February 6, 2025
Today was a day that we had absolutely nothing on our itinerary, other than a question mark to do that state park where the Canyons are. I had read somewhere that there was also a park where if the water was coming in just right you could see a “blow hole” at Spouting Horn Park, it was on the way to the Canyons, so we set out on what we thought would be just a morning of adventure. Nick found coffee, and to our surprise it was down an alley, served out of an old bus. We each enjoyed our coffee beverages, and shared a cinnamon role, not the best, but good enough to get our day started.
Our first stop of the day was Spouting Horn Park, where we were able to watch the waves crash in and every couple of minutes see a good spouting of the blow hole. I had read that it was best to go first thing in the morning or afternoon, so needless to say, our timing was off, but it was cool no the less, that little towns that our route took us through were so cute and I really wish we had explored them more. From here, we got back on the road and headed to the Waimea Canyons. Not knowing what to expect, we were very pleasantly surprised at the beauty, we winded our way up the mountain for about 10 miles to where we met up with every other tourist in Hawai’i. Apparently a very popular attraction, especially for the buses. We paid our dues at the pay station, watched old people fight with the lady and try to navigate the automated pay station before making our way to the lookout. Little did we know until later that this could have easily been skipped and there were just as amazing views of the canyon as you continued to make your way up the mountain. All the way up, at mile 13 there was another “designated” lookout, but we continued to stop on our way and caught some pretty amazing views.
We even happened upon an older couple from Missouri who were cruising through the Islands and took the most obnoxious, but will be a memorable photo for us. We had no idea what he was doing when he told us to hold our hands up, but here you go for your viewing pleasure!
We winded our way back down to the town center, on the way I saw Kaua’i Coffee Company and was intrigued so we headed there, but hungry since it was mid afternoon and we had not had anything to eat since our coffees and cinnamon role in the alley, we headed to Kaua’i Island Brewery, apparently the western most brewery in the world! We enjoyed beers, and shared some nachos before heading towards the Kaua’i Coffee Company Estate, which also fun fact, is the largest coffee plantation in the US. Certainly another bus stop on the tours of Kaua’i, we were able to taste some different flavors of their coffee, toured the tiny museum and enjoyed coffee on the outdoor patio, although raining, it was pleasant. Nick had an affogato with coffee ice cream, and me an iced latte with hazelnut. The gift shop was a little pricey, so we skipped purchases there, but may look into buying some coffee when we get back home. It was a little kitschy, but fun little stop nonetheless.
After this stop, I was now seeking out a Hawaiian hot dog at Puka’s. Little did we know it was right beside Poipu Beach, where a lady we ran into earlier in the day told us that sea turtles would beach in the evening and take off in the mornings, I figured we would go there and see nothing, but to our surprise there were about 20 of them already in for the night.
We grabbed our hot dogs, I chose the banana sauce to go with mine, and Nick the starfruit, sounds disgusting, but they were so good. I would put Puka’s on your list if you are in the area to see the turtles and like hot dogs! Spoiler alert, the next post will tell you how we went back to the beach again before leaving Kaua’i for one more turtle adventure and the line for Puka’s was wrapped around the building, maybe not worth the wait, but definitely worth it if you can walk in and grab and go.
After we consumed our hot dogs on the beach, we made our way over to where the turtles were bathing, to shortly be greeted by a man named Ken, and his wife, did not catch her name. Ken and his wife were volunteers with the turtle organization and were there to work the 5-9 pm shift to educate people who gathered around about the turtles and also make sure that no one was bothering them. I at one point was pushed back a little bit by Ken, as he told me that we needed to make room, while there were about 20 there now, come sundown there would be more coming and they have been averaging around 50 a night. With about 2 hours until sundown and nothing else planned, we laid down our blanket, watched the people come and go, some turtles lift and lower their heads and then about sundown here came the rest of their friends. By the time we left, it was dark, there were around 35 who had already made their way to the “bedroom”. The turtles just came to this beach to sleep, they nested around 450 miles north of the island and then would make their 200 day or so journey back once their eggs hatched. This species was protected Hawaiian Sea Green Turtles, their fat was green due to all the sea greens that they eat. Ken and friends said they come back ever couple of days after swimming and eating to rest, and again ONLY to this beach and no one knows why. It was such a cool experience, watching the turtles come to their resting place all while seeing a beautiful sunset.
Green Hawaiian Sea Turtles Video
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by Kaua’i Beer Company, where we enjoyed a beer or two and shared a gourmet grilled cheese from one of the two food trucks outside. It was a cool, chill, hole in the wall place where you could tell that the locals flocked to.
For it being a day with nothing planned, it turned out to be full of some wonderful, memorable experiences.