Our Favorite Kauai Resort

Location, comfy beds, spacious living area, free WiFi/parking, & kitchen.

• Price: $160-$455 nightly, rates change seasonally
• Occupancy: 4-6 people
• Bed/Bath: 1:1 & 2:2 available
• Comfort: Very comfortable and spacious
• Highlights: Mountain views and perfect location

At the Cliffs Resort in Princeville, enjoy complimentary classes, the fancy pool area, a spacious living space, and wake up to gorgeous mountain views from your dining table.

We stayed at several resorts in Kauai and we enjoyed our stay at The Cliffs at Princeville the most. With our adventurous spirits, we felt this resort perfectly fit our needs and was in the best location for us to get out and adventure during the day!

Our initial reaction when entering our rental at The Cliffs, was WOW! It by far exceeded our expectations. We had soooo much space, way more space than we required for just 4 people. We rented a unit with 1 master bedroom (king bed) with is own full bathroom and 1 loft (with 2 queen beds) with an additional full bath on the main floor off the living room. It can fit 6 people total. The beds were all very comfy with soft sheets and the living space and furniture was all very comfortable as well.

The kitchen was updated and fully equipped with all the tools, appliances, utensils, and glassware we could possibly need to make and enjoy a great meal. One thing we really appreciated about our rental, was how clean and immaculate everything was. The staff at the concierge desk were super friendly and helpful. We really had no complaints and all good things to say about our rental at The Cliffs.

We had a few rainy mornings and we especially enjoyed our beautiful mountain views from our balcony. We enjoyed the fresh air, rain, and our waterfall mountain view while eating breakfast each morning. By the time we were finished with breakfast, the rain had stopped and we were ready to have some fun!

Our rental at The Cliffs at Princeville came with all the beach gear we could wish for. Two beach umbrellas, 4 beach chairs, 2 boogie boards, 2 sets of snorkel gear, the list goes on and on. No need to rent any gear while we were there. We kept all the beach gear in our car just in case we ever needed it and it definitely saved the day a few times.

The Cliffs at Princeville is located right in the middle of all the hikes and beach locations we planned to visit. We could walk to Queens Bath, Turtle Cave, and see turtles right off the beach at the resort. There isn’t a lot of parking at these popular spots so we loved staying close enough to be able to easily walk to them.

There are also several areas at the resort that overlook the ocean with a hammock, chairs, and gazebo where we could go and enjoy the ocean views.

After a day adventuring, we often arrived home with mud or sand covering our shoes. The pool area is open until 10pm each night, late enough for us to go straight to the pool to rinse off in the pool shower. We also took time to enjoy the pools with the cute waterfalls and warm up in the hot tubs. Having an adults only pool area was a plus since we were wanting a quiet relaxing pool break.

Before bed, we ran our laundry in the unit so we would have fresh clothes to wear for our adventures each day. Our rental provided us with several choices of laundry soap to choose from.
Overall, we really enjoyed our stay at The Cliffs at Princeville and we will definitely be back to stay again!

Sailing the Nāpali Coast

The Nāpali Coast is magical. Easily the most breathtaking boat tour ever.

• Duration: 7 Hours
• Price: $215.00
• Wow Factor: Off the Charts
• Essentials to Bring: GoPro, Sunglasses, Hat, Dromamine
• Highlights: Amazing staff (Capt. Drew and Kama were the best), Snorkeling at “Forbidden Island” of Niihau. Spectacular views of the Napali Coast

Holo Holo Charters was an experience like no other. Captain Drew entertains the crowd and has the perfect soundtrack for every phase of the journey. The cliffs of the Napali are jaw dropping. And if you’re lucky you will snorkel with monk seals!

The Holo Holo Charters Niihau and Na’Pali Super Tour was Breathtaking!

Here’s the run down. We started the tour off at 6:30 a.m. and got to know Captain Drew and the crew. The boat was a catamaran built special to tour Kauai and cross the channel to the Forbidden Island of Niihau. There was tons of space on the boat to move about and enjoy the views. Also, we loved that Holo Holo Charters was super considerate of the reefs and environment and provided everyone onboard with eco/reef friendly sunscreen! Be sure to take your dramamine or motion sickness medicine the night before and in the morning, to ensure that you have the best time! Holo Holo Charters also provided ginger drops and ginger ale to help everyone not get sea sick and keep having a great time.

The tour started with a delicious breakfast with fruit, cinnamon rolls, and croissants as we crossed the channel to Niihau. As we watched the Kauai island disappear we got closer to the island of Niihau. This island is private and inhabited by Hawaiian islanders preserving the Hawaiian culture and language. Captain Drew anchored the boat at the mouth of an amazing sea cave where we had one hour to snorkel. This place was the perfect snorkel spot with tons of fish, sea turtles, and even a curious monk seal that we got to swim with. The visibility was around 70-100 feet which made for some excellent snorkeling. HUGE PLUS, if you are not a strong swimmer, the crew brings pool noodles for you to float on while snorkeling, and of course masks, snorkels, fins, and mask defogger were provided! Another thing that we appreciated was the crew member Kama was patrolling on his paddle board making sure everyone was staying far enough away from the rocks and out of harms way. Once you were finished snorkeling, the bar was opened and beverages including beer and wine were served.

The way back across the channel was bound to be a little choppy, but Captain Drew had the most perfect play list to get everybody singing and laughing while we got splashed by the waves. This was honestly one of the best parts of the trip. If you didn’t want to get wet, you had the option to stay inside the cabin. The crew was amazing and they helped anybody that needed a hand while walking and they showed off their sea legs.

Once we crossed the channel we headed up the Na’Pali Coast as we ate lunch…which was delicious. Sandwiches, with tons of meats, cheeses, and veggies…including sprouts and hummus. Also, there was pasta salad and cookies. We quickly ate lunch and enjoyed the scenic views of the Na’Pali coast on the front of the boat. This coast will give you the chills. There is nothing quite like the Na’Pali Coast and you will regret not seeing it from the sea. No picture can do it justice, you just have to see it with your own eyes. While we were traveling up the coast we saw a pod of Spinner Dolphins which made the coast even more magical. Once we reached the top of the Na’Pali Coastline, we got closer to the shore, slowed down and started heading back past the Na’Pali Coast, cause the only thing better than seeing the Na’Pali Coast is seeing it twice. Words can’t explain how amazing it was. If you don’t do anything else in Kauai, make sure to visit the Na’Pali Coast.

This tour was a 10 out of 10 and everything we could have hoped it to be. The guides were uber friendly and treated us like family. The boat ride was very entertaining and the sights were unreal. When visiting Kauai you have to take a boat to the Na’Pali Coast, Holo Holo Charters is highly recommended!

Get Off-Road in Kauai

Kauai’s best ATV adventure + ziplining, and swimming in a waterfall!

• Duration: 4 Hours
• Difficulty: Easy
• Wow Factor: Super Fun
• Essentials to Bring: Mud clothes, Closed toed shoes
• Highlights: Off-roading through the big puddles!

Princeville Ranch gave us a Kauai experience with the adrenaline and adventure we crave! We went off-roading, flew down the zipline, and jumped into the waterfall for a nice swim.

The Princeville Ranch 4X4 Off-Road Adventure is one of the best adventure tours in Kauai. We had a blast driving through the countryside hitting mud puddles and zip lining above the trees. Because it rains so often in Kauai, off-roading is the perfect activity if you want to get a little muddy and explore the island. We started out our expedition with a safety overview by Josh and Jestin (Yes, Jestin not Justin). Safety First 🙂 They gave us face socks, helmets, and bad ass goggles to wear so we were all set for some epic pictures!

We were ready for some fun in our 4X4! We cruised around for about 10 miles driving through scenic backcountry, going up and down hills, making tight turns, and destroying mud puddles…a lot of mud puddles. We asked our guide Josh to get us extra wet and muddy and he delivered for sure. We were laughing and yelling the whole time, this was awesome footage for the GoPro.

Halfway through the ATV tour, we stopped to hike to the zip-lines. Nothing like a little more adrenaline. The harnesses were super safe, like safer than any zip-line tour we’ve been on. We did two zip-lines and then made our way to the waterfall swimming hole. Here we got to jump from a 10’ platform into the refreshing water. Tubes were available if you wanted to just relax in the water. After swimming we enjoyed a really good lunch which included sandwiches (with a lot of meat, cheese, and sprouts), chips, and cookies. We let them know ahead of time that we eat gluten free and they were very accommodating!

After we washed off and finished lunch, we hopped back into the ATV’s to splash back to the ranch. Here we got to spray the mud off our clothes and shoes. Princeville Ranch made for such a fun day and it was a great place for all these adventurous activities!

Hike the Nāpali Coast

This is the most beautiful coastline you will ever hike!

• Duration: 8 Hours
• Difficulty: Custom to your skill level
• Wow Factor: Very High
• Essentials to Bring: Camelback/water, lunch, camera
• Highlights: Incredible views and knowledge from our guide

Kauai Hiking Tours custom chose a fantastic hike for us that we will never forget! We are still dreaming of those stunningly beautiful views. Hiking with a guide made our experience unparalleled!

If you have a lot of experience hiking, then you know it’s ALWAYS better with a guide. Our Kauai Hiking Tours guide was Jeremiah, he was so prepared and knowledgeable and it made our hike of the Na’Pali Coast so much more enjoyable, relaxed, and totally rad. Jeremiah came prepared with enough hiking poles and jackets for everyone, just in case anyone forgot theirs or wanted them. He also carried a first-aid kit and is a certified Wilderness First Responder, which is great if you’re doing some serious hiking.

We met up with Jeremiah at 7:30am at a little coffee shop, where our group was able to order coffee or breakfast before our big day.

First Jeremiah went over the area and where we would be hiking on the map. Since this was the first day of our first trip to Kauai and we were unfamiliar with the island, we really appreciated this review before the hike. It gave us a better idea of where we were headed and what to expect.

Next, we were off to have some fun! We jumped into Jeremiah’s ride and headed up Waimea Canyon. On the way up, he took us to a little stop we like to call the chocolate river. It looked like a chocolate river and waterfall and was a great contrast to the lush greenery we experienced the rest of the day. We had some time to run around it and take some great pictures.

Now for the main attraction of our day! Jeremiah took us to the Na Pali Coast Cliff Top Hike. We asked for the best hike and boy did Jeremiah deliver! This hike is the real deal and should only be attempted by those with hiking experience. It is about 6.5 miles round trip. The way there is mostly downhill and the way back is mostly uphill. Thats a lot of miles uphill so make sure you’re prepared, better yet go with Jeremiah and he’ll keep you entertained all the way up and you wont even realize how steep it is!

On our hike, Jeremiah picked strawberry guava and pineapple guava for us to eat. If we had gone by ourselves we wouldn’t have known which plants were poisonous or edible and we would have missed out on these delicious fruits. Soooo good! We also stopped periodically to use his bird call to attract some of the native birds to come join us and we were able to get a few cute birds native to Kauai to come down to sing to us. Jeremiah literally knew the names of every single plant we passed and whether it was native to Kauai or what country it came from. He was the most knowledgeable hiking guide we have ever had! This guy is the king of Kauai hiking guides!

At the final destination of the hike, there is a ridge you can walk out a ways on that falls steep on both sides. The view you get from here is just mesmerizing. This was truly the highlight of our trip to Kauai. We’ll be dreaming of those views for a long time.

At the end of our hike, we reached the parking lot and Jeremiah had cold organic kombucha waiting for us in the car. Even better, he also cut open a coconut island style with a machete and we drank the milk and ate the coconut inside. Such a great way to end our hike.

Just when we thought our tour was over, Jeremiah had one more surprise for us. He took us to a secret lookout spot to see Waipo’o Falls. This is the most stunning view of the canyon and the waterfall that we saw in all our trips up the canyon. This view was just incredible and we were able to spend some time there enjoying it. Since this is a secret lookout we were the only ones there, with only the sound of wind blowing through the trees. Props to Jeremiah for knowing exactly what kind of adventure we were looking for. We’re sworn to secrecy about getting to this lookout, but we know an excellent guide who will be happy to take you there!

We can’t wait for our next trip to Kauai and to do another hike with Kauai Hiking Tours!

Horseback Riding Kauai

There is no better place to horseback ride Kauai than the South shore.

• Duration: 2 Hours
• Difficulty: Easy
• Wow Factor: Very High
• Essentials to Bring: Closed toe shoes, hat
• Highlights: The super fun, yet relaxing ride with our horses Dude and Stoli, and absolutely stunning views. Such a fun way to experience beautiful Kauai!

CJM Stables was such a serene way to experience Kauai. We loved our horses and had the best ride along the coast and meadows, with amazing views of the mountains! Our horses were so well behaved and we could tell they really take care of them.

We loved our time horse riding with CJM Stables! Right when we arrived, we were greeted by Marti who checked us in and went over all our questions. We also watched their safety video. It explained all the safety points we needed to know as well as details about how to turn, stop, etc. It was a great refresher for those of us who hadn’t ridden in a while 🙂 Marti then paired us with horses based off our size and riding experience. Our group ranged from beginner to expert.

We got to ride Dude and Stoli and they were great horses! Both of us have ridden at a few different places, and we agreed these were the most kept and trained horses we have ever ridden. We were very impressed. They were groomed perfectly and were just impressive animals. Stoli also has some medals as a rodeo roping horse.

Our guide was Robert, he was so nice and funny and is basically a horse expert. We could tell he really loved these animals.

We rode our horses in a line towards the beautiful mountains, we crossed a river, rode on the beach, went past the Makauwahi Cave, and crossed beautiful meadows of colorful wildflowers. The views even at the stables are incredible and we rode to even better views. This was such a great way to enjoy the beach and scenery of Kauai.

About half way through our ride, Robert served us some Orange Guava punch. He also took pictures of us along the way and at the end of our ride he sent them to us, which was so nice!

One thing we really loved about CJM Stables was that our riding group was very small, only 8 riders. This meant we got more attention from our guide and we never felt like we were way behind. We absolutely loved the stables and the location. CJM Stables is such a cute place and has so much land for these horses to enjoy. It’s also in the perfect location for us to see so many different beautiful sceneries. We loved how well groomed and mannered the horses are and just the overall care of them was very impressive.

We definitely feel this is the best place to horseback ride Kauai and will definitely be back!

Take a Custom Island Tour

Experience Kauai like a local…with a local. explore the whole island.

• Duration: 5-10 Hours
• Difficulty: Custom tour, as easy or hard as you choose
• Highlights: Waimea Canyon, beaches, and more
• Essentials to Bring: Snacks and camera

Kauai Tour Guy designed our day to match exactly what we wanted to see and where we wanted to go! We enjoyed driving around the island in comfort and seeing all the gorgeous views.

Are you visiting Kauai but don’t have a car and want to see Waimea Canyon? Did you book a cruise and only have one day to see the Na Pali Coast? Maybe you did rent a car but you don’t feel super comfortable driving through the canyon? Or maybe you just arrived in Kauai and you aren’t familiar with the area and aren’t sure where all the best places are?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the Kauai Tour Guy is for you!

This was our first visit to Kauai and we really weren’t familiar with all the places to see and we knew we could count on Doug to show us around. After we booked our tour, he asked us what we wanted out of the day, so that he could tailor the tour to match exactly what we wanted to see. Doug was so nice and accommodating. Since we were staying right on the way to where he was taking us for our tour, he came by and picked us up on on his way. We hopped into his SUV and we were on our way!

We made multiple stops all along the canyon and Doug took us to see the most amazing sights! If we ever wanted to make an unplanned stop, he was willing to pull over and let us take our time.

Some of the highlights include: Waimea Canyon, Koke’e State Park, a “chocolate river”, Cairn Garden, and several beautiful beaches.

Since his tours are tailored to each group, every tour is different depending on what you want to see, which we really appreciated.

Although our tour was several hours long, Doug entertained us all along the way. He was so welcoming, personable, and funny and really made for a great day. At one stop, we decided to walk down the trail a bit and even though this isn’t a hiking tour, he was happy to let us have our fun!

One thing we especially liked about this tour compared to some of the other ones available, is that its a small private tour. It was just our group and Doug. We liked that we weren’t in a huge tour bus with a million other people. Because it’s only a small group tour, it was easier to stop whenever we wanted and to change course, like when we got hungry for lunch for example 🙂 Doug also took some great photos of us along the way and we didn’t have ask any strangers to take our photo.

We highly recommend this tour, especially if you are wanting to see the stunning views of the canyon and don’t have a car or prefer not to drive, if you want a personalized tour, or if you only have one day to see the best of Kauai!