Kauai, Hawaii with a Baby
Kauai, Hawaii was a dream trip. I decided to bring our family here for a variety of reasons. I was able to find a CME course and Calvin was still under 2 so we could get him on flight as lap child. We had been to Maui and Big Island and I wanted to check out another Hawaiian Island. I took 12 days off of work but with travel time and such ended up being more like 10 full days of travel. Having a car to navigate the island gives the flexibility of staying in one place if you want. We did move a few times but you could easily stay in one place the whole time. This helped us not to lug all the baby stuff around every day changing hotels etc. This trip was very feasible with minimal changing of accommodation. From the eastern part of the US, many flights involve a layover to Hawaii, so that constitutes the first day. The flight back was a red eye so that is the last day. So ultimately, we had 10 days to explore. We really crammed in a ton! Hope this itinerary helps in your own journey!
Getting to Kauai, hawaii
If you are flying from the east coast of the USA anticipate a day of travel to and from Hawaii with a layover. This is a much easier flight from the west coast and direct flights are available. You can visit Hawaii on a cruise but involves several days at sea. If you are traveling with a toddler, you should be aware of the length of the travel and account for that as well as the time change.
Getting around Kauai (with a baby)
The easiest way to get around Kauai, Hawaii is by renting your own car. It gives you the flexibility to get around and see various parts of the island. If you do not want to rent a car, you can take taxis, join tours but you are somewhat limited on where you go and timing. It is also very convenient if you are traveling with a toddler. It lets you be able to go shopping for your toddler and to tailor your day around your child’s schedule as well.
Twelve day itinerary Kauai, Hawaii
Day One- Travel to Kauai
If you’re going to Hawaii from the East Coast, the first day of your trip will be spent traveling to the island. For us and involved a flight from Baltimore to San Francisco, a short layover and a continuing flight to Lihue from San Francisco. The total flight time was over 10 hours and with Driving to the airport, checking in and the layover. It was a very full day. When we arrived to the island, we picked up our rental car which while on the airport you still need to get a shuttle to pick up from there we made a brief stop at Safeway Grocery store to pick up some essentials just for the morning and then check into our hotel. We took showers and immediately went to bed.
DAY TWO-Lydgate Beach Park, Wailua Waterfall and ‘Opaeka’a Falls
When you’re going to Hawaii, which is six hours time difference from Eastern standard time, you are bound to wake up very early in the morning. This is compounded when you have a toddler who is used to waking up at 5:30 in the morning. So, we woke up at the bright and early time of 3 AM and proceeded to play and eat until the sun rose around 6 AM. From there, we stopped to get some breakfast and then headed to Lydgate Beach Park. this park is very good because it has a very incredible playground for kids. We were able to have some breakfast on some picnic tables watching the sunrise and followed that by playing on the playground. We went for a nice nap starting at 10 AM and I also took part in the nap after that we did a drive from our Hotel Plantation Hale Suites to the Wailua Waterfall. You can see this waterfall from an overlook. There used to be a hike down to the waterfall, but that has been closed by the government so we just looked at it from above. We drove back to the playground for Calvin to play some more after that we proceeded to ‘Opaeka’a Falls, which is also an overlook of the waterfall and also overlooks the river. During this day, we also made a run to Walmart. We picked up some food to make over the next few days in our stay as it had a fully equipped kitchen, and we thought it would be easier to adjust given the time differences.
DAY THREE- Kilauea Lighthouse, Hanalei, and Na’Aina Kai Botanical Gardens
We woke again at a very early hour. We had bagels and breakfast at home and then we proceeded at sunrise to drive up to the northern aspect of the island. Our first stop was the Kilauea lighthouse which currently is closed. However, the overlook is still open and very beautiful. It is a great place to see birds dolphins, and whales. Since we were on such an early schedule after viewing the lighthouse, we headed to Java, Kai bar coffee roasters here we had some banana bread and the macadamia nut iced coffee, which was delicious. After that we headed down to Hanalei pier. On this drive, you can stop at two great lookout the Hanalei Valley Outlook, which is on the left side as you’re heading to Hanalei and the Hanalei Bay outlook, which is on the right and can only be access from the right as it is on a curve. We jumped out for some quick pictures and headed on our way. We parked at the Black Pot Beach parking, which is right in front of the Hanalei Pier. Since we were here pretty early parking was no trouble. We walked the Hanalei Pier and part of the Hanalei Beach. After going to the beach, we made a quick stop at Wai’oli Hui’ia church which is an iconic green church on the island. Since we were there on the weekend, we were also able to check out the Hanalei farmers market, which is only open on Saturday, Saturdays from 9 AM till noon. They had live music, local produce, and several local artisan booths. After this, we headed to Na ‘Aina Kai Botanical Gardens and Sculpture Park. One weekend a month they have a kids event with a splash pad in one of the sculpture fountains as well as a playground. It is $10 per person for anyone over the age of one and is open from 9 AM to 1 PM. If you’re lucky enough to be here on the weekend that has this event and you have young children. It is a lot of fun for them. You can bring in outside food and drinks. If you wanna visit this botanical garden of sculpture Park otherwise you have to make a reservation for a tour through the gardens. This kids event giving you access just to one small subset of the park really designated for the kids. It was perfect for our 20 month old toddler after this we headed back to our hotel to eat and for nap time. In the afternoon we spent around the resort.
DAY FOUR-Lydgate Beach Park, Ho’opi’i Falls Hike, Kauai Coffee Company, Old Koala Town
Today was the day we were leaving from our current accommodation to check in to the Grand Hyatt for my CME medical conference. The baby woke up extra early today in the morning. Once the sun was up, we went to the Kamalani playground for a little bit. We were lucky enough to secure a late check out of new, which was super beneficial as the baby napped early starting around 8:30 AM. While the baby was napping, Thomas stayed back and I took the car to do a nearby hike of Ho’opi’i Falls. After we checked out, we proceeded to head to the southern side of the island. We stopped at the Kauai Coffee Company. This is where the coffee is grown, and there is a self guided walk. They offer free samples of various coffee and also have gift shop and little shop for ice cream and coffee. We stopped in old Kōloa town which is super cute. Here you can get ice cream at The Fresh Shave, get great iced coffee at Java Kai or check out local brewery Mucho Aloha. After that we headed to Grand Hyatt to check in and explored the grounds in the evening.
DAY Five-Grand Hyatt Resort
Today was the first day of the CME medical conference the great thing about Cme conferences is that they’re tailored for vacation so the lectures are in the morning time and you have the afternoon off. We were still on a very early schedule so got up very early fed the baby read some books and then proceeded to the conference in the afternoon. We explored the grounds. We were very tired so we got takeout burritos from Da crack. They were very good.
DAY SIX-Grand Hyatt and Failed scenic flight
The first part of the day was CME lectures for me and Thomas and Calvin got to you. Hang around the hotel and play and nap. In the afternoon we were planning to take a scenic flight around the island through the company Wings Over Kauai. We were going to take a Cessna plane just for us three. As we were driving, it started raining and some heavy clouds across the island. The pilot mentioned how typically they were able to fly through the Waimea Canyon, however because of the clouds in the rain they would not be able to they still would be able to circle the island if we wanted to do that or we had an option to reschedule. We looked at the weather and we decided to reschedule for Thursday afternoon. So we headed back to the resort to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Somehow our resort was totally in the sun while the rest of the island was in the rain!
DAY Seven- hanapepe Swinging Bridge, Waimea Canyon and Grand Hyatt Resort
Today was my free day from the CME conference so we decided to take use of the day to drive the Waimea canyon. Once again we were up very early and headed to the canyon on the way we stopped at the Hanapepe Swinging Bridge. There is a small area of parking in a cute little town there however we were there so early that we were the only ones there I had the bridge completely to myself. Next, we headed into the canyon. I highly recommend going early to beat the crowds. I would also recommend stopping back at the main viewpoint on way out because lighting very different as the sun rises.
DAY Eight- Scenic flight
Today in the morning I had my CME lectures. Today was our scenic flight rescheduled. The scenic flight was definitely a highlight of the trip and I highly recommend doing either a flight or helicopter ride while visiting this island. It is a great way to see the Waimea Canyon and the Napali Coast. The scenic flight is ideal for a baby (as the boat rides and helicopters don’t allow young children).
DAY Nine- Grand Hyatt to the Kauai Coast Resort at the Beach Boy
Today was the last day of conference. We checked out of the Grand Hyatt and enjoyed the pools and the grounds before heading across the island to our last accommodation at the Kauai Coast Resort at the Beach Boy for the last couple nights of our stay. In the morning, I watched sunrise on Shipwreck Beach. There is a small hike up the cliff which gave a great view of the beach and the Grand Hyatt.
DAY ten- Snorkeling, Kauai Plantation Railway, Popiu Beach, and Spouting Horn
Today was completely full day and really gave an overview of most of the island . We woke up very early again and headed to the furthest north point you can go without a permit: Haena beach. We headed there to be able to snorkel at Tunnels Beach. This is considered one of the best snorkel areas on the island. After Tunnels Beach, we headed to another famous snorkel beach: Anini Beach. Calvin was napping, so Thomas stayed with him while I got to go snorkel! In the afternoon, we went to the Kauai Plantation Railway which has a 40 minute ride through the plantation including a petting and feeding zoo! It’s a great activity for the kids! We then went to Popiu beach to see the sea turtles resting on the shore and Calvin played on the playground. We also stopped at Spouting Horn! It was a packed day but we did a ton with our last full day on the island!
DAY Eleven- Last day in Kauai
In the morning, I caught sunrise on the beach of our hotel. We checked out the resort pools in the morning. We were lucky to get a late check out. After checking out, we went back to our favorite place the Kamalani Playground. We had a meal and drink at the Napali Brewing Company. We got to the airport early for our car return and check in and thank goodness we did! With the extra screening we made it through basically just on time to get to our flight!
DAY Twelve- Flight home
Taking a red eye back home means you have to account for an extra day of travel with the time zones. We had quite the journey returning with our car seat not making it, delays in the air and hitting horrible rush hour traffic home so this entire day was spent traveling to get home!
Itinerary with Baby
Traveling with a baby is doable to Hawaii but be very prepared for the extra long flights and the time zone change. We never really adjusted to the time zone but it worked well adjusting when we got back. Once you are there traveling around is easy especially with your own car! There are lots of things you can do with small children but especially in Kauai there are some things you cannot (boat tour Napali Coast, helicopter tours, Secret Falls Tour, renting kayaks). We loved it here but definitely think would be a better trip for children over 5. Guess we will have to come back!
