On your trip to Kauai, make sure you schedule a trip to the Na Pali (the cliff) Coast. This coast is practically inaccessible by land which makes the scenery virginal and unspoiled. I would suggest a boat or a kayak trip of a day or half a day.

My husband and I spent our honeymoon on Kauai and took a half day zodiac tour in the morning. A zodiac is one of those small black rubber (or is it plastic?) boats. The tour left very early, daybreak or something, which meant we had to get up at some outrageous hour to get there (we were staying on the exact opposite of the island) but it was worth it. For some reason the morning tours always seem to be the best ones for all activities in Hawaii, in my opinion. Anyway, there were about 8 of us in the boat. We brought waterproof cameras, wore light clothing over our bathing suits, and wore slippers (flip-flops). We started out along the coast and were rewarded early with the spotting of some turtles in the bay. As the water got deeper it got bluer and clearer - you could see about 10 feet down and since there were so few of us we all got to lean over the side and look at the fish and the coral.

The cliffs were huge and gorgeous - we occasionally saw goats and sheep grazing on the top and saw one group of hikers on their way to a beach. About half way through the tour a pod of about 15 dolphins circled us and played in front of the boat. I managed to get a couple of pictures - you can see one here . The guy driving the boat made some snooty comment about how the dolphins should be experienced, and if you were taking pictures you were missing them - but I ignored him - I wanted pictures!

We went in a few caves and then turned around and headed back. We went in June so whale season was over but if you went in January to May I bet there would be a lot of whales around. Just before we got back to the bay that we started from we anchored the boat and everyone jumped out and snorkeled for about 40 minutes. The whole trip lasted almost 4 hours and was well worth the ... I forget but i think it was ...... $80.00 per person. I also forget the company we went through but it may have been Captain Zodiac . A tour of the Na Pali coast is definitely a must-do on Kauai!