At the end of April we took a trip to Kauai, which is one of my favorite relaxing destinations. Hawaii is pure magic and Kauai in particular has my favorite wild landscape and more authentic feel. I did an extensive post with favorite activities and beaches from my trip a few years ago, but I did receive some questions about where we stayed this go around. I have actually never stayed at a hotel in Hawaii. We always do a rental property and find that to be the easiest with making a lot of meals at home, especially since we were in a group of six. When on Kauai, we always stay in Poipu which is my favorite part of the island because it has far less rain than the north and I love Poipu Bech Park for swimming. We stayed at this house, which was so stunning to be right on the water. There is truly nothing like falling asleep to the sound of crashing waves and eating fresh pineapple out on the balcony every morning is ideally how I would start all my days!

Although we make most of our meals at the house, we do love to go out to a few nice dinners on every trip. The Beach House is hands down my favorite restaurant. The food/drinks are so good and the view of the sunset is perfection. The lanai outside of the restaurant is an ideal place to sit and take in the views and feels like quintessential Hawaii. This trip we also went to Duke’s in Lihue which is always a tourist hotspot, but feels so nostalgic. Also the views of the bay from the restaurant are so beautiful – I would request a table with a view of the water. We also like to go up to Hanalei Bay and walk around town which has some great lunch spots. If you are looking for cute shops – Kapaʻa has some very pretty options including Monkey Palm, Kiko and Shipwrecked Kauai.

The Rhode Pia dress is a warm weather vacation favorite, I love the big balloon sleeves!

Views in front of Duke’s

We always stop for lunch at Chicken In A Barrel BBQ, located at the charming Waimea Plantation Cottages which you can rent

Lana’s Cafe in Kapa’a

I love this hat so much, a new summer staple!

My Packing List