Kuaua’i - port Pride of America

 There was a medical emergency overnight that took us to Honolulu. We didn’t realize this, but it made us late arriving in Kuaua’i. Here we had an excursion booked with Napali Experience and I was worried we would miss it, but we made it in time. We hung out on the ship for a little. We booked a rental car again and grabbed a taxi to pick it up.

Our 1st stop was at Popui beach. We were scoping it out for tomorrow. We didn’t see turtles, but saw a seal in the distance.

Pool on ship

Hot tub on ship

Pretty drive

Seal in the distance

We then headed for our small boat excursion. It was rough at times, we went into 2 caves. We booked this to be able to go into caves. The snorkel area with turtles was too rough, so we snorkeled a different place but didn’t see much. They provided snacks - some fresh pineapple, granola bars, ships and soda. The excursion was fun - we saw sites where Pirates of the Caribbean and Jurassic Park were filmed.

Rooster

Waterfall

Headed into a cave

Inside a cave

Napali coast

Fresh pineapple

Driving the boat

Driving the boat

We then headed to see Waimea Canyon. It was gorgeous and we were able to see the Napali Coast from a different vantage.

We then headed back to the airport and took a taxi back to the ship and had late dinner at Cadillac Diner.

The next morning we got up early and got our rental and headed to Popui beach. This place was amazing. They had something for everyone. There was snorkeling, surfing, calm swimming and wildlife. We saw several turtles, a monk seal and tons of fish. It may not have been as clear as 2 step, but we saw so many fish it was like swimming in an aquarium. It was shallow so we were close.

Rainbow

Monk seal

Monk seal

Sea turtle

Sea turtle

Monk seal

We then grabbed some ice cream and Dole whip in the little town nearby Kuloa.

We then stopped by Wailua falls which was the waterfall featured in the TV show Fantasy Island. We then found a little store that sold jewelry. I had lost my ring snorkeling, so we found a beautiful replacement.

We then headed back to the ship. We ate on ship, hung at pool, played ping pong. The ship went by the Napali coast later and we watched from our balcony.

Rainbow 

We missed going to the North Shore and will just have to come back to this beautiful island!