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.
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!
Here’s some video footage that Dan took with my camera while snorkeling…
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! π
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.
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!)
After making our way through winding dirt roads for over half an hour, we finally reached our destination in Waimea: The Waimea Canyon!
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 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…
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. π