Summertime is Snorkelin’ Time… winter swells are months away, and calm waters rule the day.  Three of the ten best places to snorkel in Hawaii are right here on Kauai:  Ke’e, Anini, and Poipu Beach.

Ke’e Beach is at the very end of the road in Haena, at the gateway to the NaPali Coast. Get there early to get a parking space, and if you see a couple of guys selling coconuts out of the back of a pick-up, slake your thirst with a “cold one.” Drink the juice through a straw (more electrolytes than Gatorade) and then eat the meat (young green coconuts are like pudding inside… yum).

Anini Beach, just minutes from the Princeville Resort, is protected by the longest reef in the Hawaiian Islands so it’s calm year round. It’s also great for windsurfing, kite boarding, and kayaking.

“Sunny Poipu” is located on the hotter, drier south side of Kauai (it’s where we escape when the north shore is socked in), and the Poipu Beach Park is a great spot for babies and small children.

When snorkeling anywhere on Kauai, please don’t feed the fish, and try to keep your feet off the reef. Not only does walking on the coral damage it, but the reef is also home to spiky urchins (ouch!) that you do not want to disturb – trust me!

P.S.  If you need to rent equipment, I highly recommend Snorkel Bob’s.

Woohoo!

Bali Hai may call you,
Any night, any day,
In your heart, you’ll hear it call you:
“Come away…Come away.”

Here’s the thing: Bali Hai is an actual mountain peak in my neighborhood. It’s really called Mt. Makana, and it overlooks Tunnels Beach, which is one of our favorite, favorite (did I mention, “favorite?”) spots to swim, snorkel, and just hang out. It’s one of the most photographed views in the world (I think you can see why)… and one of the many reasons our little island just got named the second best island in the world by Travel + Leisure readers, second only to the Galapagos.

But since we have turtles too, I don’t totally understand.  The bottom line:  if Bali Hai is calling you, call me!

Read the full article here, featured on OneTravel.com -  “Best Kauai Vacation Rentals – Bali Hai is Calling”.

Grandpa Mike & the Boys

My family has a pretty ‘typical Saturday’… the morning starts at Java Kai, the local Hanalei coffee shop where mom gets her morning espresso and the boys get the usual, Kauai Waffle (home-made waffles with fresh fruit, whip cream, toasted coconut and macadamia nuts).  Next stop on the list, the Hanalei Farmer’s Market… heheheee, my favorite!  We walk the rows &  load up on organic salad mixes, sprouts, apple bananas, mangoes, papayas, white pineapple, lychee... wheewww, all that shopping, hot sun and thirsty mouths lead us straight to the last fruit stand,  the Acai Lady!!

Saturday Farmer's Market

Frozen and pureed Acai berries mixed with pineapple and topped with sweet granola and bananas… next place on the list, THE BEACH!  Today, we went to Pine Trees, dead-center on Hanalei Bay… boogie boarding, body surfing, swimming, crab-hunting, sandcastles, you name we did it…

Hot, tired and thirsty boys… hmmm, shave ice anyone?  Shave Ice Paradise in the middle of Hanalei Town is our last pit stop before the drive home (lychee & pineapple flavors with vanilla ice-cream, winner to the max!!)… what a day, two tired kids latter with smiles from ear to ear we are all ready for a very mellow evening in… AND BED!

Summer on Hanalei Bay

Cousins on the Town (Hanalei)

The Snorkel Bob Foundation focuses on reef recovery. To that end, the Foundation will oppose fin-fish harvesting that may cause reef collapse or critical by-catch. It’s all one reef; the Snorkel Bob Foundation recognizes the global impact of problems occurring on reefs around the world, and will  focus on this as well as the recovery and protection of whales, monk seals, dolphins and other marine cetaceans. Offensive vessels shall include long liners, drift netters, whalers and factory ships.

The Snorkel Bob Foundation shall further resist reef fish harvest by any means for commercial sale or display by the aquarium trade. Commercial sale of freeze dried seahorses, blowfish, seashells or corals is an assault on reefs worldwide, warranting response, as the Foundation is able to provide. We will also defend marine habitat against human effluent where mitigation is still practical.  The Foundation donates ‘Snorkel Bob’ Brand masks, fins and snorkels to those organizations engaged in defense of marine habit and/or species.

The Snorkel Bob Foundation provided pivotal efforts toward gill net regulation for the first time ever in Hawaii in 2006. Maui is now 100% free of gill nets by administrative rule. Often called “curtains of death” gill nets killed millions of reef fish, along with sea turtles and monk seals, and are still killing monk seals (endangered), Hawaiian green sea turtles (endangered) and hawksbill turtles (endangered) on other Hawaiian islands and around the world.

The Snorkel Bob Foundation was instrumental in exposing the Hawaii aquarium trade and its devastating attack on Hawaii reefs. The aquarium trade fills 80% of all tanks in the U.S. with Hawaii reef fish, 99% of which die in ayear. Those same fish live up to 40 years on the reef. Those fish leave $3-4 each in Hawaii but retail for $40-50, and each fish requires a few hundred dollars more in hardware—tanks, filters, pumps, etc.
The struggle continues. Hawaii aquarium hunters have no limit on their catch, no limit on the number of catchers and no constraint on species. 80% of the fish taken by the aquarium trade are herbivores. The biggest threat to Hawaii reefs is algae.

The Snorkel Bob Foundation donated masks, fins and snorkels to the Kauai Children’s Discovery Museum and to the Ko’ie’ie Fishpond on Maui, so that Hawaii children on these islands can visit the reef and see what they’ve been missing.

The Snorkel Bob Foundation donated $45,000 in Snorkel Bob Brand masks, fins & snorkels to 6 Pacific island nations through Coastal Resources & the Peace Corps, in order to show the residents of those islands what they’ve been missing—that their reefs can provide a wealth of sustenance far more valuable than a convenient dumping ground. Reef recovery has begun in those places.

The Snorkel Bob Foundation produced Turtlerama in 2004, a gala evening of turtle and reef movies, once on each island, so that reef huggers around Hawaii could gather to celebrate what we love, and to mobilize a petition and letter campaign to the Secretary General of the United Nations, urging the ban of North Pacific drift nets and long lines.

In 2010, a move is afoot to take Hawaiian green sea turtles off the endangered species list so that these turtles may be eaten. This initiative by the National Marine Fisheries “Service” is part of a greater move to reopen the Hawaii long line fishery, so that the turtle and sea bird by-catch kill will be tripled, and many thousands of humans will incur mercury poisoning from eating tainted swordfish. The Snorkel Bob Foundation is now focused on that campaign.

Spear fishers with scuba or other surface-supplied air are devastating Hawaii reefs by killing all the parrot-fish as they sleep. Parrot-fish are a lynchpin species. The Snorkel Bob Foundation is focused on this challenge and several others.

We hope you find our ‘Go Green; Preserving our ‘Aina’  news and event updates useful in plotting your own course for a better Hawaii.  Be sure to share it with your friends and family!

Towards the right, you can see the Kilauea lighthouse and walk a long way across the sand.
Secret Beach is not a place to come alone, for the obvious reason of its isolation. Swimming is not safe. The surf is rough, and the currents strong and unpredictable; you’d never find a lifeguard if you had trouble. During the winter, this beach, enormous as it is, can disappear almost entirely under huge, crashing waves. Instead of swimming, walk along the water, hunt for shells, and forget everything but the feel of wet sand between your toes.
The walk back up the cliff will give you time to adjust to the world you
left behind – just about 10 minutes of mild exertion, with the air cool under
the trees and the leaves speckled with sunlight. This would not be pleasant in the mud, though, so don’t go after a soaking rain. By the time you reach your car and remember that you have to stop at the store for milk, the
peaceful solitude you left behind will be as hard to recapture as a wave rippling on the sand. But for a few moments, you were lost to your ‘working-day’ world. This may be the secret of Secret Beach, a secret worth keeping!
Note: One reader discovered another secret about this beach, when she and her family reached the bottom of the trail and ran into “a long-haired young man wearing nothing but a guitar!” So be prepared for strange music!

Do take a moment to explore some of our amazing vacation rentals in the Kilauea area.  Many luxury homes are sprinkled about the bluff.  A few of my favorites, The Hale Lani and The Villa, both exquisite in every way!

Directions:  Approach Secret Beach and Kalihiwai Bay from Kalihiwai Rd,
about a half mile north of Kilauea on Rt 56. Turn towards the ocean onto
Kalihiwai Rd. Bear left, then turn right onto a dirt road that looks like abroad red gash in the landscape. Follow towards the water till it ends. Park,
lock up, and walk down the trail.

From the time you leave the paved road behind to jolt north through a maze of sugar cane fields, you know you’re in for something special. Gradually, beyond the tall sugar cane rustling in the breeze, a dark ridge of jagged peaks appears on the right. As you get closer, these giant cliffs reveal splendid colors – trees and bush in vivid greens against the black rock slashed with the deep red of the volcanic soil. When you can drive no further, the beach at Polihale emerges from the base of the cliffs – an enormous stretch of brilliant white sand more  immense, it seems, than the cliffs which tower above and the band of deep blue sea beyond. Only the sky seems the equal of this vast expanse of glaring sand, so wide that to walk from your car to the ocean on a sunny day will burn your feet, and so long that no single vantage point allows the eye to see its full extent.

‘Beautiful’ is too small a word for this awesome place. Polihale – home of spirits – is more appropriate, not only because the majestic cliffs and beach dwarf anything human to insignificance, but also because here man’s access to the western coast really ends. Beyond lies the Na Pali wilderness, unreachable except by boat or helicopter, or by the handful of hikers who dare to climb the narrow and dangerous trails. Polihale is the threshold between the known and the unknown, the tamed and the untamed, the familiar and the wild.

Swimming is treacherous; the rolling, pounding surf even at its most gentle is only for strong, experienced swimmers. No reefs offer protection from the powerful ocean currents. Come instead for the spectacle, to picnic and walk, to gaze at the grandeur of cliffs above the endless sea and sand, to
listen to the silence broken only by the crashing surf, to appreciate in solitude the splendor of nature’s power. A feeling of awe lingers even after you return to paved road and a world of smaller proportions.

Directions: From Lihue, take Highway 50. Drive past the towns of Waimea and Kekaha. Turn on Kekaha Road, then take a right on Old Mana Road. Continue driving for approximately 13 miles (the last 6 miles is a dirt road). Polihale Beach Park is at the end of the road.

Address: Off Kaumualii Highway, Hwy 50, Waimea, Kauai, HI 96796

Instead of swimming, you can climb the cliff to explore strange caves and rock formations. The colors are breathtaking – the deep blue of the water and the gold of the cliffs dazzle the eye, and the view down is a dizzying spectacle of surf crashing against the rocks. Be careful, though.  Avoid going close to the cliff’s edge, as the footing is slippery with loose
sand. It’s great for photographers but not for children.

Please do take a moment to navigate through our many amazing vacation rental properties in the Poipu Area.  A great place to stay for vacations full of sun and fun!

Directions: (Starting Point: Poipu) Take Poipu Rd past the main entrance to the Hyatt Hotel. Turn toward the water on Ainako Rd. Park in the lot. Public access restrooms and showers are by the parking lot. Shipwreck is 14 miles from Lihue; 24 miles from Kapa’a; 44 miles from Princeville.

Listen to the surf reports, and plan any winter visits for times when surf is manageable, and preferably at low tide.  In calm conditions, bring the kids and let them paddle about on boogie boards while the older ones try their luck with mask and snorkel.  Bring fish food, or even a green leaf, in a plastic baggy and swish it in the water and you’ll be surrounded by fish (just be sure to bring the bag out of the water with you, dangerous for turtles and fish to get caught up in).  Swimming and Snorkeling through the coral formations of the reef, which is almost like a maze of tunnels, can be great fun when the water is quiet.  Enter the reef through one of the small sandy channels or the large one on the right, and dozens of fish in rainbow colors will swim right up to your mask.  If the showers which frequent the north shore rain on your parade, you can take shelter under the ironwood trees –or under your boogie board!  If you see a monk seal lying on the beach, give it it’s space, it is probably exhausted and looking for some peace and relaxation.  Seals do not trust humans and need their privacy.

Warning:  Even when the area between the two reefs may look calm for swimming and snorkeling, watch out for these danger signs: high surf on the outer reef or fast moving ripples in the channel between the two reefs.  These indicate powerful, swift currents that could sweep you out through the channel into open ocean.  Instead of swimming, hunt for shells on the beach, or walk around the rocks to the east.

Directions: From Lihue continue west on Highway 56 (Kuhio Hwy), and go 1.1. miles past the Hanalei Colony Resort in Haena.  You will pass mile marker 8 and the turn-off road to the YMCA camp.  Parking is nearly impossible, very small area.  Cars parked along the main road will be ticketed.  You can drive past Tunnels to the Haena Beach Park, park your car and walk the beach back to Tunnels (15 minute beach walk).

Tunnels Beach on the north shore is an amazing place to not only take advantage of the incredible beach but also the gorgeous vacation homes in the area.  With parking such an issue, the ultimate is having a beach house that you can walk from!  Please do explore our large selection of beautiful homes and cottages is this area.

For Snorkel and Dive Tours at the Tunnels Beach, please contact our Kauai Activity Specialist who can assist with snorkel gear, dive gear and guided water adventures!