Aston Islander on the Beach

On Day 7, our first full day in Kaua’i, we woke up at dark o’clock to drive over to Eleele, where we boarded a catamaran for a seven-hour tour that would take us up the Na Pali Coast and to see Niihau Island. Neither of us is a morning person, but we fought our sleepiness and embarked on the boat, banking on the promise that we would see some of the most stunning views of the island of Kaua’i.

They were watching dolphins! — We came across a small raft, that happened to be dolphin watching!

spinner dolphin flipping about — Spinner dolphin flipping about.

swimming in pairs — Dolphins swimming right in front of our boat!

Super cute! — They were super cute! I don't think I've ever seen dolphins so up close!

cliffs along the Na Pali Coast — We sped up and soon approached the Na Pali Coast...

The Na Pali Coast — The beautiful Na Pali Coast

Looks like something from a movie. — Towering mountains over a lush valley.

You can only reach this area by boat — Steep mountains... this area of the Na Pali Coast is only accessible by boat or helicopter.

The Honopu Arch, where they filmed the movie Six Days Seven Nights

stunning... — More majestic views of the Na Pali Coast

Na Pali Coast against a blue sky — Na Pali Coast against a clear blue sky.

An amazing rock formation called The Keyhole.

a truly majestic view — Closeup of the natural bridge...

Dan and I at the Keyhole — The hubby and I by the Keyhole!

The catamaran parked itself near Niihau Island, where passengers got the opportunity to go snorkeling for an hour before lunch. Here are some nice underwater shots that Dan took while snorkeling!

snorkeling at Niihau — Fish in blue waters.

Here’s some video footage that Dan took with my camera while snorkeling…

catamaran drivers — The crew was super nice. Thank you Holo Holo Charters!

After snorkeling and lunch, it was time to head back to Kaua’i. The crew purposely gave us a very bumpy and exhilarating ride back! You can see more photos from the Na Pali Coast and Niihau Island in this photo album. If you are ever in Kaua’i and are considering a catamaran trip to see the Na Pali Coast, we really recommend Holo Holo Charters! They had top notch service and were really knowledgeable and skilled, and very personable, too! 🙂

When we got back to land, it was still the early afternoon, so we had plenty more things to do and places to see…

Jo Jo’s Shave Ice was strongly recommended as the best shaved ice in Kaua’i, so we stopped by while we were in Waimea.

strawberry+guava+melon — strawberry + guava + melon

Jo Jo’s Shave Ice was really good and was very refreshing, especially on a hot day! I personally still liked Waiola from Oahu better, but Jo Jo’s was definitely the best shaved ice we had in Kaua’i. (And we got shaved ice pretty much every day while we were on Kaua’i… haha* It was so hot there!)

A river running through the Kaua'i landscape.

After making our way through winding dirt roads for over half an hour, we finally reached our destination in Waimea: The Waimea Canyon!

arriving at Waimea Canyon Lookout — Arriving at Waimea Canyon Lookout

me taking in the view — On top of the world.

people at the lookout — People at the Waimea Canyon lookout

steep incline of the canyon — The pictures just don't do it justice!

clouds over the canyon — Clouds over the canyon.

Dan at the canyon — Hubby with the canyon in the background.

red dirt! — Dan was fascinated by the red dirt that could be found all over the island.

Dan got some fresh fruits. — We picked up some fresh fruits at this roadside vendor right before they closed up shop.

For dinner, we stopped at the Shrimp Station in Waimea. If you know how much I love shrimp, you can imagine how psyched I was to go here….

We got some coconut shrimp to go... — We wanted to try more, so we even got some coconut shrimp to go...

We then drove back to our hotel in Kapaa to kick back and relax for the rest of the evening.

Dan cut open this mystery fruit that he picked up at the roadside vendor. To this day, we’re still uncertain of what it’s called, but we were curious so we decided to try it out. To be honest, it was not very good…

Mystery fruit that was not so good... still don't know what it was. — Looks unappetizing... and did not taste very good, either.

Enjoying leftovers on our balcony. — Me enjoying some of our leftovers on our hotel balcony.

Dan eating on the balcony — The hubby eating... the coconut shrimp was delicious1

After waking up super early in the morning, we were totally pooped by the end of the day! We got to see so many amazing sights though, both along the Na Pali Coast and at Waimea Canyon — these are definite must-sees if you are ever in Kaua’i. 🙂

After spending our last full day in Oahu, we woke up early the next morning to get ready to drive down to Honolulu Airport to fly over to the neighboring island of Kaua’i. We were sad to leave Oahu, but were excited to see what was in store for us over at Kaua’i.

me at the Turtle Bay Resort — Our last morning at the Turtle Bay Resort.

the view from our hotel room — Saying goodbye to this beautiful view from our hotel room.

Dan with the parrot at Turtle Bay — Dan bidding the Turtle Bay parrot goodbye.

We stopped by the Paalaa Kai Bakery in Waialua (North Shore) to get some breakfast before we drove down to Honolulu Airport.

All the baked goodies — Lots of baked goodies at Paalaa Kai Bakery

azuki croissant for breakfast — Azuki croissant for breakfast... so yum!

waiting at Honolulu Airport — Waiting for our flight at Honolulu Airport.

The flight went very smoothly, and we arrived at Lihue Airport in Kaua’i in about an hour. 🙂

The skies clearing up — When we first arrived, there was a slight drizzle, but the skies quickly cleared up.

We stayed at the Aston Islander on the Beach in Kapaa while we were in Kaua’i. The hotel was close to the airport and right on the beach, which was really nice. 🙂

the balcony area — The balcony of our hotel room, overlooking the beach.

After checking in and getting all of our luggage settled in, we were hungry for lunch and made a beeline for Hamura’s Saimin Stand, which was recommended to us by a few of our friends. (Thank you Rumi, Bryan, and Dan’s coworker Jay!)

The famous Hamura's Saimin Stand. I'm ready to eat!!!

The wait was quite long... — The place was crowded and the wait quite long, but we stuck through it.

Saimin is a type of noodle soup that is unique to Hawaii, and is sort of a fusion of Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino traditional noodles. It’s made out of soft wheat egg noodles… I’d say that in Japanese noodles, it most closely resembles ramen, but the broth has a much more subtle and light flavor.

Dan got the special saimin — Dan got the Special Saimin.

I got the shrimp special — I got the Shrimp Special Saimin. It was very good!

We got a chicken skewer and beef skewer — We also ordered skewers of chicken and beef, which Hamura's is also known for.

A lot of people recommend the lilikoi chiffon pie, but we were too full at the time and decided against getting it. But if you ever get a chance to go there, apparently the pie is pretty darn good so give it a try! 😉

After driving around Lihue, we were starting to melt (it was a really hot day), so we stopped at Shaka Shave Ice (a random shaved ice place we found along the road) and got some shaved ice.

me melting — Me with my shaved ice. (lychee+watermelon+guava). It was definitely not as good as some of the places we went to in Oahu, but it was so hot that I was grateful for anything cold.

Oh, a funny side story: Some of our friends had strongly urged us to rent a convertible while we were in Kaua’i, insisting that the experience would be so much better if we were able to drive around the island with the top of the car down. Despite my persistent prodding to do so, Dan said it was too expensive and so we reserved an economy car instead when we booked our rentals a few months before the trip. But when we we got to the vehicle rental, the economy compact cars had been overbooked, so they upgraded us to a convertible with no extra charge! I got my convertible after all. 🙂

Dan with our "sweet ride." (JK... we quickly found that the Sebring was not as comfortable and convenient as we thought... It was still nice to drive around with the top down, though!)

For the rest of the afternoon, we returned to our hotel and spent a couple hours relaxing on the private beach at the hotel.

Waves crashing onto the shore — The private beach at Aston Islander on the Beach.

Dan wading — Dan walking into the water.

stepping into the water — There was no one else on the beach!

Dan back from snorkeling — Dan, who jumped at every chance to go snorkeling during the trip, busted out his snorkel gear and went exploring...

catching up on the gossip from the mainland — ...while I kicked back and caught up on the gossip from the mainland.

We eventually migrated over to the hotel pool, which was also pretty nice.

sitting by the pool — Relaxing after a dip in the pool.

After freshening up, we headed out to have dinner. We were pretty exhausted by this time, so we decided to go somewhere close and chose to eat in the local town of Kapaa. Being the carbnivore and pasta lover that I am, I selected Kauai Pasta as the dining place of our choice.

"What should I get?" — At Kauai Pasta: "What should I eat...?"

delicious antipasta platter! — Delicious antipasta platter: grilled portabella mushrooms, salami, fresh mozzarella, and tomatoes.

Greek pasta... also very good! — Greek Pasta: spaghetti tossed w/ Kalamata olives, feta cheese, capers, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh oregano & roasted garlic olive oil.

Dinner was very satisfying and was the perfect way to end the long day of traveling and familiarizing ourselves with Kaua’i. We only had three days left in Kaua’i, so we were determined to make the best of it! 😀

Honeymoon in Hawaii: Day 7

Honeymoon in Hawaii: Day 6