Today we did one of my favorite activities in the state, a helicopter trip around Kauai. Kauai is one of the most amazing places to do a helicopter ride on the planet. I think one of the reasons is because there is so much that you can see on Kauai from the vantage point of a helicopter that is simply impossible to view any other way. The roads on Kauai do not make it all the way around the island. For the most part the highways are on the edges of the island near the ocean and there is very little infrastructure in the interior of the island. This leaves a 17 mile long stretch of coastline (known as the Napali Coast) on the north west side of the island inaccessible with a car...… (more info)
Yesterday we took advantage of the flat summer ocean conditions on the North and West sides of Kauai and scheduled a trip up the Napali Coast with Captain Chris and the Napali Riders. I got to the shop a little early and Captain Chris explained a couple reasons clients return to his company year after year. First he told me all about his boat. It is a 30ft boat that smoothes out the trade wind swell very efficiently (compared to the other boats Chris has previously owned). The boat was manufactured by Zodiac, and has a inflatable surround attached to a rigid hull.… (more info)
I remember for my 12th birthday, the only thing I wanted to do was get certified to go SCUBA Diving (12 is the minimum age you can be to get certified). It was not too long after when I finished all of the class work and got to go under the water and experience what it was like to "breathe like a fish". For me SCUBA diving was something that after doing once, I was hooked. A few years later when I started working, the first job I ever got was being a... … (more info)
Today I got to take my Mom to see something very special....We got to go to the "Forbidden" island of Ni'ihau. We met the boat down at the Port Allen Harbor very early in the morning. It wasn't too long after we departed that we began to pass Polihale Beach. This 17 mile stretch of sand was immense, but it was dwarfed by the 3000+ foot tall sea cliffs of the Napali Coast....
This year my girlfriend Simone and I decided that we were going to celebrate Valentines days a little bit differently then we have in the past. We decided that we were going to go up to the North Shore of Kauai and try out the ziplines at the Princeville Ranch...
Throughout my life I have had many opportunities to experience helicopter flights around Hawaii. I have been on helicopters on all of the major islands, so I feel that I can legitimately say that the flights on Kauai pack more into them then they do anywhere else in Hawaii. Throughout the entire flight we were constantly seeing new things around each and every corner. The excitement never stopped (or was even subdued) throughout the whole flight. The girl next to me... … (more info)
Today we did something that I've wanted to do for a while, we went on the "Movie Tour" with Polynesian Adventure Tours. The movie tours' concept is simple, they have a TV screen in the bus that plays a movie they edited together. The movie contains scenes from many different movies that have been filmed on Kauai. Our driver TC stopped and started the movie between his narrations to coincide with our location throughout the tour. It was a pretty cool... … (more info)
Today we did something very unique, that I have never done before in the Hawaiian Islands (or anywhere else for that matter). We went fishing for Peacock Bass. We fished in the Waita reservoir above Koloa town, which is the largest reservoir in the state of Hawaii. Peacock Bass are a type of bass that are from South America that live in very warm water. Because of the Peacock Bass’ preference for a warm climate they are not found in the United States except for...… (more info)
Before we even got to the ranch I knew that we were in for a special experience. The ride that we had scheduled for the day was at Silver Falls Ranch, which is located deep in the jungle, on the north side of Kauai. We had just had some rain the night before our ride; all the foliage seemed like it had become a brighter shade of green then it was the previous day. We turned off of the highway right before the Kalihiwai bridge on Kahiliholo road. After we had passed...… (more info)
When I woke up this morning and looked out the window, I couldn’t help but smile when I saw that it was an absolutely classic sunny Hawaiian day outside. I put on my long pants, socks and shoes, then made a quick breakfast before I left to go on the waterfall ride with Princeville Ranch Stables. I knew that there was going to be some sort of mountaineering that was involved in the days trip, so I was pretty excited...
Travel Blog - Articles #90 to #99
