Colas in Kauai: Rise Up This Mornin,' Smiled With The Risin' Sun

Want to see a one minute glimpse of what Mr. Cola and I woke up to every morning we were in Kauai? I took this video lying in bed. Sigh, wish I was back there now, listening to the softly crashing waves!

And it only got better a few minutes later.

But maybe this post needs some mood music?

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On day 6 of our honeymoon we woke up even earlier than we had all week to go on our snorkel adventure up the Na Pali coast. We had to check in for the trip in town at 6:45am, where we were given juice and donuts, followed by a van ride to the water and a canoe transfer to our boat. The trip was with a company called Na Pali Catamaran, and I can't recommend them enough, since they're one of only two companies that have tours leaving from Hanalei; most tours leave from the south side of the island, and you waste a bunch of time just getting to the Na Pali coast.

Here's a look at our cute little boat. It was a small tour with only 16 people max, so it wasn't crowded at all, but be sure you get on the first trip to the water on the van--you want to get a good seat on the boat for the scenic trip up the coast like we did!


Inside one of several sea caves the boat went into. Only small boats like this one can enter these caves, and only on really calm days.

Us, in front of a waterfall inside another sea cave.

The gorgeous jagged cliffs of the Na Pali coast. No wonder there are no roads along here!

After motoring up the coast for about an hour and a half, we had about an hour for snorkeling. I got to see a sea turtle (one of my goals of our trip!), and swam after her for a little bit. So amazing to see in real life!

After getting our fill of snorkeling and eating an early lunch on the boat, it was a quick and wet ride back to Hanalei Bay, where we arrived by about 11:30am. We had the rest of the afternoon to spend on the beach in front of our house, but I wasn't in the mood for lounging, I was in the mood for PLAYING (although my sand castle building skills do leave much to be desired and I managed to bruise my ribs and arm while boogie boarding)!
I also found another stick to play with, but this time I didn't use it to poke at crabs, I used it to do some sand writing.

And of course I was thinking about the Hive!

But then this happened! Oh well, we all know weddings rock too! ;)

The next morning was our final day in Kauai, and we decided to get in a little more relaxation. Or, Mr. Cola got in some relaxation, I spent my morning finding more awesome crabs to watch!

I also found this white stuff washed up on the beach, and I thought it might be part of a dead fish, so with a stick, I put it next to a crab hole. Apparently whatever it was, the crab loved it. Free meal! I can't get enough of Discovery Channel and National Geographic, so it was fun to make my own video of this cute little crab going to town on his lunch!

Mid-afternoon our last full day on Kauai, we drove a few miles to the "end of the road" where you can't drive any further because it's the beginning of the Na Pali coast. Along the way we stopped at a huge dry cave.

We spent the late afternoon and early evening on Ke'e beach. The hill in the picture below is where the Na Pali coast starts!

I, of course, couldn't sit still, and while Mr. Cola soaked up the rays, I jumped in for one last snorkel. Other than seeing the sea turtle, this was my favorite snorkel of our trip!

"OMG, look, a rare and endangered Kauai chicken!" (Just being silly, the chickens were everywhere!)

As the sun began to set on our final night on Kauai, we ate sandwiches and Mr. Cola opened one of our last precious bottles of Lone Oak Cabernet, which we'd brought all the way from California to enjoy. This is the wine that, 5 years ago, made me actually appreciate red wines, and we've been saving our last few bottles for only very special occasions. This definitely qualified!

Sigh....best sunset of our trip!

As the sky darkened and our bottle emptied, we headed back to our house where I made salmon for dinner, and we soaked up the last bit of our glorious honeymoon.

....but wait! Remember this post from back in March? The one where we discovered it would be cheaper to do a 23 hour layover on Oahu than fly directly back home from Kauai?

Well that's up next, I'll be concluding our honeymoon recaps with our bonus honeymoon day!

(all pictures in this post are personal photos)