Aloha!

Aloha! I made it to Hawaii last night (Wed) and will be here for two whole glorious weeks :) Unfortunately it was getting dark when my plane was landing, but I was able to see the coastline magically appear a few hundred feet before we hit the runway. Beautiful but scary!

Today, I kayaked the Na Pali Coast on the island of Kaua'i. It was rated in National Geographic Adventure magazine as the best weekend kayak trip in the country and #13 of 50 things to do before you die! It's a 17 mile journey and about 6 hours of intermittent paddling. Some call it the Everest of Sea Kayaking. Luckily, it was a gorgeous day, with extremely calm seas in the morning, which picked up a tiny bit in the afternoon but there was a decent tailwind after lunch which helped push us to the final landing site!

The trip was absolutely amazing. Our guides Doug and Steve were funny and full of history. I'm definitely tired and my arms may not work tomorrow morning, but it was totally worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The coastline is amazing and being in a kayak allowed us to get so close to the rocks that I could smell the seaweed growing on them and also see the crabs scuttling around. I also got splashed by a few crashing waves. We also paddled into sea caves and underneath waterfalls. The ocean on this side of the island is a beautiful blue color and super clear. There were a few sea turtles in the water near the beginning of the trip and dolphins near lunchtime. In the winter, the tour group often sees whales. Every now and then, helicopter tours would fly over (once every two hours or so) and boat tours would pass by offshore. Most of the time, though, it was just 11 people in 6 kayaks, paddling up the coast. So peaceful, even when we paddled for what felt like forever without a break. It's kind of like running - eventually you hit a point where it just feels good to keep going.

This tour gives you a rare perspective of the coast and it's quite the adventure. I would highly recommend it! See pictures below. Due to the wet nature of this trip, I purchased a cheap digital camera with a waterproof case. It did a decent job, except when the sun was shining on the clouds - nothing I tried got rid of that glare!!

Tomorrow I'm off to zipline and see Waimea Canyon, then I fly to Oahu to see Lauren!!

Glad there was a sign to stop me....jk - Checking in at 6am with Kayak Kaua'i

Put in at Haena Beach, 7am. We launched into the surf in tandem sit on top kayaks

The view - there was an odd number of clients so I paddled with a guide. Despite putting sunscreen on my feet, the tops got burned a bit :(


First of many waterfalls. We actually paddled inside of this cave, which is an old lava tube from when the island had active volcanoes. It was dark and loud in there, but pretty awesome!!

Second cave had two doors - we went in on the right then paddled around to come out past the waterfall. Pretty amazing.

Na Pali Coast

Rock Arch

Waterfall up close

Na Pali coast

My first swim in Hawaiian waters - refreshing!! The water is unbelievably blue and clear, you can see the bottom forever!! We also saw a few sea turtles and dolphins swim by.

Third cave we entered was open at the top

Entrance to third cave

Na Pali Coast & kayak

We landed for lunch at Na Pali State Park on Miloli'i beach, which included fresh cut pineapples - yum!!

Short hike to a refreshing waterfall

Paddle vs. crystal clear blue water

Na Pali coast

We landed at Polihale State Park, which is only accessible by a very very bumpy, 18 mile dirt road. It's tons of fun in the back seat of a 12 passenger van.

Kayak and Pacific Ocean

Polihale State Beach with wildflowers