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Looking to travel to Hawaii soon? Here's an adventure packed itinerary to two of Hawaii's beautiful Islands, Kauai and Oahu. This itinerary includes 7 days in Kauai and 7 days in Oahu, both islands offer plenty of adventure and breathing taking views for your next trip.
Day 1 - Travel Day
Tampa -> Lihue
Day 2 - Kauai
Start the day off with a NaPali Coast tour.
We did a boat tour with North Shore Charters and it was a blast racing along with the waves while the cliffs tower overhead. If you want to be on a different boat type like a catamaran or rigid hull raft here are some other boat tours, or check out a helicopter tour if you want a different point of view.
The boat tour was about a half day adventure, so spend the afternoon either snorkeling a beach or enjoying a nearby hike.
Day 3 - Kauai
Today we drove up west side of the island towards the Kalalau Valley lookout.
Be sure to stop at all of the overlooks and soak in the views. We opted to skip any hiking in Waimea Canyon as most guides we read said that you can see nearly everything directly from the vistas.
Tip: if your view is covered by clouds, just give it 10 mins and the clouds will clear up.
At the end of the road take a short hike along the Pihea Trail; A majority of this hike was flat and easy, but there were a few steep muddy sections that made it tougher.
After our hike we rinsed off at Poipu Beach, dried off, and took a quick walk around Kauai Coffee company.
On our way back to the condo we stopped to see Opaekaa falls vista.
Day 4 - Kauai
Bring some lunch and head back to the west side of the island to go for a hike with a beautiful view.
Awa’awapuhi Trail - This trail was fairly easy, any incline/decline was gradual and we were in shade most of the time. We sat at the end of the trail having lunch while overlooking the cliffs.
Honopu Ridge is another trail nearby that gives an even better view of the Na Pali Coast but it's not officially maintained so check it out at your own risk.
After our hike we took an easy drive to Wailua Falls
Day 5 - Kauai
Rent a Kayak from Kayak Kauai and head out on your own or book one of their tours and make the combination paddle and hike out to Uluwehi Falls (secret falls).
The paddle up river was fairly easy but the area to tie off the kayak and start the hike was packed. The hiking was easy except the river crossing can be busy or have a high water level, so be careful, respect others, and hold on to the rope.
Day 6 - Kauai
We started off our day by attempting to hike Ho’oip’i Falls, but due to a closure we were only able to hike to the first falls. After our first hike attempt we drove over to Kilauea Lighthouse to spent a short time walking the grounds and watching the waves crash against the rocks.
Around lunch time we went down to Kahili Beach Preserve to enjoy our sandwiches and watch a few surfers while enjoying an otherwise empty beach. From the beach cross the river and make the short hike over to the Pools of Mokolea. During the afternoon we made a visit to Queens Bath. This is an extremely popular spot when the swells allow you to visit but there is almost no parking available. Once you find a place to park make the steep muddy hike down and enjoy the beautiful pool. I can’t stress enough, please always be cautious of the swells as this area can be dangerous.
To end our day we did scheduled a Koloa Rum tasting.
Day 7 - Kauai
Today we intended to have a full day hike to Hanakapi’ai falls. This hike starts off on the first section of the Kalalau Trail where you get to enjoy the views of the massive cliffs jutting straight out of the ocean. Once you arrive at Hanakapi’ai beach you start to head inland, unfortunately this is where our hike ended. Due to rainfall the river was flowing high and there was a ranger stopping any hikers. After spending some time watching the river and a group of backpackers form a human chain to cross we decided to hike back and spend the afternoon snorkeling at Ke’e beach.
Day 8 - Kauai
Started our morning by hiking Sleeping Giant Trail
This hike ends with a beautiful cliff edge with nearly 360 degree views.
Once done with our hike we relaxed at Lydgate Beach.
Day 9 - Oahu
Travel morning Kauai -> Oahu
After arriving we took a scenic drive around southeast side of the island from the airport over to Kailua.
Once we met our VRBO host and checked in we relaxed the afternoon away at Kailua beach park
Day 10 - Oahu
This morning we went up to the north side of the island for Shark cage diving but instead of doing this with a cage I would recommend going with One Ocean Diving to free swim with sharks instead.
Since we weren't too far away we stopped and took a quick walk along pipeline before heading to Turtle beach. There were so many turtles that we could barely walk on the beach. On our way back to Kailua we stopped at the Pali lookout.
Day 11 - Oahu
The morning was spent on a Kualoa Ranch movie tour. If you don’t know, this is the ranch where they film a ton of movies in Hawaii such as Jurassic Park and 50 First Dates. It looks like our movie tour is no longer available but they have a bunch of other tours, take whichever one peaks your interest.
After our ranch tour we took a hike to Muanawili Falls but unfortunately this hike it currently closed until Summer 2023.
Day 12 - Oahu
Today we slept in and took a late morning hike up to the Lanikai Pillboxes. Its a short steep hike with very little shade, but completely worth the beautiful view.
The rest of our day was spent doing a Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Day 13 - Oahu
Mokoli’i Island (china mans hat)
This was our favorite part of Oahu, we loved the kayak out and the hike/climb to the top of the island.
Depending on the tide and swell you could use a paddle board, surf board, kayak, or we did see a group with pool floats swimming out; we ended up walking our kayak back to shore instead of paddling back.
The afternoon was spent relaxing at Kailua beach, but maybe add a hike in or head to a different area of the island to relax.
Day 14 - Oahu
Surfing lessons with Sunset Suzy on the north shore. This was our first time surfing and they picked a great spot that was nearly empty, the instructor was helpful, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time. We were exhausted by the end of the lesson and spent the rest of the day relaxing.
Day 15 - Oahu & Travel Home
Our final day started off with watching the sunrise from Lanikai pillbox, be sure you have a light for this hike, since you want to hike up in the dark and get the full view of the sunrise.
We made our way closer to Honolulu and visited Pearl Harbor before spending our last afternoon relaxing around downtown Oahu; you can explore the shops, or go see the famous Waikiki Beach.
Then it time to catch a flight home.
Where we stayed:
Kauai - Wailua bay - Great middle ground to travel the entire island with ease. We rented a condo that was nearly identical to this one*.
Oahu - Kailua - We preferred a VRBO over a resort, but the place we stayed in is no longer available
*Affiliate Link