These are great. Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:We did Haleakala at sunrise and biked down - absolute highlight of the trip for me.

I have done that, too, and it is pretty awesome!

favorite things we did in Kauai:

Hike along NaPali coast- be careful as it is muddy and slipper

Queen's bath was one of my favorite spots

some sort of boat tour off the Napali coast- we did a snorkeling one, second what others said about taking Dramamine- I was fine but my husband got a little green

Helicopter tour if you want to splurge. It was expensive and a splurge for us, but totally worth it.

I didn't love Waimea Canyon; I much preferred the lush napali coast.

We did Haleakala at sunrise and biked down - absolute highlight of the trip for me.

Kauai is just astoundingly beautiful. Helicopter ride is pricey but really a don’t-miss. Also, as PP mentioned, boat cruise along the NaPali coast. Hiking in Waimea canyon — we did the Alakai swamp trail; took about 7 hours but just fascinating. We stayed in Poipu but enjoyed the drive up
to Princeville — so lush and green up there. Also did a zipline tour. Enjoy! We can’t wait to go back!

In Maui, the Road to Hana (get the gypsy app, it’s invaluabie).

We drove through Waimea Canyon on Kauai and hiked through the trails at the end. It was beautiful. We also hiked along Kuilau Ridge Trail and the Nounou Mountain Trail.

We did the Haleakala ride with a small family run company and did NOT do it at Sunrise--we really enjoyed it. I will try to find the website and post it. It ended with a ride to a winery for lunch.

I really liked hiking the Na Pali coast in Kauai.

In Maui I thought the sunrise at the volcano / bike ride down was overrated. If you are going to Kauai, I think you can skip the Road to Hana - the whole island of Kauai is like that. But I feel like these two are very popular things so you should do them if you want - I don’t want you to miss out bc I said so in this post

I'll post for Kauai -- it's been a while since I"ve been to Maui, so others probably have better suggestions.
One idea, though, is that I think the luau options are better in Maui. I remember one that was considered "nicer" in Maui, but it books very early, so we didn't get it. Kauai has more of a small town feel, so there's less of that.
I think the snorkeling might also be better in Maui. Since Kaui is the westernmost island, the sea life really takes a beating with the waves coming in from Asia.

Where are you staying in Kauai? It makes a difference for recommendations.
But definitely take a boat ride around the Na'apali coast (and bring dramamine). Kauai is a great place to take a helicopter ride, if you want to splurge -- you can get a better view of the canyon and there's lots of cool waterfalls.
If you don't do the helicopter ride, definitely go to Waimea Canyon (especially if you haven't been to the Grand Canyon).

Some other possibilities for Kauai include: Botanical Gardens; Coffee Plantation Tour; horseback and/or kayaking in the rivers with waterfalls on the east side of the island.

There's also a strip mall in Poipu where locals do traditional dancing, for free, a couple times a week. It's a fun place to go and get ice cream and see the show.

We like to be active and we like to see where we go and learn some things. Where would to go and what would you do. Youngest in group in 16 son.