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thesixweekseeker · 8 years ago

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Kauai: The Garden Isle (South Shore)

(January 2017)

I just wrapped up my time in Kauai and I could not have imagined a better place to spend the New Year and launch our January Six Week groups: A+++. We decided to start our Kauai adventure on the South Shore “the sunny side of the island” and had the good fortune to have Steve from Steve’s Taxis, who grabbed us from Lihue Airport on day one. He became our super helpful “hey – what’s the best place for…” guy over the next few days as he was taking us to/from excursions. (Side note on getting around in the South Shore: if you go over the holidays, and get quoted a ridiculous amount for car rentals like we did, using a taxi is totally do-able and you’ll likely come out positive vs the rental price.)

We picked Koloa Landing for our hotel option, and this turned out to be a great choice for the no-car situation. We were a five-minute walk to the beach and within easy walking distance to all of the little village centers. It was a large property with good pools, hot tubs, a practice putting green and the rooms are big and recently updated. The big winner for me was the washing and drying machines IN THE ROOM. Coming from 2.5 years of needing to schlep my laundry a few blocks to the wash and fold, I felt like a big time baller. If traveling to the area, especially if you don’t have kids (fine if you do – just less “kid crowded” than the other nearby hotels) this is a great option without breaking the bank.

Once lodging was situated, I of course needed to find and become friends with a local barista (me caffeinated = everyone benefits). I was excited to find my new local coffee shop in Koloa: Cortado Coffee Bar. I met the owner Schuyler, who decided to pack up life and relocate to Kauai (good choice) three years ago and set up this small fabulous coffee shop. There were several drinks on the menu that I wanted to try, but this cute bubbly girl in front me told me to get the CocoLoco since that’s what she had every morning for the past two weeks, and I of course wanted to be cool like her, so I got the CocoLoco… and proceeded to come back for that drink every morning during my time there. The CocoLoco included a delicious blend of espresso, cayenne, coconut milk, local raw honey and coffee ice cubes. For my Six Weekers, I’m now throwing in some cayenne with my coffee, coconut oil and cinnamon blend and it gives it a nice little kick. From someone who usually doesn’t like the kick – this is a big deal. Five stars to you Schulyer for making my morning java jolt fantastic!

Now that coffee was covered, I had a goal to eat fish tacos for every meal. Luckily I didn’t accomplish that goal, but I did find Savage Shrimp in the Kukulu'ula Village shopping center (just a few minutes’ walk from Cortado). It’s a little hole in the wall but please do yourself a favor and get one order of the Garlic Shrimp Tacos and one order of the Fish Tacos. The service is definitely on Hawaiian time, but well worth the wait brah. Another winner for fish tacos was Duke’s in Lihue, which also happens to serve a gigantic complimentary macadamia nut ice cream chocolate something for birthdays, so they clearly won my heart. (This happened in between Six Week programs so don’t judge.)

One of my favorite dining experiences of the trip was dinner at The Beach House. Look ahead to see what time the sunset is on the night you want to go, then make your reservation for about 30 minutes before that. In addition to amazingly fresh fish dishes, you will have a front row seat to an epic sunset. They have a professional photographer there if you want a legit pic and you can go to/from your table during the sunset to take it all in if/as much as you want. Another bonus - if you have a celebratory bottle of wine that you want to bring with you, which we did, they only charge you a small corkage fee. Double bonus, since we had a special birthday that night, they waived the fee. High five.

Two additional favorites that are well worth the mention: Kauai Juice Company and Anuenue Café. Kauai Juice Company has a great story as the owner got her start by making homemade Kombucha on the side. Through the support of her community who helped her raise funds through a Kickstarter, she has successfully started her business and is now in three locations on the island using 100% organic and locally-sourced ingredients. The girls behind the bar (who all happen to be beautiful, friendly and helpful – so I’m guessing the juice works, right?) anyway, they introduced me to the benefits of Blue Magik Algae and Moringa. Since I hadn’t tried either in my previous juice concoctions, I went with the Avatar, Shine On and Sexy Baby Maker (because why not) and all three were super.

Anuenue Café was right next door, and was the only spot open for breakfast on New Year’s Day, so we gave it a shot. I’m not sure if it was that crowded because of New Year’s or if it’s always that packed (assuming the latter) but it was worth the hour wait. I was greeted by the friendly owner who rocked my world when she had me order the Rip Tide (Eggs Benedict with Kalua Pork) and also had me get some Haupia Macadamia Nut French Toast on the side (twist my arm but again, in between Six Week courses, so game on).

Since my life isn’t JUST about finding great food, I wanted to get out there and explore everything that the South Shore had to offer. We went big on day two and set out with Mauna Loa Helicopters to see the island. Bruno, our happy Brazilian pilot, took us all over beautiful Kauai and kept us entertained with his music and commentary for the entire hour. We decided to go “doors off” and I would HIGHLY recommend it as you get more of an adventure, the best unobstructed views and most importantly there is no glare in your selfie game.

There were tons of great options for helicopter tours in Kauai, but I picked Mauna Loa because they were the only ones that offered the two seater planes/private ride – and let’s be real, I don’t like to share my toys. Since 90% of the island is only visible by air, and you definitely don’t want to miss Na Pali Coast, Jurassic Falls, Waimea Canyon and Mt. Waiale’ale Crater from up top, make this a top priority if you are visiting the island. It was unbelievable and hands down my favorite experience in Kauai.

A close second was the kayak/hike/waterfall swim that I did with Ancient River Kayaks. You do a tandem 2-mile kayak ride on the Wailua River. (Fun fact: Wailua River is the original home to the very first Hawaiians.) After the beautiful 2-mile kayak, you have about 1.2(ish) miles of hiking through the rain forest in search of your half-way point destination: Secret Falls. This is a 120-foot waterfall into a natural pool, and though it was on the “brisk” side, taking a dip in and behind the waterfall was such a cool experience. We took a break at the falls for some lunch (provided by them) and we got to learn more about our awesome tour guide Annie. Huffington Post featured her in an article and my favorite quote from that (which rings true for most people that I met in Kauai) “I’m so rich here. I mean, I don’t have a lot of money but my quality of life is abundant. I get to do what I love every day and my heart is so full.”

Side note: once you finish the return hike and kayak back, you should definitely head over next door to Lava Lava Beach Club on Waikoloa Beach. This is the perfect spot to grab some beers (I was hooked on Wailua Wheat– great golden ale with a passionfruit flavor) and you can even watch some highlights of your favorite sports team losing to USC ...sigh.

We did the obligatory luau and chose the Grand Hyatt Luau on NYE. I was told the Hyatt and Smith’s were the two best luaus on the island and this one did not disappoint (though I’ve never been to any other luaus so I can’t compare). It was neat to see the rich history of the island and its local people, and they had performances/tributes for all of the “relative” islands (Samoa, New Zealand, Tahiti). Since we had a birthday in the house, we were selected to go up with a few people to learn how to hula in front of everyone. I failed pretty miserably at this. However, where I didn’t fail is the all-you-can-eat buffet. Our host told us that we would fall in love at a luau …and I did …. with Kalua Pork. As I mentioned with my world being rocked at Anuenue (the day after this luau happened) this pork tasted beyond delish. Click here for a recipe (Six Week allowed) which includes three ingredients: pork butt, natural liquid smoke (make sure no molasses added) and Hawaiian sea salt. Pop those bad boys into a slow cooker for 7-12 hours and you will fall in love too.

Once I was done eating all of their food, I of course wanted to see some fireworks on NYE. I was laughed at when I asked if the fireworks went off at midnight, to which the reply was “oh honey, the entire island is asleep by 9 – fireworks are at 8.” So we capped off NYE with some early fireworks over Poipu Beach and went to bed like the rest of the island … at 9pm. Cue 2017.

To cap off the South Shore adventure, we decided to go surfing on the last day. There is no shortage of surf schools in Kauai but we stumbled upon Kauai Surf School. It was a picture perfect day in Poipu and the baby waves by the surf school were perfect for my beginner skills. Asher was our instructor for the day, and he obliged when I asked him to pretty please just push me right into each wave for two hours so I could easily stand up and feel like a stud on my board - thanks Asher. I was gaining major confidence with my surfing ability and felt ready to try out the North Shore surf as we were heading to Hanalei the following day. FAIL. To read more on the episode of Susie vs Surf Board, check out Part II of my Kauai blog.

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