Things to Eat and See in Kauai
When you plan a trip to Kauai here is a complete list of Things to Eat and See in Kauai.
Whenever I travel anywhere I always ask my trusted readers where I should eat and what I should do. When I was planning our trip to Kauai for our 17th anniversary I asked for suggestions and had an overwhelming response to the things to eat and see in Kauai. I know this isn’t about recipes but I wanted to share all the Things to Eat and See in Kauai.
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I may earn commissions for purchases made through links on this post.
Things to Eat and See in Kauai
We quickly fell in love with Kauai. It’s not touristy at all which we are all about but with plenty of activities to do. In my opinion, it’s the most beautiful of all the Hawaiian Islands.
I wasn’t going to write this post but had so many requests for my suggestions that I had to. Obviously in the short amount of time I was there I wasn’t able to do everything so I linked to two of my fellow bloggers at the end of the article that maybe hit things I didn’t.
WHERE TO EAT IN KAUAI
I am including all of the suggestions I had on where to eat in Kauai but the places I was actually able to eat at I put a star next to. Just means I will have to come back to go to all the places I wasn’t able to.
Another thing that was helpful is that I used the OpenTable app to make reservations when I could a day ahead of time. It asks if you’re celebrating anything. I wrote “anniversary” and every restaurant either wrote a sweet note, gave us dessert, and always sat us closest to the water with the best view!
*The Eating House: This is one of Chef Roy Yamaguchi’s restaurants. If you’ve ever been to Roy’s, you’ll love this restaurant. Just like all of Roy’s restaurants, they are known for their butterfish and do not skip the Chocolate Souffle at the end.
The Dolphin: located right below The Eating House and known for their sushi.
Kalapaki Beach Hut
*Keoki’s Paradise: Probably our favorite meal of the whole trip. The ambiance is Hawaiian but not over the top. I had the macadamian crusted fish and my husband had the seafood paella. You must have Hula Pie for dessert.
Sleeping Giant Café: Located right next to Rainbow Kayak. Our kayaking guide told us to get the Ono tacos and they were fabulous.
*Island Taco: great tacos.
AMA
*Kukuiula Market – Açaí bowls
*Makai Sushi – poke bowls and sushi *
The Beach House – located right on the beach.
Shrimp Shack at the mouth of Waimea Canyon
Porky’s food trucks
*Puka Dog: A Hawaiian style hot dog that is a right of passage when visiting Kauai.
*Bubba’s Burgers- A juicy burger that hits the spot. Also known as the In-n-Out of Kauai. They sell a side of “Frings” which is half onion rings and half fries (saving marriages everyday).
*Da Crack: You know I love Mexican food and this was the perfect fix.
Kalipaki Joe’s for breakfast
Kintaro Sushi: All of the locals told us to go here but we ran out of time.
*Lappert’s Ice Cream: Always a line out the door. Always good.
Shave Ice: There are shave ice places on every corner in Kauai.
Tee Gees: A food truck that only operates on certain days.
*Hee fat
The Fresh Shave
*Uncles: Bahama Bucks style shave ice. They also have shave snow (made from frozen milk). You must try their Honey Toast. It’s like a french toast dessert that is heavenly.
JoJo’s
*Loco Coco: Right next to Da Crack, Makai Sushi, and the Acai Bowls at Kukuiula Market. They use all natural flavorings.
THINGS TO DO IN KAUAI:
Once again I added a ‘*’ next to the items I personally did.
*Napali Coast:
The Napali Coast is the main attraction of Kauai. You can either hike, kayak, see it by helicopter, or take a boat to it. The hiking was closed due to flooding when we went. We thought about kayaking it which is 17 miles. Glad we didn’t because we later found out that the Napali kayak tour is called the “Divorce Tour”. We’ve done a helicopter tour on Maui. It’s breathtaking but all of us got sick and I consider myself to have a strong stomach.
We chose to take a zodiac boat up the coast where we explored sea caves, saw dolphins, and snorkeled. We use Blue Ocean Adventure Tours and since their boats are smaller we were able to go in caves that no one else could. I’m not sponsored in any way by them or for any of the things in this post.
If you’ve never been on a zodiac boat you basically sit on the side of the boat and keep one foot on the boat floor under a rope so you don’t fall out. It’s definitely for the the thrill seeker. The highlight of my trip was when our captain told me to lay my body over the front of the boat while we were driving and dolphins came swimming up feet from my face. It’s best to take the morning tour because the afternoon tour is choppy.
*ATV Adventures at Kupu Ranch: We did the VIP tour option. My husband drive the ranger through the back country of Kauai and saw where Hollywood filmed movies like Jurassic Park. It was a blast. We were covered in mud at the end.
They took us on a small hike at the end through a bamboo forest.
Waimea Canyon: Known as the Grand Canyon of Hawaii.
*Kayak Wailua River with Secret Falls hike (Rainbow Kayak Company): Instead of the “Divorce Tour” we opted for the 4 mile kayak with a hike to Secret Falls. We went up and behind the waterfall.
Princeville Ranch for the 4X4/zip line/waterfall tour
Tube irrigation canals: I’ve heard this is really fun but it fills up weeks in advance.
Rappel waterfalls
*Boogie Boarding: Shipwreck beach is always crazy fun for boogie boarding and there were sea turtles doing it with us.
*Snorkel: You can pretty much snorkel anywhere but we found a ton of fish right in front of the Marriott by the rocks.
*Surfing: Surfing was really all my husband wanted to do in Kauai. We scouted out places but always ran into issues like really rocky beaches. We aren’t new to surfing and wanted to do it on our own. We gave up and were standing in front of the Marriott to rent boards when a guy walked by us and asked if we needed help.
Kelley from Kelley’s Surf School is a local and he knew exactly where to catch the good waves. He had boards in his truck and we surfed for two straight hours and caught wave after wave.
Find more ideas on Things to Eat and See in Kauai here:
I read this post with much interest as I am just a month and a half back from Kauai! I can say that I wholeheartedly agree regarding many of the restaurants you liked as we particularly loved
Keoki’s Paradise, Da Crack, and the shave ice right next to that. Oh and Puka Dog made a great lunch for us one day! It was a vacation to remember !Â
Makai Sushi, the juice bar açaà bowls, and Loco Coco shaved ice were my perfect trifecta while in Kauai.  I still dream of them over a year later.  Glad you had a fun trip!
Yes, they’re all right there! love it!
I understand why you have 5 kids!
Hahaha. Yes, he’s hot!
Aside from your trip, there was a very nice article in my small town news paper about your husband and his playing ability with the Dolphins. Paper: Stuart News (FL)
Really? That’s awesome!!!!
Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos from your trip! I was wondering where you got your cute swimming suit you were wearing on the boat with your husband?
Thank you.
Susie
Not sure if I answered this yet. My top is Anne Cole and the bottom is a pleated skirt from Beach House. Both I ordered off Amazon!!
sounds like a fabulous trip! Happy anniversary to you and your hubs.. Thanks for sharing!!!!
Thank you! It was short and sweet but we did all thing things.
I’m going to Kauai in 3 weeks! Thanks for this, I’m going to save it.Â
You’ll love it! Check out the links at the bottom. My friends wrote up posts on their trips and we all kind of hit different spots.