Kauai Tiki report - Tiki Travel

B bamalamalu Tiki Socialite Joined: Mar 20, 2006 Posts: 1288	B bamalamalu Posted posted on Thu, Mar 1, 2007 9:53 PM Hi, thanks to everyone for all the Kauai tips posted here (and in other threads). I finally made it back a few weeks ago after a painfully long absence and the info here came in handy! I will join the chorus recommending the Tidepools restaurant at the Poipu Hyatt. Though I'd been to Kauai before and did tons of recent research, I never would have known about this place without TC. We made reservations there for a 70th birthday dinner and it really is a cool place. It was much more Tiki than I expected, with tons of bamboo & tapa everywhere; and the Koi just below the tables is a fun touch (request a table on the outside edge when you make a reservation). A nice restaurant that you can bring your parents to, and still get your Tiki fix at the same time. It's not inexpensive, but all the meals and the service were very good, and their Tai Chi drink was good enough for an encore round. (It wouldn't be a bad idea to call to reconfirm your reservation - I had made ours for 7:30pm, but when we arrived they said they'd had us down for 6pm) Next time I'd like to swing by during the day to try and get a better look at everything. Another food stop I haven't seen mentioned here was Scotty's Beachside Barbeque. Right on the water in Kapaa, they have a great setting. There's a small park right outside the building, with the ocean just behind. The whole beachside wall of the restaurant is open - it's just huge garage doors that they roll up while they're open, so it's a totally unobstructed view. It can get windy if you pick a rainy/cooler evening, but it's still nice, and hard to beat on a sunny afternoon. Food was excellent & plentiful, good service, casual, relaxed atmosphere. The picture below with the cruise ship between the palm trees was taken from our table. We did the Smith Family Luau, which was pretty much exactly as I remembered it. As a bonus, their Mai Tais were among the most palatable we found on the whole trip. I really like the East Coast area and booked there again this time. We ended up at the Lanikai in Kapaa in a large two-bedroom oceanfront condo. Very nice. I'm having trouble sleeping without the sound of the surf now that I'm back home. Went for a Na Pali catamaran tour and managed to pick the one day with astonishingly calm seas for February. In addition to the stunning scenery of the land, we saw tons of dolphins and whales and a few turtles to boot. We went with Liko Kauai, who did a great job. Also did a helicopter tour this time, which I'd never done before. Waaaay cool. As usual, there wasn't nearly enough time to do (and eat!) everything I wanted to. We were in Hanalei too early for Tahiti Nui, I never made it to Hamura's...but I'm planning to get back before the end of the year to remedy that.

Hi, thanks to everyone for all the Kauai tips posted here (and in other threads). I finally made it back a few weeks ago after a painfully long absence and the info here came in handy!

I will join the chorus recommending the Tidepools restaurant at the Poipu Hyatt. Though I'd been to Kauai before and did tons of recent research, I never would have known about this place without TC. We made reservations there for a 70th birthday dinner and it really is a cool place. It was much more Tiki than I expected, with tons of bamboo & tapa everywhere; and the Koi just below the tables is a fun touch (request a table on the outside edge when you make a reservation). A nice restaurant that you can bring your parents to, and still get your Tiki fix at the same time. It's not inexpensive, but all the meals and the service were very good, and their Tai Chi drink was good enough for an encore round. (It wouldn't be a bad idea to call to reconfirm your reservation - I had made ours for 7:30pm, but when we arrived they said they'd had us down for 6pm) Next time I'd like to swing by during the day to try and get a better look at everything.

Another food stop I haven't seen mentioned here was Scotty's Beachside Barbeque. Right on the water in Kapaa, they have a great setting. There's a small park right outside the building, with the ocean just behind. The whole beachside wall of the restaurant is open - it's just huge garage doors that they roll up while they're open, so it's a totally unobstructed view. It can get windy if you pick a rainy/cooler evening, but it's still nice, and hard to beat on a sunny afternoon. Food was excellent & plentiful, good service, casual, relaxed atmosphere. The picture below with the cruise ship between the palm trees was taken from our table.

We did the Smith Family Luau, which was pretty much exactly as I remembered it. As a bonus, their Mai Tais were among the most palatable we found on the whole trip. I really like the East Coast area and booked there again this time. We ended up at the Lanikai in Kapaa in a large two-bedroom oceanfront condo. Very nice. I'm having trouble sleeping without the sound of the surf now that I'm back home.

Went for a Na Pali catamaran tour and managed to pick the one day with astonishingly calm seas for February. In addition to the stunning scenery of the land, we saw tons of dolphins and whales and a few turtles to boot. We went with Liko Kauai, who did a great job. Also did a helicopter tour this time, which I'd never done before. Waaaay cool.

As usual, there wasn't nearly enough time to do (and eat!) everything I wanted to. We were in Hanalei too early for Tahiti Nui, I never made it to Hamura's...but I'm planning to get back before the end of the year to remedy that.

Post #289105 by bamalamalu on Thu, Mar 1, 2007 9:53 PM