Palm trees, giant turtles, warm water, shaved ice, sand between the toes, chickens everywhere: Kauai. What a perfect place for our first family vacation!
This past May, my wonderful mother flew herself, our little family, and my brother's little family to Hawaii for seven days. In retrospect, I can think of no place more perfect than Hawaii to have a family getaway that includes young children. I mean, my 2-year-old daughter definitely knew what a turtle was before we went to Hawaii, but I am not certain she knew they were, like, real. For all I know, she thought a turtle was the same thing as a dinosaur or unicorn. The look of complete wonder and amazement on her face when we walked down to Poipu Beach the first night and she saw four huge sea turtles swimming/walking ashore made the 6-hour flight completely worth it.
While in Hawaii, we stayed in a lovely beach house in Poipu that was less than a five minute walk to the main beach, Poipu Beach. We spent most of our beach time at Poipu Beach because it has a perfect baby beach, a term used to describe a calm and shallow area of water that is protected from the rough sea. Even better, every morning and evening, we would see anywhere between three to eight giant sea turtles either dozing on the beach, wading into the sea, or coming in from the water. It was a really neat experience although I wish other tourists would be more mindful of reading and obeying the signs that state to keep a distance from the turtles.
We also explored a few other beaches in western Kauai, Salt Pond Beach and Glass Beach. The first was good (but not amazing in comparison to Poipu Beach) and the second was really disappointing because tourists stole all of the glass, literally. They should change its name to No More Glass Beach. While we were interested in some beaches in the northern part of the island, the only road there was closed due to damage from flooding, and only local traffic was allowed through when we were there. While a bummer, Poipu Beach really was the perfect place for us to play in the sand and water.
One afternoon, we drove to Waimea Canyon, which is called "the Grand Canyon of the Pacific". Now, I have to be honest-- it was really beautiful, but it was also kind of a let down. Let me back track: when I was 16, my family went to Kauai, and we took a helicopter tour of Waimea Canyon. There were hundreds of waterfalls, it was misty, and the canyon walls looked close enough that I could reach out my hand to touch them. That was the experience I had in mind as we drove up the narrow, winding roads to the canyon.
Obviously, driving into the canyon and flying into the canyon are nowhere close to the same experience. We parked alongside tour buses, walked up a few sets of stairs, and had only a small observation deck to look out from. It was blistering hot and nearing lunch time, so we didn't do any of the hikes, especially because very few hikes in Kauai are baby friendly. While the canyon was beautiful, I think I went in with lofty expectations only a helicopter tour could fulfill.
Obviously, driving into the canyon and flying into the canyon are nowhere close to the same experience. We parked alongside tour buses, walked up a few sets of stairs, and had only a small observation deck to look out from. It was blistering hot and nearing lunch time, so we didn't do any of the hikes, especially because very few hikes in Kauai are baby friendly. While the canyon was beautiful, I think I went in with lofty expectations only a helicopter tour could fulfill.
Of course, we also went to a luau because, well, Hawaii. At first, I was a little worried they were going to have a dead pig roasting over a fire for all the world to see (only because my daughter is obsessed with Peppa Pig and has no idea her breakfast sausages are made out of Peppa and I didn't think a luau that was already past her bedtime was an ideal way to find out). Alas, there was no pig roasting over a fire, and the girls had such a blast watching the dances! My niece even ended up on the stage dancing! They were absolutely mesmerized by the fire dances and songs, and more than a month later, my daughter still talks about it! Only a few things scared my daughter like the Maori dance that included a lot of angry-sounding yelling. Overall, this is one thing I know she still remembers really, really clearly a month after it happened.
Another really fun experience we had was visiting the Kauai Plantation Railway. We took the 40-minute tour on a historic wooden train through a plantation that had all kinds of fruits, veggies, and tropical trees! My daughter was so excited to ride a train that I thought she would burst. It was even more exciting because she got to feed pigs and other animals! Her grandma also bought her a stuffed animal chicken that she spent the rest of the trip walking around with everywhere we went! In the end, the turtles, pigs, and chickens were her favorite things about Hawaii!
Our first family vacation was a huge success, and my Mom did a great job trip planning. Staying in Poipu was the perfect choice because of its walkable roads and baby-friendly beaches. Our rental house was perfect because there was enough room for everyone and it had a large kitchen, big indoor and outdoor seating areas, and a fun yard for the girls to play in!
I would recommend Hawaii for any young family because it is literally wonderland for small children. I mean, there are turtles, dolphins, fish, whales, chickens, pigs, etc. There are ginormous, colorful wild flowers and beautiful, tall trees. The water can be mellow, warm, and perfect for them to plash around in and chase fish! I just showed my daughter these pictures from Hawaii today, and she said: baby go big wawa please! She loved her time there so much, and for our family, it was a very special time for everyone to be together before we fly off to Taiwan in a month!
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