Poipu Beach in Koloa, Kauai has become our go-to vacation spot in recent years. It’s relatively uncrowded and laid back, with a wonderful kid’s beach, nice amenities (without being too touristy) and beautiful hiking trails. The Costco and airport are about 30 minutes away, and there’s even a nice little reef break, with a mix of friendly locals and tourists.
On this trip, we rented a 3 bedroom condo at the Regency Poipu Kai, along with my parents and sister’s family. The kids are old enough that they were content to play on their iPads during the flight, and only Kalani required a bit of juggling. We made the mistake of booking a flight with a layover in Phoenix, which saved us some money, in exchange for our sanity. Minecraft and Goldfish were indispensable. No barf on the way there, not so lucky on the flight home.
We had beautiful weather all week. The days began to blend together, and pretty much went like this:
Breakfast (Portuguese sausage, eggs, tropical fruit and sweet bread) > play at beach or pool > lunch > play at beach or pool > hike around or naps > cook dinner > play Minecraft and watch “This is Us.”
If you’re adventurous and don’t mind spending the rest of your vacation with an awful headache, I recommend a jump off the cliff at Shipwreck’s Beach, near the Grand Hyatt. I made the jump in 2011, and nearly knocked myself unconscious when I stupidly raised my legs, which caused my body to rotate backwards. I landed on my back, which caused my head to snap back into the water. It was not fun at all. On this trip, we watched a bunch of teenagers casually take the plunge, with no ill effects. I’ll probably try it again one of these days, because it definitely looks fun, watching from below.
We snorkeled the reef outside of Brennecke’s Beach, which was actually pretty nice considering the easy access. A couple of days later, Mads and I drove a few minutes west and checked out Koloa Landing. We saw numerous turtles, a few eels, and some nice coral heads.
On one of our most fun (and tiring) days of the trip, we drove up to the north shore and played at Secrets Beach. Then we went and got shave ice at a local spot in Hanalei.
