Plenty of adventure to go with aloha on island of Kauai
You might say the island of Kauai is what Hawaii was like before the tourists arrived, but it has some fancy resorts, too
Who knew you could have so much fun in a ditch? But, this, of course, is no ordinary ditch.
It’s a circa 1870 hand-dug irrigation flume for the now-defunct Luhie Sugar Plantation on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
As such, my wife, Kerry, and I are able to combine a bit of history and culture with the splash sport of mountain tubing.
That’s right, Kauai Backcountry Adventures didn’t want to see those irrigation ditches to go to waste.
So, it developed mountain tubing and, just as its name suggests, our group rides up the slope of Mount Waialeale in an opentopped truck to be deposited in the ditch for a two-mile, hour-long float through jungle and five tunnels.
Don’t worry, the flumes are rain-fed, so the water is clean, and you’re outfitted with a hard hat with light to illuminate your way through the tunnels.
“It’s like a bumper cars, teacups and waterslide ride all in one through paradise,” said guide Cody Jim.
Playing tourist on Kauai is easy. The western-and-northern-most island in the chain is often described as the Hawaii that people imagine before the hordes of tourists, nightclubs and designer shops arrived.
The laid-back vibe gives you time to really soak up the aloha spirit and perfect tropical weather while focusing on relaxation and outdoor recreation.
That’s not to say there aren’t luxurious, oceanfront resorts to pamper yourself at.
We stayed at two of them. The 350-room Kauai Marriott Resort in the island’s capital of Lihue sits pretty on Kalapaki Bay and has the largest pool on the island, shaped like an exotic hibiscus flower.
While there, Kerry and I hiked to the lighthouse that stands sentinel on Ninini Point and ate steak and lobster under the moon at Kukui’s restaurant at a special beachside table.
At the 600-room Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort, we hike the clifftop Koloa Heritage trail the hotel is linked up with, and dine on macademia nut-crusted mahi mahi fish at Tidepools, the resort’s torch-lit restaurant of thatched-roof pavilions over koi ponds.
Into the swing of Hawaiian cuisine, we also seek out wokcharred ahi tuna caught by fisherman Kevin Yamase at Merriman’s Fish House and Umani crab fries, Hawaii’s version of poutine, at Aqua Resort's Naupaka Terrace restaurant.
We also scope out the Hyatt’s Enrich programs that give guests the opportunity to volunteer for a day.
Picking up garbage on the beach
and pulling weeds in the rainforest sound like altruistic ways to help out.
But they certainly aren’t as fun as borrowing a dog for a half-day to hike another part of the Koloa Heritage trail, play on the beach and nap on a poolside lounge chair. That’s what Kerry and I and Simba, a three-and-a-half year old Chihuahua-terrier mix from the Kauai Humane Society, did.
Since we went out with Simba in mid-January, the Kauai Humane Society has let me know the adorable pooch has found his forever home.
Someone from Washington state took Simba out on a field trip and fell in love with him and took him home.
Kauai is the latest destination in Air Canada's amped up service to Hawaii on the airline’s new Boeing 737 Max jets, which are 20 per cent more fuel efficient and 40 per cent quieter than older models.
Air Canada has flights from Vancouver to Kauai, Maui, Kona on the Big Island and Honolulu on Oahu; from Calgary to Maui and from Toronto to Honolulu.
Check out GoHawaii.com/Kauai and AirCanada.com.