Travel to Marriott's Kauai Beach Club on Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii

Kauai tips

Napali Coast is only accessible by air or boat. The middle of the island is only accessible by air. It is a fairly quiet island. The surf is larger than Maui and not as good for snorkeling. From Lihu'e you can drive West then North or North then West. The road does not go all the way around the island, so you need to backtrack. Probably the best way to see the island would be by helicopter. If you want a quiet relaxed place this would be good, not a lot to see in my opinion, although the Waimea Canyon was great to see and there were great places to eat.

Our week 4-27-01 thru 5-4-01

Fri, April 27th - We picked up our Alamo rental car and drove to the Marriott's Kauai Beach Club on Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii (808) 245-5050. On the beautiful southern coast of Kauai, 51 lush tropical acres on Kalapaki Beach. The resort has two restaurants and a worldclass swimming pool complex. The quarter-mile beach frontage on Kalapaki Beach provides for all water and beach activities. Two championship golf courses are located at the adjacent Kauai Lagoons. The resort was excellent, and we lucked out to be in the Kilohana Tower in rooms 931 & 932, right of the beach. We found out later the room rents for $480 per night. It was a great room. You could sit on the balcony and watch the ships come in, look at the scenery, watch the surfers, and listen to the waves at night. Marriott's Kauai Beach Club

We decided to stay put for the night and had the all you can eat buffet of prime rib, alaskan king crab, sushi, chicken, mahi-mahi, champagne, deserts, fruits, etc. It was great, a little costly at $34.95 per person, but it was good and I got my moneys worth. After dinner, off to bed, it was great to listen to the waves hitting shore with our balcony doors open.

Sat, April 28th - Off to explore starting West. The Marriott is in Lihu'e close to the airport so first we went through the tree tunnel on 520 to Po'ipu Beach Park and got a salad and tuna lunch at Brenneckes Beach Broil and ate it on the beach. After lunch we went just down the road to the Spouting Horn, and past the Botanical Garden entrance. Then off to Waimea Canyon. The views were great. We took many pictures of the canyon and the red dirt. I took some soil samples of the red dirt at 1500 ft but found out I couldn't bring back soil at the end of the week when we were checking our bags. We went all the way to the lookout at the end and then came back the same way to route 50 and onto Polihale State Park where 50 ends. The last 20 minutes of the drive are on a bumpy dirt road, when you get there the park had a great beach close to the mountains. After strolling the beach, we drove back to Po'ipu and had good curry dinners at Pattaya Asian Cafe. While there we made reservations at Roy®s, a highly acclaimed restaurant in 20 locations around the world, later we cancelled due to lack of time. Back home to clean up and rest.

Sun, April 29th - Decided to stay around the Marriott and have the lunch buffet. It was great again and this time they had a sushi bar, prime rib, breakfast items, chocolate covered strawberries, etc. etc. This was our meal for the day. Off for a nap, then off to the pool (the largest in Hawaii), a drink on the balcony and then a comedy show at night by performer Cris Clobber.

Mon, April 30th - Drove North up the East side of the island. Went up 580 past Opacka'a Falls, up to the end where a Hindu Temple was. They had a Sacred Forest that had blue nuts on the trees. We went on to Kapa'a for breakfast and then went on up route 56 to Kilauea on the North side of the island. There was a guava factory, soap/candle factory, and a lighthouse that had many birds rousting. None of these was that exciting to me, the view from the lighthouse was ok. On we drove to Ha'ena past two caves, one called wet caves because of water in it, the other dry caves, guess why. We then decided to try snorkeling at Tunnels Beach close by. It was cloudy and although you saw fish, it was nothing compared to Maui. On this side of the island we did see some mountains with nice waterfalls but not as scenic as the Waimea Canyon. We headed back to Lihu'e for dinner at Cafe Portofino, we both thought the dinner was no great shakes, but they had a man playing a harp that was nice.

Tue, May 1st - We got up and walked to the harbor and watched a ship leave and one come in to dock. While there, we were talking to some locals who told us they pay about $350 per month for electric, ouch. We then walked the Marriott grounds, enjoyed a lunch buffet and relaxed and swam in the pool. For dinner we went to Restaurant Kintaro in Kapa'a, it was a very good sushi meal.

Wed, May 2nd - Went to a Marriott timeshare presentation from 9:00-10:30, and received $75 to attend. Marriott has an interesting program but not for us at this time. The timeshare was selling units at the Maui Marriott you could use every other year for $10-18,000, depending on views.

We decided to try snorkeling again. First we went to Poipu Beach (South side), it had a small area that you could see a fair amount of fish around rocks. We then went to Lydgate State Beach Park (East side), there they had a cove surrounded by rocks that was good for beginners, but not a lot to see. We then went back cleaned up and went to dinner at Pacific Cafe in Kapa'a. It was excellent, from the bread, salad, Mahi Mahi and Ahi dinners, to chocolate souffle and pineapple tart. Costly, but excellent.

Thur, May 3rd - Went to Princeville hotel on the North side of the island. It was a very nice hotel with great views. We went snorkeling on their beach. This was the best place we found to snorkel on Kauai. We saw many fish and one sea turtle. We later heard that another place to try was in front of the Sheraton, but didn't have time to try there. It was Lynn®s turn to pick where to go for dinner and she chose Restaurant Kintaro again.

Fri, May 4th - Packed our bag, walked to the pier again, then loaded up the car and checked out of our room. We hanged out around the pool and then ate lunch at Duke's Canoe Club at the Marriott. The food and view was good. Then off to the airport to catch our flight and turn in our Alamo car rental. When going through customs, I found out you were not allowed to bring back soil or nuts that were not dried out. I was going to bring back some red dirt and some blue seeds from the Hindu Sacred Forest.

We went Kauai to Honolulu, Honolulu to Minnesota, Minnesota to Detroit. Fourteen hours to get back, a six hour time change and we were back at 8:00 in the morning.