(warning...supersized post!)
It's October, and Kaleb and I are spending two weeks in the beautiful Garden Isle, Kauai. Having visited here
last February and also
October of last year, we can't seem to get enough, as it is our favorite of the Hawaiian islands. Not to say that our trips to the
Big Island,
Maui or
Lanai were bad. For example, we had the best time snorkeling in
our own private pond at Lagoon House (sadly gone forever due to the 2018 volcanic eruption). Molokai is on the list...one day!
FLIGHTS
My parents were coming with us for the first week, and Kaleb and I would stay for a second week. Our airline of choice is Alaska Airlines, as Kaleb and I both have the Alaska Airlines credit card, which provides a 2-for-1 companion certificate, saving money on our non-stop flight from San Jose to Lihue, as well as a free check-in bag. A change had been made in the way Alaska Airlines sold its economy cabin a few months prior, and I was not yet up to date on the rules. There were now two tiers of economy class, Saver and Main. I automatically clicked on the cheapest one (Saver) without understanding the ramifications. I had a hint when the website showed no available seats for me to choose from (Saver seats are limited to the last few rows in coach and they were all full at the time of booking). I would find out my mistake when checking in online 24 hours prior to departure...(cue ominous music)
LODGING
I usually try to obtain back-to-back timeshare weeks so we wouldn't have to check in and check out in the middle of our trip. Our first week would be in a 2-bedroom villa at
Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club, our favorite property in Poipu. Exchanging our timeshare week here saves thousands of dollars off the regular booking rate. Even though it seems expensive to book directly, it still is a great value, as the villa has 2 bedrooms, living room, a full kitchen, washer/dryer, lanai, and have resort amenities like swimming pools, hot tubs, activities, fitness center, kids club - all this for the price of two rooms at a four-star hotel.
Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to secure a second week at the Marriott Waiohai like I did back in February, so I redeemed a 5-night hotel certificate at the newly-renovated
Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach Resort in Kapaa. The certificate came from exchanging 235,000 Marriott Rewards points for an air-and-hotel travel package consisting of 120,000 Alaska Airlines miles and a 5-night Category 1-to-4 hotel stay (package no longer available). The property was previously the Courtyard Kauai Coconut Beach at time of redemption, rated Category 4. The hotel had been renovated in the months prior to our arrival, and rebranded as a Sheraton, upgraded to Category 5. Fortunately, my reservation stayed intact even though the category had gone up.
This left us with a 2-night gap to fill in between the Marriott and the Sheraton stays. I logged onto the Chase Travel Portal and redeemed
Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book a 1-bedroom condo at
Plantation Hale, located across the street from the Sheraton.
TRANSPORT
As we have seen almost all of Kauai island, we don't keep a car rental for the whole trip - just for arrival day and departure day, and sometimes one day in between when needed to drop people off at the airport. This is a very easy process as there is a Hertz neighborhood rental counter located in the
Sheraton Kauai Resort, a 15-minute walk from the Marriott Waiohai. However, since our second week wouldn't be at the Marriott, we would pick up a rental car in the morning to drop my parents off at the airport, then return the car to the airport the day after and take an Uber back to Plantation Hale. After our stay at Plantation Hale, Kaleb and I would walk across the street to the Sheraton for the remainder of the week's stay, then call an Uber to take us to the airport on departure day.
Now, onto the trip!
Remember I mentioned that I didn't know about the change in economy fares, the difference between Saver and Main coach tickets? Normally, when I check in at T-24, I am usually able to move our seats into the exit row for no charge on Alaska Airlines. This time, as I am checking in, I see a note that our seats would be assigned at the gate. I could not select any seats in the exit row. I searched online to find out what was going on and that is how I learned that I shouldn't have booked the Saver fare...oops. Now we were at the mercy of the gate agents, hoping they would be able to find seats next to each other for my parents at the very least. Right before we left for the airport, I saw that there were two adjacent seats in the exit row still available...fingers crossed!
We checked in our bags and headed straight for the gate to get our seat assignments. After several strokes of the keyboard, the (Caucasian) agent looked at my parents, and to my pleasant surprise, spoke to them in Mandarin. I told her they could understand English. She reverted to English and asked if they were okay sitting in the exit row and gave them the two adjoining seats I had seen previously. Kaleb was assigned a window exit seat, and I a middle seat in the forward section of the plane. It wasn't ideal to have a middle seat for a 6-hour long flight, but it was a small price to pay for my mistake selecting the Saver fare; Kaleb got his preferred window seat (it being in exit row was a bonus), and my parents had a lot of legroom and could get up to go to the lavatory easily.
We made our way to the newly opened A8 location of
The Club at SJC lounge, which was much farther away than the A15 location which we usually visited. Even though it was a longer walk, the place was cleaner, less crowded, and the food was better stocked. Complimentary admission was included with the
Priority Pass, a benefit from credit cards such as
Chase Sapphire Reserve and
American Express Platinum Card.
We all returned to the gate as departure time grew nearer. As our tickets were in Saver, we were the last group to board. At this point, there may not be any overhead bin space left for a carry-on bag. Since we checked in our larger bags, this would not be a problem, as our backpacks could fit in the space under the seat in front. When I approached my row, the lady in the window seat asked if I wouldn't mind switching seats with her so she could sit next to her husband in the aisle...sure! It turned out that they were hoping to get the entire row to themselves. I was lucky not to be trapped in the middle for six hours.
During the flight, I purchased a snack from the service cart using my
Crystal Visa Infinite card, as it would be reimbursed as an airline incidental.
 | standard coach legroom
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|  | less sugar because the coating is very thin
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We arrived in Lihue and had no issue with collecting our luggage or picking up the rental car from Hertz. Next, we headed to Costco to buy a week's worth of groceries, before checking in at the Marriott. Returning the rental car the next day to the Hertz counter inside the Sheraton Kauai Resort was no problem.
 |
view from our lanai
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We spent the entire week swimming in the resort pools and snorkeling at
Poipu Beach Park. I purchased
full-face snorkel masks to make snorkeling easier for my parents, compared to biting down on a traditional snorkel. Fogging was not an issue either, though breathing sounds like Darth Vader inside the mask. Kaleb and I still prefer the traditional snorkel, as we are used to diving.
 | seal on the beach cordoned off
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|  | lots of Pokemon Go
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 | one of the pools at the Waiohai
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17-second clip of snorkeling in the shallow end: (click
here if you cannot see the preview below)
31-second clip of snorkeling in the wavy open area: (click
here if you cannot see the preview below)
43-second clip snorkeling, the fish and me being pushed around by the waves: (click
here if you cannot see the preview below)
For lunch one day, we walked over to
Puka Dog. Their hot dog buns aren't scored in the middle; a lengthwise hole is poked in the center of the bun where the sauces are squirted in, the hot dog sliding in afterwards. Doing it this way does help reduce the messiness. Dessert was a cool ice cream cone at
Papalani.
For dinner, we walked to
Keoki's Paradise as my parents wanted to treat us for our anniversary. We had been here before with Kaleb's mom and stepdad
back in February. Reservations were conveniently made on
OpenTable. I noted that we were celebrating our wedding anniversary, so the server gave us a card, which included a free slice of hula pie. It is very similar to what we experienced when
we went to Duke's for our anniversary dinner last year. It turns out that Keoki's and Duke's belong to the same restaurant family.
 | walking through Kiahuna Plantation
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|  | walking by Plantation Gardens
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 | mai tais and pina colada
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|  | we all ordered the ribs and the fish special
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|  | hula pie is huge!
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Whenever we got low on tropical fruit and vegetables, we would walk to
Koloa Fruit Stand. Our usual route went along the shoreline and through the Regency at Poipu Kai condos, but we decided to go down Hoowili Road to check out the
heiau ruins near Poipu Road.
The fruit stand was out of papaya both times we walked there, whereas on the first day (when we had the rental car), there was plenty. Next time we go there in the future, I will buy as many papayas as I can carry!
Another night, we went out to dinner to
Plantation Gardens Restaurant, located inside Kiahuna Plantation. Our first time eating here, it had a nice ambiance, less touristy than Keoki's. At the time of this writing, the restaurant is closed through the end of 2020. Too bad we only got to eat here once despite having stayed at the Marriott so many times - hopefully it will survive after the pandemic.
 | mint and pineapple cooler
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|  | ribeye and pot roast
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 | pork chop
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|  | | coconut curry stew |
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The first week ended so quickly! The morning of our departure, I picked up the rental car from the Hertz counter at the Sheraton Kauai Resort. As we had a little time to kill before my parents' flight, we had an early lunch at
SEA Kauai, a restaurant serving Thai and Japanese food located in Harbor Mall. We had
eaten here last year; it wasn't bad for the price.
After dropping my parents off at the airport, Kaleb and I checked in at
Plantation Hale Suites. Our 1-bedroom condo was showing its age (check out the 1960's push-button electric stove) despite the patchy remodeling, but at least it had the essentials. The air conditioning hack was creative; half of the window unit was "redirected" into the bedroom. The lanai looked out onto the busy Kuhio highway.
 | cool air was coming from a vent behind the chair in the corner...
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|  | ...turned out half of the air went through a DIY duct/table to the bedroom
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I got a call from my parents in the evening, not from home but still in Kauai! Their flight had been delayed multiple times due to maintenance, with passengers receiving meal vouchers as compensation, but in the end, it was canceled as the needed parts weren't able to be flown to Lihue in time. They were currently in a long queue for customer service to re-book flights (and perhaps lodging for the night). I didn't see any point in their wasting time in line as we already had a place to stay - I called Alaska directly to re-book them for the first available flight the next morning via Honolulu. (always call the airline; you may be able to get the last seats on a flight while there are people waiting in line in front of you) The rental car was still in our possession until the next day, so we picked them up from the airport and they stayed overnight with us.
The next morning, we dropped my parents off again at the airport and returned the rental car, calling an Uber to take us back to Plantation Hale. I noticed that there was now a dedicated waiting area for rideshare pick up.
Thankfully, their flights weren't canceled and my parents made their way back home safely. The rest of the day, Kaleb and I explored the area, walking along the shoreline towards
Coconut Marketplace.
That night, Kaleb and I took a dip in the complex's swimming pool; we had the place to ourselves.
On Sunday, we checked out of Plantation Hale and walked across the street to the
Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach Resort. It was a bit awkward wheeling our bags and a box of groceries, but we made it. Our room was available despite it being only noon. It was spacious, but having stayed in a two-bedroom fully equipped villa and a one-bedroom condo, I missed having a kitchen. I prepared for this by packing an electric burner and frying pan in my luggage, great for making breakfast. The cafe near the lobby offered a complimentary coffee or tea every morning. We also had two coupons for mai-tais at the bar.
 | backlit headboard
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|  | reading light and USB outlets
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 | empty mini-fridge
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|  | beach towels
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 | large shower
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|  | luau on site
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Kaleb and I spent the next few days relaxing on the beach in lounge chairs and hammocks under trees and umbrellas. The waves were too rough for swimming as there was a shelf right on the shoreline. We never tried the resort pool; it felt strange to do so when everyone in the resort could watch, as most of the rooms overlooked the pool area. A few times, we'd walk to
Coconut Marketplace to replenish groceries at
Island Country Markets or the farmer's market, or enjoy a sweet treat from
Jojo's Shave Ice. Every night, there would be live music or hula dancing at the Sheraton, performed right underneath our balcony.
 |
shelf at low tide
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One night for dinner, we walked to
Saimin Dojo, near the Waipouli Town Center, about a ten minute walk from the hotel. The food was just okay, but it gave me the idea to fry up Spam to put into my own noodle bowls at home. Afterwards, we walked over to Foodland and Safeway to buy groceries, souvenirs, water, poke and fresh pork rinds.
On our actual anniversary date, we had dinner at
Oasis on the Beach, located inside the Waipouli Beach Resort, a 15-minute walk from the hotel. Reservations were made on
OpenTable. The food was all right. A nice ambiance can be had if seated outside as it is near the beach, though our dining time was past sunset.
 | complimentary bread
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|  | pork rinds (not as good as Foodland's)
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 | seared catch of the day
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|  | braised short rib
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 |
creme brulee
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Our last dinner on the island wasn't spectacular - after all the food we had ingested these past couple of weeks, we just had McDonalds and topped it off with a huge waffle cone from
Tropical Dreams. Such yummy ice cream!
 | order from a screen
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|  | mango and ube ice cream
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On departure day, we called an Uber to take us to the airport. Would our flight have issues? The answer was yes. We ended up being delayed two hours at a time on three occasions, totaling six hours. While we waited, we received vouchers for food through e-mail. When Kaleb and I tried to redeem them at the cafeteria, they were rejected, whereas other passengers had no problems. We returned to the gate to ask for assistance. A kind agent walked with us to the cafeteria to try our original vouchers again. It didn't work; he radioed another agent to email new vouchers. Those didn't work either. Eventually, we walked back to the gate, where he printed out paper vouchers, which worked perfectly at the cafeteria. By this time, the agricultural security checkpoint agent stationed in front of the gate joked about our belongings glowing from the repeated x-rays!
We eventually boarded our flight and headed home, arriving in San Jose at 4:30am the next morning. At least Kaleb and I were seated next to each other.
The next day, Alaska Airlines sent emails to us, offering additional compensation for the canceled and delayed flight. My parents each received a $250 flight voucher, and Kaleb and I a $150 flight voucher.
Despite the flight hiccups at the end of the trip, we all had a great time and planned to return next year using the flight vouchers. (or so we thought...cue pandemic...)
So where are we traveling in November? We're going on a 7-night Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas with Kaleb's brother and sister-in-law...stay tuned!
(Missed reading about our overnight backpacking trip in Lake Tahoe? Click here! Don't miss a single update! Click here to have the latest delivered straight into your inbox...opt out anytime.)
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Another disclaimer: The intention of this blog was to remind Future Me in full detail about where I went and what I did. I could have made it private, but I frequently get questions from family, friends and internet folks about how I planned things, got deals, etc., so instead of repeating the story over and over, I direct them here. If you are offended by anything I say or do, save yourself the discomfort and kindly click away from my blog. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
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