach. All in all we had an amazing time and are already planning a trip back. Big shout out to Hawaii Vacation Guides for giving us an idea of what to see and do. Mahalo.
@@TheHawaiiVacationGuide We decided to stay In Kapa’a, at Waipouli. By the time we booked our trip (late June) many of our first choice accommodations were booked. We also thought Kapa’a would be potentially ideal-being centrally located between much of the attractions we have scheduled/want to hit, and maybe cut down on some travel time for us. At the end of the day, we are there for the experiences and as long as we have a clean bed to sleep in and a car to get us around-the rest will be fabulous! We are celebrating 21 years married while we are there! Im looking forward to hiking the island the most of all we have planned!
You picked a great location to get around the island! Kapa'a also has great coffee shops, food trucks, and local restaurants. Congrats on 21 years married. Have a wonderful trip!
She isn't doing great as she is having a hard time walking. She is still spunky around the house and still doesn't mind a short adventure. thanks for asking!
No travel restrictions for domestic travelers! Have a great trip. Check out our Christmas planning article for helpful info: thehawaiivacationguide.com/hawaii-christmas-vacation-planning/
I'm going to Kauai for the first time in late January 2025. Would you recommend Poipu or Kapaa for someone wanting sunshine, sunrises/sunsets, and proximity to nature areas? Thanks for the super helpful tips!
I'd recommend Poipu. You will most likely have better weather and beach time. See our article for details: thehawaiivacationguide.com/things-to-do-in-poipu/
Hey guys hope you doing well with family, we love your videos and we’re planning to come back to Maui next year and we need some help from you. Any advice where to stay 😊
Can you tell me if the Sheraton Kauai Resort has ocean views or is that only the Villas across the street? They describe a room as “oceanfront view”, but that’s not quite the same as ocean view. Love your videos. Have watched so many while planning a trip to Kauai.
that is tricky wording! Their regular sized rooms are on the ocean side of the road so you can get on the ocean views. The villas or rooms across the road (mauka) will only have partial ocean views.
Hey HVC! My wife and I love your videos and we're headed to Kauai in a couple of weeks! However, we both, me especially are super anxious and nervous about flying. We are going from the Bay direct Hawaiian airlines on an A321Neo. Any tips for fear of flying? We have been there before but it's been a few years and just getting super nervous/scared (excited too! but about 80/20 percentage) Also, how can I persuade my almost 80 year old parents to visit Hawaii? They're pretty set in their ways but I wanted to surprise them with a trip next year. Mahalo and thanks for all your videos and continued success and health to you and yours!
Aloha Michael, enjoy the trip to Kauai! I am afraid I don't have tips for flying. Best of luck! Try to focus on the vacation ahead. Send your parents some videos to watch!
We love the Koloa Landing Resort for the laidback vibe and their pools. Your toddler will love the pool and walk to Kiahuna or Poipu Beach. thehawaiivacationguide.com/stay/koloa-landing-resort-review/ The Grand Hyatt has a great kids pool too but Shipwreck Beach has a rough break.
Would you say that Poipu is the best area to stay for calmest Beach to snorkel or wade in? If so, which resort would be your choice in Poipu? I would really prefer a nice resort on the beach too. Thank you!
Poipu is your best option in our opinion. We like the Sheraton for the beach out front and the location. See the link in the description to look at it!
@@TheHawaiiVacationGuide Thanks! I booked at the Sheraton Kauai Resort Villas. I'm not sure if they are the same property as the Sheraton Kauai Resort???
Kapaa is close but not a safe walk (edge of busy road). The public bus is limited but check their routes. Uber and taxis are available or do guided tours. We recommend a car rental for Kauai.