Main things to do in Kauai?

Grand Canyon of Pacific, Kokee state park, Hanalei lookout, fern grotto, Na Pali coast by boat, kayak waimea river, beach house restuarant in Poipu. My husband will be on his R&R (military) from Iraq. We are stationed in Oahu, have seen Maui and Big Island. So, taking 5 nights in Kauai. IS this a good list to start? Could we use the bus/walk the whole time? We are both under 25 and car rentals seem quite high. What is your suggestion for a romantic, relaxing enjoyable visit together in Kauai? Thanks.

If your husband is on leave, I think you should spend more time enjoying each other’s company and less time sightseeing. You’ve got too much on your list for only five days. Here is what I would do in order of importance (to me). Maybe this will look good to you too and you can eliminate a couple of things off the bottom. After all, you’re only 37 minutes away by plane…you can always come back and do the stuff you missed the first time!
1) Na Pali by boat (I recommend Captain Andy’s. I have done the tour 3 times with different companies and Andy’s is the best!)
2) Waimea Canyon – unique to Kauai
3) Kayak Waimea River (no navigable rivers on Oahu, so this is kinda special and unique to Kauai)
4) Fern Grotto – very pretty but not especially unique.
5) Kokee – I’m not much of a ‘mountain person.’ Kokee tends to be much colder than the rest of the island due to its elevation. It’s nice but I wouldn’t use up a whole day or more there if you only have 5 days on the island. Wait until you have more time and then rent a cabin up there or something!
6) Beach House restaurant – good food, beautiful location, but not particularly special. Oahu has such a great selection of restaurants that I wouldn’t make the Beach House a huge priority.

Kayaking Grand Island

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