Love Is In the Air on the Garden Island
Go On An ATV Tour
You and your partner will love cruising Kauai’s beautiful backcountry on an off-road vehicle. Kauai ATV offers semi-automatic ATV’s that make it easy to enjoy this alternative mode of transportation which allows you access to the rugged backroads with spectacular mountain and ocean views.
The Kauai ATV tour includes a ride through a half-mile long irrigation tunnel in the Haupu Mountain Range, and also visits remote Hollywood movie sites. This is where you relive the glamor days and sweep your mate off his or her feet.
Take A Bike Ride On Kauai’s Community Bike Path
It is called Ke Ala Hele Makalae (The Path That Goes by the Coast) and is a wonderful easy ride along Kauai’s east side. Enjoy up-close ocean views and also meet members of the Kauai community that come out for a walk or jog or pedal. You can rent a cruising bike at Coconut Coasters – they offer tandem 7-speeds, 3-speeds, beach cruisers, and special bikes for kids. After some leisurely pedaling along the pristine coastline, stop into Kapaa with your honey for a snack at the Mermaid Cafe.
Visit Limahuli Garden and Preserve on the North Shore
This wonderful North Shore Garden is part botanical garden and part restored ancient Hawaiian site. Terraced taro fields grow along the hillside, and a climbing path leads you to many native and Polynesian introduced plants. A self-guided tour allows you to stroll around at your leisure and learn about the plants used in ancient times.
This tour will stimulate your minds and lead will give you memories to cherish as you rub suntan lotion on each other at nearby Kee Beach set beneath the beautiful Mt. Makana, also known as Bali Hai from its role in the 1957 movie South Pacific.
Limahuli Garden is located about ¼-mile before the end of the road (Kuhio Hwy – Rt. 560).
Enjoy the Drive from Hanalei to Kee Beach
This is a land of lush and green coastal mountains lined with waterfalls, while the coastline is fringed with white-sand beaches that give way to a turquoise sea. The pristine lagoon sea at Kee Beach provides a protected swimming area set beneath the beautiful Mt. Makana, which is also known as Bali Hai. Lie on the beautiful white-sand beach and let your signifcant other know that they are as beautiful as the surroundings!
Take A Helicopter Tour
Get a birds-eye view of the Garden Island of Kauai by hovering above it all in a helicopter. Most of Kauai can only be seen this way since the island really just has one road, which goes around the outside of the island.
On a helicopter the remote interior of Kauai is laid out before your eyes, along with all of the major sights – Waimea Canyon, the Na Pali Coast, and north shore beaches. The highlight of a helicopter tour is flying into the summit crater of Mt. Waialeale, the wettest place on Earth.
A great company for helicopter tours is Safari Helicopters, which departs from Lihue on the east shore. Safari flies the ASTAR 350 B2-7, a top of the line jet turbine engine helicopter with panoramic view windows. Your trip will also be recorded by a four-camera video system so you can remember the adventure.
Hike Sleeping Giant
Also known as Nounou Mountain, you can see the “Sleeping Giant” from Kapaa and Wailua. If you look at the top of the Nounou ridgeline you will see, with a little imagination, a giant reclining man with his feet to the right and head toward the middle of the ridge to the south.
The hike climbs about 1,200 feet and it is well worth it because the peak offers fantastic views. You can get to the top by either the East or the West trail. The most direct route is the West trail, and you can reach that trailhead off Highway 581 past Heamoi Place. Look for the public access between two homes.
Visit Kokee State Park
Hike through a rainforest, across a high elevation swamp, on a canyon trail, or along a narrow ridge with views of the sea. On the way to Kokee you can stop at the overlooks with great views of Waimea Canyon, and when you get to the park visit the Kokee Lodge and Natural History Museum.
At the very end of the road is one of the most amazing views in the world, looking out over the Na Pali Coast and the steep, furrowed Kalalau Valley. Steep green ramparts and waterfall-streaked mountains are topped with spires and razor-sharp ridges. Beyond it all is the azure Pacific Ocean.
A good day hike in Kokee is the Awaawapuhi Trail which takes you out to a narrow ridge that is just a few feet wide, providing dizzying views of two different valleys on either side of you, thousands of feet down! Yes, you might get a little dizzy, but it is a safe hike. This is a hike you and your sweetie will remember for a long time!