February 7, 2025

This morning we had nothing planned, so we decided to grab some coffee and hang by the pool until it was time to get ready for our afternoon activity.  Nick found another coffee truck about 20 minutes away, this one definitely better than the last.  I have come to like the lattes that they have with coconut milk and chocolate, and we also enjoyed bagel sandwiches from this one.  Nick unfortunately was dealing with some work drama, so we ate our sandwiches on the way back to the hotel, grabbed our stuff and relaxed by the pool for a bit, while also soaking our still sore calves in hot tub.

I had read, as well as Nick’s co worker recommended a Poke place that was on the way to our next designation, Koloa Fish Market, his co worker had marked this as the best poke they had on all of the islands, well let me be the judge of that.  Okay, she was right.  There was a decent line, but nothing too intimidating, we each created our own poke bowl, mine, Korean Ahi Poke with sticky rice, edamame and cucumber salad with spicy aioli and furikake. 

The tour that we had booked was a catamaran that would take us up the Na Pali Coast, which is where we sorta hiked a few days before, but this time we would be seeing it front he sea.  Our crew was fantastic, Captain Amber, Ariel, Chad and Caroline.  I had mentioned when boarding the boat that I did get motion sickness, they were all so kind to keep checking in with me, but happy to report no issues whatsoever.  Captain Amber did a great job of navigating the waters.  On the way up the coast, which was about 35 miles, and took about an hour and half they served us snacks with non alcoholic beverages.  An added benefit of the tour was that we also saw a ton of whales, some of them breaching.  Captain Amber told us that her first goal was to get us to the Na Pali Coast as that is the tour that we paid for, but if we saw whales, she’d do her best to see them too, she was so kind to stop for awhile at times to allow us to watch them.  It was such an amazing experience.  The Na Pali Coast was absolutely beautiful, as we continued our journey Captain Amber would share stories of the seas and the mountains.  

On our way back to the harbour, the bar was opened and we were served dinner, the food was surprisingly delicious, we had tacos (chicken, pork or tofu), salad and a veggie tray with hummus and ranch dressing, and then Ariel came around and served cookies and brownies for desert.  We had a nice view of sunset as we entered the Harbour, one of the prettiest ones we have seen, Nick referenced it as the logo from Marine Layer.  

After we disembarked our vessel, with still some gas in him, not me so much, Nick wanted to stop and grab a drink, so we stopped off in the little town on the way back to the hotel at a brewery, Mucho Aloha.  It was a cute little place, where they also served Mexican food, we shred some chips with queso dip (which was more like pimento cheese) and guacamole.  

February 8, 2025

Today we had a late afternoon flight from Kaua’i to the Big Island so we grabbed some coffee and breakfast at Java Kai, which we both agreed was our favorite coffee so far of the trip.  Nick enjoyed a tropical waffle and I had bagel sandwich.  We took a short walk around the town dipping into a few shops before heading back to the hotel to enjoy one last morning by the pool.  

Before making our way to the airport, I had a few more things on my list to accomplish.  Our Turo driver told us by a must see waterfall, but needless to say after our hike to the waterfall the other day, this one wasn’t as exciting, so we did a quick drive by before heading back to the Koala Fish Market for more poke bowls.  This time I had the spicy ahi with a side of their mac salad.  Mac salad is a big thing here in Hawai’i and I am here for it, I have tried it pretty much every where we have gone and this has to be the best yet.  

After another delicious poke bowl, we made our way back to Poipu Beach for one last visit to the turtles.  We were able to see quite a few sunbathing before making our way to the airport for our flight to The Big Island.  Our arrival to Hawai’i was absolutely stunning, the sunset view from our Airbnb was amazing.  After we checked into our hotel, we went to Ola Brew for drinks and dinner, they had really good fish n chips, I am getting spoiled with the delicious fish here.