Vacation to Hawaii

Hi:

We went to Kauai last November. Our children are 11, 7, and 17 months. We had a great time and it is a very beautiful island.

Those twins are going to 'ground' you though. There really are not any boat tours for kids that young. There really is enough to do though especially if this is your first time on the island.

Things that you can do successfully with your young ones:
'Chocolate' tour....this was fun, they should change the name to fruit and chocolate tour. It is kind of a granola, hippie-ish tour but we learned a lot and had fun.

Kauai Plantation train tour....you can take a train through an old plantation and try their rum afterwards.

Weimea Canyon......this is a full day's drive but very beautiful

Smith Family Luai......Very beautiful gardens; well done for as many people they are serving; and the food was great. There is suppose to be a different company that does a luai and our conceirge at the hotel recommended it but we had already prepaid before we left for the trip. Turned out just great!

Our two favorite beaches were Lythgate Park and Anini Beach. These are 'baby' beaches so the big waves are 'held' back and you can swim and play in the water.

I found plane travel to be saved by the airline attendants. One stewardess took our baby as she passed out complimentary flowers to the first class passengers.

We liked CJ's for steak and seafood.

We stayed in Princevalle; if you are not you should still drive that way and past; it was very gorgeous!

There is a company called Ready Rentals. They rent out pak and plays, cribs, high chairs, and other needed items that you don't want to carry on your trip. I found their rates good and they had the high chair and her pak and play ready before we got to our condo.

Have fun...I definitely want to go back.

Awesome! We'll be heading back there in August. As for the Na Pali tour; I'd avoid the kodiak boat tours for kids that young; much too rough and you sit on the side of the boat and hold on for dear life! :)

Activites I don't know about but, most hotels have cribs or pack n plays if you ask for one. All of them will like the beach.

We are on Oahu, so I can't really direct you for tours. We flew out here when our son was 18 months and we kept him in his carseat. Check where your seats are and try to move them to the very front so you have a lot of leg room. We brought LOTS of non-messy snacks. I wrapped some of his toys in paper for him to unwrap and play with when he got really frustrated. Be ready to take some laps around the plane when they get fussy. Bring empty cups or bottles and fill them up after you get through securtiy. These will help with pressure on takeoff and landing.

Most hotels have babysitting referrals here, but if not I would check craigslist. There are lots of people on island that babysit for tourists. Get one that is willing to submit to a background check or is associated with the state. The hotel will supply you with little cribs for the babies (call and make sure they have them, but a huge majority do) Just bring a favorite blanket to make it easier.

Call a few of the tour agencies and see if they will let you bring your twins. Most of the tour agencies here are very accommodating. Other than that, hit the beaches with the babies. Find some banyan trees for your teens to climb and have a wonderful time!

OH -you are in for such a treat! Do your sons surf or are they interested in it? Surf lessons could definitely be fun for them. Kauai also has some beautiful rivers for kayaking and incredible hiking! The Alakai Swamp hike is long and fairly strenuous in a few places, but if it's not fogged in at the top -you can see all the way back across the Na Pali Coast to the north end of the island. If you and your husband are in good shape and enjoy hiking, you could all do it wearing baby backpack carriers. We just love Hanalei and that North Shore area. Your sons should really enjoy snorkeling off the beach -and Ke'e beach is a great place for little ones and big ones!

We took a Na Pali coast boat and snorkeling tour one morning on a decent-sized boat, so check with tour operators once you get there. If memory serves there was a toddler on that trip, but even if there wasn't -it would have been fine. There are also a lot of tours you may enjoy sending your boys on if they're older teens or finding a sitter and going on yourself with them -ATV tours, zip-line tours -Kauai is so incredible because you get all the best -gorgeous mountains, rain forests, rivers and beautiful ocean!