Holiday to Hawaii in Nov 2026: Day 4 – Poipu

I seem to have already found a little sleep routine. When we go to bed early, I grab an hour or so, then get up. Then head back to bed later.

We were both awake by 1:30am. We couldnt resist having breakfast at 2:30am then we planned to walk out to Starbucks at 4am, ready for it opening at 4:30am.

This was the store we first discovered when we stayed at the Koa Kea in July 2015. Wow – over 10 years ago!

The walk out was beautiful. It was cool, there was a hint if rain in the air, and at times it was pitch black walking along the ultra quiet roads of Poipu.

The only noise came from the wild chickens running amok.

We used out phone torch to make sure we could see where we were going.

We came across one guy that was wandering around Poipu Beach in his bare feet. We kept our distance.

The Starbucks was exactly as we remembered it so many years ago.

On the walk back to the apartment a plan was hatched for the day. First off, we would stop off at Poipu Beach just before light to see the turtles heading back into the sea.

Then we would head to Waimea Canyon and stop off at the lookouts. We might do a few trails along the way too.

A snooze in the afternoon was almost guaranteed to be on the cards, and a walk at Hanapepe Art Walk where we could pick up some street food for dinner.

That all sounded like a great day to come.

After getting back to the apartment and getting showers etc, we drove out to Poipu Beach.

There was a suggestion of light appearing in the sky and we found just one sea turtle left on the beach.

That turtle didn’t seem to be in any hurry to go. Good on it.

It took an hour to drive to Waimea Canyon State Park and we started driving up Waimea Canyon Drive.

When we reached the junction with Kokee Road, unfortunately Android Auto (incorrectly) advised us to head south down Kokee Road.

Luckily, we managed to turn around and we carried on driving up the road.

First stop was Waimea Canyon Lookout, which is the main lookout in the park. If anyone comes to Waimea Canyon, this is where they come to.

When we got there, there was just one other guy with his vehicle in the parking lot. He was trying to fix his car.

We tried to pay $20 for parking the car and as an entrance fee for the two of us, but it reported that the payment authorisation system was offline, but we tried!

So, we walked up the ramp to the lookout and we recognised the view immediately. It was immense.

We carried on driving up the road to Pu’u Hinahina Lookout.

That was our last lookout – there was a calling for us to head back to Starbucks!

On the way back we popped into Big Save at Waimea, which had slightly better choice than Walmart yesterday.

After dropping off our groceries, we paid our second visit to Starbucks and also picked up some Ben & Jerr’s Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream, which went straight in the freezer for later.

We were both struggling by this point, so it was time for a snooze. There’s nothing nicer than falling asleep listening to the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks below.

We woke just in time for lunch and also in time to hear more disturbing news following on from Microsoft struggling with tech issues impacting Outlook users.

This time we had a grounding of all flights in US airspace and a tanker crashing into a river cruise liner in the Mississippi.

What the heck was going on? These things can’t just be a coincidence.

A lunch of a salad, a sandwich and crisps was enjoyed in the apartment. Nothing special, but it kept us going until our early evening activities.

The Hanapēpē Friday Art Night was a weekly street festival and art market held every Friday in historic Hanapēpē Town on the west side of Kauai, about 30 mins drive from Poipu.

It had been running since 1997 and it was described as transforming this little town into a bustling evening destination.

We decided to give it a try. It was great to see the locals bring their artistic skills to this local town and we grabbed some dinner there as well.

We found a Mexican popup stall, where Vick ordered some steak tacos and I tried a chicken burrito.

Not the best street food we have ever tasted, but we had ice cream to look forward to when we got back to the apartment.

I just about kept Vick awake long enough to devour a large tub of Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Cheesecake, before she flaked out.