Tours of Kauai

I oftentimes get asked the question, "What is the best Kauai helicopter tour company?" I have been hesitant to answer in the past because I have not personally been on a Kauai helicopter tour since the 80s.

I had heard that Captain Andy's Na Pali Coast Sunset Dinner Sail is a great way to celebrate any occasion. So Tom and I decided to give it a go for our wedding anniversary.

Do you want to go hiking on Kauai but feel like you need a guide? Hike Kauai With Me may just be the company you're looking for. Eric Rohlffs started the company ten years ago and has now hired a few capable, trusted guides to continue his vision of taking guests to out of the way places on the Garden Island.

If you're into lush foliage, exotic flowers, unusual fruit trees, beehives, chocolate, and a good time you must visit Kauai's Princeville Botanical Gardens. Friends of mine, Bill and Lucinda, have created over 8 acres of Paradise and have opened up their property for tours.

Wondering what to do in Kauai - for natural and sculpted beauty, go to Na Aina Kai ("Lands by the Sea") Botanical Gardens in Kilauea. It has quite a history. Opened to the public in 2000, it is 240 acres of unfolding artistic creations, both natural and man-made, all a result of the vision of its founders, Ed and Joyce Doty.

If you're looking for what to do on Kauai, Kayak Hanalei Tours, in Hanalei, Kauai, is a great option.

When you're thinking about what to do in Kauai, think horseback riding at Princeville Ranch Adventures. Cattle ranching first started at the Princeville Ranch in 1831. With cattle, come the horses needed to operate the ranch. The Carswell family started the trail riding operation in 1978 and have been operating it ever since on Princeville's private working cattle ranch.

One of the hidden treasures that shouldn't be missed while visiting Kauai is the Hindu Temple and Sanctuary in the hills behind Kapaa. It is an architectual wonder and America's only all-granite Hindu Sanctuary. It started in 1975 as Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami's (1927-2001) vision of a pure and powerful white granite temple sculpted in India and erected ten thousand miles away on Kauai.

Summer is approaching and Na Pali Catamaran offers a sea tour down the Na Pali Coast from Hanalei Bay. Most boat tours leave out of Port Allen on the west side of the island (90 minute drive away), but a few have a license to leave right out of Hanalei Bay (5 minute drive away).

Visit Hawai`i's ONLY remaining Rice Mill (listed on the National Register of Historic Places), where the past meets the present. Tucked away on a working wetland taro farm (the largest taro farm in the state) on Kaua`i's dramatically scenic North Shore, the Haraguchi Rice Mill is found within a National Wildlife Refuge, usually not accessible to the public.

If you are a "Birder" and would like to immerse yourself in the world of birds on Kauai, may I suggest you hire Hob Osterlund as your personal bird watching guide. You could not find anyone more qualified than she.