Vacation on Kauai, but looking into an AirB&B?

[ginmqi]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

January is often very very rainy on Kauai. Just saying.

Indeed. IIRC, one of the guidebooks said that Mt. Waialeale is one of the wettest places on Earth....something like avg of >450 inches of rain PER YEAR!

Seems like the west side is more dry.

Originally Posted by Kayekaye

We've stayed here
Hale Kua - Kauai Bed and Breakfast - Kauai South Shore Accommodations, minutes from Poipu Beach
It was very nice, up in the mountains a bit. Very private.

Thanks a TON for that nice suggestion.

I'm likely booking tomorrow (when my Hawaiian Airlines credit card finally comes in the mail....) and basically I'm trying to stay at a fairly middle-ish location where I can equally access the North sites as well as the South/West (Waimea canyon) sights as well. So been looking at Lihue/Kapaa region and some southern region (Koloa/Poipu) area that's not too far south/west either.

Unfortunately winter waves is making the Na Pali coast ocean kayak trip not possible (absolutely looks like a dream adventure). We're likely gonna hike part of the way...but will definitely do a boat tour down the Na Pali coast...and one company even cruises out to part of Niihau, legally I believe, as well for an all day cruise/snorkel trip.

And the southern region has access to Waimea canyon with all its splendor.

The other big thing is Wailua river kayaking...and likely more kayaking on the other rivers as well.

Having such a nice BnB run by passionate owners is great and the included breakfast would be nice too.

Each type of accomodation has its own plus and negatives:
Hotel - lots of amenities/things to do, easy access to restaurants on site and most have easy beach access, down side is cost and resort fees.

AirBnB/VRBO/HomeEscape/Vacation rentals - more unique/large places, you don't have to battle/clog through huge parking areas/lobbies, customized/local feel if owners are dedicated. May be remote, and will need to DIY for food. Support for local/small businesses.

B&Bs - somewhat of a combo of the two above, more housekeeping/amenities on sight, breakfast is very nice, but still smaller and more cozy feeling. And of course support local/small businesses.

I'm leaning towards an AirBnB that fits many criteria and will update when I finally decide!!!

[peta2013]

Originally Posted by ginmqi

I'm likely booking tomorrow (when my Hawaiian Airlines credit card finally comes in the mail....)

Slightly off topic. Is that a decent card? Keep thinking about changing out of my Delta card now that I’m not on the east coast

[ginmqi]

Originally Posted by peta2013

Slightly off topic. Is that a decent card? Keep thinking about changing out of my Delta card now that I’m not on the east coast

For me it's a great value since I'm currently living/working on Oahu and I make jaunts over to the neighboring islands fairly frequently and the minimum spend is easy to meet and I get perks like a checked bag free if I buy using the card from HA's website directly. Also get a 50% off companion pass HA-mainland ticket as well IIRC.

Though if I wasn't living or traveling on HA that often, I would not have gotten it. I do play a bit of the credit card bonus game and so far have loved the Chase cards (Sapphire Preferred/Reserve, Ink Business, ....might get the southwest card soon as they start Hawaii service), though Barclay (which this HA card is from) cards aint bad and I've had several of theirs as well.

You may know this already, but flyertalk and reddit's r/churning communities have a wealth of information loaded with very nice info on best value miles/points cards!

[ginmqi]

Small update: stayed in an airbnb near south side of Kapaa. Location is great as it was withing walking to beach and to a Long's Drugs (super convenient, as we were able to make breakfast with light groceries and save time/money in the mornings).

Fairly equal distant to the North and West/south side. Bit of a drive up Waimea Canyon as well as all the way up north, which are expected. Lots of water falls to see on the east side and did some nice kayaking as well.

Price was definitely very reasonable and the furnishings were nice and the unit included beach chairs, snorkel gear, beach mats, and two boogie boards.

There are budget hotels in the area after I called around in the Lihue area, most quoted about $110-150 per night. And the nicer resorts/big chains generally will run close to $200 or higher it seems for my time staying there over Thanksgiving (Hilton Garden Inn, Grand Hyatt, Mariott, St Regis up north). We mostly were out of our room during the day so I didn't spring for those rooms but they definitely would have lot of convenient restaurants/beach and more on-site to do.

We did a Na Pali coast boat tour but the winter swells were killer. I rode at the bow and it was like a roller coaster with sea spray. Fairly raininy/foggy so the view wasn't best. Many boating companies stop going out from the north side in the winter due to swells, and in the winter a bunch still leave out of the south and go up north. We saw dolphins, 2 humback whales! (not super active, saw them blowing and gently tail coming out of the water), nice sea birds and snorkel was alright with turtles though the bay we stopped had rougher surf.

We actually were supposed to go to waters near Niihau and snorkel at Lehua but due to the size of the swell, captain said he wasn't going to do open ocean channel in these swells. WE did get a nice partial refund and had more time relaxed cruising on way back. Food was mediocre.

If you're going in the summer deefinitely do a boat tour come from the North shore (and if you can physically able, you can do ocean kayaking from the north on down the na pali coast....)

Winter is great for whales in most Hawaiian islands from the boat crew. One of them said January is super active for whales in Kauai waters.

All in all, 4 days is BARELY enough to have time and energy to do all that's offered in Kauai. My advice is try not to cram too much into each day as it can get exhausting

[JeanieCoyle]

All great information. Thank you for this.