After an almost 6 hour flight from Seattle, we landed in Maui for a short layover before our final destination to Lihue, Kauai. There are several reasons we love this island. I like the laid back, easy lifestyle that resonates from the island. Kauai is truly a magical place.The abundance of chickens makes me laugh, they are everywhere.
Once we landed, we collected our luggage and caught the airport shuttle to Budget to pick up our car. I was happy to know we reserved a convertible 2014 Mustang convertible. We love to drive with the top down to enjoy the many beautiful sites of Kauai.
We drove up to the Cliffs rental properties location on the beautiful north shore of Kauai. We were not disappointed when we arrived. The grounds were well maintained with many tropical flowers in bloom. We rented a condo on the third floor, hoping for better views and more peace and quiet. The views from our lanais were amazing.
The condo was quite nice for the price per night. Two bedroom, two bath, with a fully stocked kitchen, and two lanais made for a nice place to relax after busy days enjoying the island. The pool area was quite nice to take a dip or relax in one of the two whirlpools.
Na Pali Experience uses smaller boats, so we don't feel like we are on a cattle call catamaran. We were happy to find out there were only 8 people on the boat, including our captain, Drew. Here is a picture of my soon to be wife Michelle with our captain Drew in the blue shirt. We had an amazing trip with stunning scenery of the Na Pali coast.
The views were amazing and our captain gave us quite a bit of information on the history of the Na Pali coast. We were entertained by pods of spinner dolphins on our journey to the coast.
The journey to the coast was filled with breathtaking views of mountains and valleys.
We even ventured into the sea caves to enjoy the journey even more. The waterfalls, and geography of the caves were amazing.
We did some snorkeling in the water, the clarity and temperature were perfect.
We headed back to port after a great trip. Na Pali Experience provides an excellent morning or afternoon trip on a smaller boat that can venture into the sea caves. A trip well worth the price.
Our wedding was scheduled for Saturday morning at Hanalei Bay, but mother nature had other plans for us. The weekend was pretty much rained out and we rescheduled our ceremony for Monday morning at Hanalei Bay beach. The weather cooperated and we met our minister Todd Fuerte and the photographer Dave to get married. Michelle was stunning to say the least. She had her hair and make up done at the spa at St. Regis. We were married on May 26 at 11:30 am and will treasure the memories forever. I am glad we decided to have professional photographers with Kauai Island Weddings to take pictures of us. We are anxiously waiting for the pictures and coffee table album.
Shortly after the photography session was finished, we headed back to the car. Mother nature decided to say hello with a deluge of rain.
We had scheduled our wedding dinner at Tidepools located at the Grand Hyatt Resort in Poipou. We decided to make closer reservation at Makana Terrace at St. Regis instead. We were not disappointed. The views were amazing from St. Regis.
One of my favorite pictures of the entire trip was this one of Michelle at Makana Terrace, with a rainbow gracing her beauty.
We are a very happy couple, looking forward to many years of making memories together.
Dinner was quite delicious and well worth the money. I would have to say it was one of the best New York Strip Steaks I have eaten in a long time. Michelle had the filet mignon and it was equally delicious.
The sunset was a nice way to end a magical day together. Our waiter, Michael, also suprised us with a nice dessert.
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| YUM |
The rest of the trip was equally fun and relaxing. We took a trip to the south shore to visit Poipu and the Grand Hyatt resort. It brought back some great memories of our trip in 2012. We ventured to Poipu beach park for some sun and snorkeling. |
| The beauty of Grand Hyatt |
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| waterfall at Grand Hyatt Resort |
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| Beautiful grounds of the Grand Hyatt Resort |
We enjoyed snorkeling at Poipu Sands Beach. The water was clear and warm.
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| A swimmer was feeding the fish frozen peas. |
What trip could be complete with some kayaking at St. Regis? We decided on a full day of activities at St. Regis after a little tennis in the morning.
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| Outrigger canoe with a sail. |
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| Hanalei Pier |
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| Hanalei Bay |
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| Our kayak rental |
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| St. Regis from the bay |
The water was a little murkier than south shore. We still enjoyed the underwater scenery and floating in the ocean.
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| Michelle |
What is a trip to Kauai without doing some barbecuing? Notice the irony here, I am grilling Huli Huli chicken and live chickens and a roster are hanging around the grill. Good thing there are plenty of chickens on the island.
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| Not very smart to hang out by the grill |
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| Dinner is running away from me! |
We had a wonderful trip and look forward to coming back to the island of Kauai to make more memories together. I had to splice together two pictures, since mother nature didn't give us much time to take photos on the beach.
Mahalo,
Thomas and Michelle Bagby
Woodinville, Washington
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