Kauai Vacation Packages

Best time to take a trip to Kauai

Best Time to Go on a Kauai vacation

With a year-round temperature averaging 70 to 85 degrees, even summer spends the winter in Hawaii. On Kauai, the Poipu area is often sunniest, while the tropical North Shore’s more frequent showers create waterfalls and rainbows.

Winter and early spring are the highest seasons for prices and crowds, which decrease come early summer as well as September through November. Rates and crowds peak again in December as the holidays and humpback whales arrive.

You may want to time your trip with a local event such as the Koloa Plantation Days Celebration in July, Kauai Mokihana Festival in September or December’s cheery Festival of Lights.

Insider tips for Kauai travel

Pono Market

Drop by this Kauai gem for local-style grinds such as fresh-made laulau, manju, poke and Spam chorizo, made right in Kapaa.

Pali Ke Kua Beach (aka Hideaways)

This dreamy duo of pocketsize beaches on the North Shore is a snorkeler’s paradise in summer’s calm seas. The reckless cliff-route down deters the crowds, too.

Koloa Rum Co

Kauai makes some seriously yummy rum. Learn how it's made from Island-grown sugarcane and mountain rainwater. An onsite tasting room also sells bottled goods.

Ke Ala Hele Makalae Trail

East Kauai opens to the ocean along miles of connected coastal pathway, perfect for long walks and biking. Meet the locals and savor some of Kauai’s best views.

Allerton, Limahuli and McBryde Gardens

Explore a tropical-paradise trio of seriously scientific botanical gardens, with diverse landscapes ranging from estate statues and fountains to ancient Hawaiian archeological sites.

Things to do in Kauai

Anini Beach

Cry a tear for beauty’s sake at Anini, a turquoise-sea, golden-sand, nature-fringed beach beauty. The offshore reef creates shallow swimming-lagoon conditions.

Hanalei

Old Hawaii emerges from the watercolor-painting mist in Hanalei, a dreamscape of verdant taro patches, narrow bridges, plantation-style architecture and sleepy beachfront.

Kalalau Trail

The legendary (and strenuous) 22-mile-roundtrip trail presents Kauai’s most picturesque coastline in epic proportions. Sample it with a daytrip, turning around after two miles at Hanakapiai.

Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge

Clouds of swirling seabirds, a vintage lighthouse and offshore whales in winter make this stop a nature-lover's bliss.

Waimea Canyon - Kokee State Park

The great green flanks of the Na Pali Coast hide a deep-red canyon interior that you've got to see to believe. The park also hosts a surreal collection of Jurassic Park-style trails.

Na Pali Coast

Mother Nature went all tiger-momma when she etched this remote coastline, a panorama of needle-sharp peaks, virgin beachlets and mysterious valleys. Worth every minute (and dollar) on a boat or helicopter tour.

Opaekaa Falls

A tropical-island cascade in Fantasy Island fashion, Wailua River’s Opaekaa Falls offers the perfect brag-on-Facebook views.

Poipu Beach

Find your corner of paradise at the haute couture of Kauai beaches: ultra sunny, style-perfect and hemmed with a low-rise-resort coastline.

Wailua River State Park

Kayak up a lazy river to Fern Grotto, the romantic subject of 1950s postcards. Explore archeological sites at Wailua Complex, a National Historic Landmark.