Holiday to Hawaii in Nov 2026: Day 5 – Poipu and Hanalei

Today was deemed our drive north day. Back in 2015 we stayed in an apartment in Princeville, which is close to Hanalei.

We remember the delays incurred in getting over the one-way bridge, which anyone heading to Hanalei is forced to cross.

That’s still there and is just part of everyday life for the locals.

The other thing we remember is that Pierce Brosnan lives on the West Side of Hanalei and Vick insisted on walking past his gate multiple times last time we were here.

I think trying to apologise for jumping into a hedge when we bumped into him in Paris outside the Musee Rodin.

Another acceptable night’s sleep was enjoyed, following a similar pattern to last night.

At just after 4am, we walked out to Starbucks in the dark. It’s just amazing walking along the rocky coast with the noise of the waves crashing. It’s stupendous.

We hit the road at about 6:30am when the light was just emerging.

It rained for a significant part of the drive to Hanalei, but overall, we got the timing just right. It was the weekend, early in the morning and it was wet. All contributing to reduced traffic on the roads.

On the way up we recognised aspects of Kappa’a, where we stayed in an apartment in our 2015 holiday.

It was lovely driving into Hanalei. The rain had stopped, we parked in the main parking area and crossed the road to the Bread Company.

We managed to get the best seats in the house and ordered lattes and what they called ‘breakie sandwiches’. Vick was impressed with a gluten-free version of that sandwich.

It was by far the best of the three breakfasts I had had so far that day.

Whilst sat in the Bread Company, we watched the rain turn into a monsoon. But it was still warm and we were dry. Irrespective of the weather, it felt amazing being back in Hanalei.

We walked up and down the main road looking at some of the shops, then drove for 20 mins to the end of the road, west of Hanalei.

That’s as far as anyone can go heading west on the north coast of Kauai. Serious hikers are the only ones that can go any further, if they plan to explore the Na Pali coast.

We turned around and headed back to Hanalei. Due to the amount of rain that was now coming down, our concern had turned to getting across the Hanalei Bridge.

Back in 2015, the locals had closed the bridge due to high water levels.

As it happened, we managed to get across the bridge without any delays.

On our way back south, we stopped off at the Kilauea Lighthouse, where we had a booking to enter the grounds at 10:30am.

The gates were closed when we arrived and we queued with a small number of other vehicles waiting for the opportunity of gaining access and enjoying the views.

It was not possible to access the lighthouse, but the grounds around the lighthouse gave a great opportunity to enjoy the views.

It wasn’t desperately exciting, but we had a nice walk around the lighthouse and got some amazing views of the coast and some of the birds that live here, including boobies!

After concluding our visit to Kilauea Lighthouse, we continued south.

As we drove through Kappa’a, we reminisced about our holiday in 2015, including our early morning walks to Starbucks.

We carried on to Lihue, where we needed to visit another supermarket. This time it was Safeway. We hoped it might be organised in a way that we could better relate to.

Whilst there, we took advantage of Panda Express as a lunchtime spot.

We stocked up with some additional provisions to get us through the final day or so of our stay in Poiupu.

The most important purchase, however, was a whole Key Lime pie.

There was an option of purchasing half a pie for $12, but for just an additional $6, we could have the whole lot. Economies of scale and all that.

We had been looking for a Lilikoi Pie, but had no luck in finding any. So a tasty-looking key lime pie was a more-than-acceptable substitute.

The rest of the drive was dry and easy.

We noted the beautiful trees that we had seen all over the island, and thought it was worth a photo.

Back at our apartment and a long snooze ensued. After a busy morning, it was much needed by both of us.

Later on, Vick walked back to Poipu Beach to see the turtles again. By that point, I’d seen enough turtles sat doing very little, so I stayed in and resisted eating more key lime pie!

In the evening we enjoyed a bottle of wine, some cheese and crackers and we managed to devour half of the pie.