A Private Beach, Snorkeling & Sun in Kauai… now that’s a vacation!
I had the opportunity to vacation in Kauai and enjoy some much needed R&R. Let me just say, that Kauai is, for lack of a better term…perfect. With its 80 degrees days, blue skies, crystal clear water, and friendly locals, what more could you ask for? A private beach? Oh, yes, I had one of those too.
We decided to rent out one of the many beach homes on the east side of island and it was even more perfect than the weather. We had our own private beach that I could see from my screened in bedroom and the only thing between me and my private beach was a cute little yard with hammocks tied to giant palm trees. I woke up to the sun rising over the ocean every morning. Does that constitute as the perfect picture to island living? I think so.

“I was enjoying the breath-taking view until my eye fell upon something that looked like a shark.”

Our first morning there, we decide to go find the local breakfast joint. To our surprise, we found the most adorable little place called the Kountry Kitchen. I tried their coconut pancakes…HEAVEN!!! In Kapaa, they also have an awesome pizza joint called Casa Bianca. Those of you who are reading this in the Los Angeles area might recognize the name. Yes, they own the restaurant in Eagle Rock so if you’re familiar with this magnificent 50 year old pie recipe you will not be let down when you dine at their second location in Kauai. They told us the night before they had to shut the place down for 3 hours to fill an order for 80 pizzas – the production crew had just arrived to start shooting the next Pirates of the Caribbean film. And no, Johnny Depp had not arrived yet. Bummer, I know.

I’d have to say the highlight of the trip was taking a catamaran tour of the Na Pali Coastline. From the boat you have a front row view of the lava carved jagged mountain peaks that Kauai is so famously known for. Part of the tour included snorkeling near a deserted beach. We jumped off the boat into the crystal clear water where I was able to admire several types of tropical fish and even 100 year old sea turtles. I was enjoying the breath taking view until my eye fell upon something that looked like a shark. Oh, wait, it was a shark! A small reef shark had parked under a coral reef 30 feet below me. I immediately started to panic and I decided I liked my limbs too much to stay in the water. To top it all off, we saw a whale migrating south while we were eating lunch on the boat. Seriously?! The whole trip was an animal lovers dream…minus the shark.

In short, this trip was amazing and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys pristine views of sand and sun. I will definitely be going back to do more exploring while still making time to relax on my private beach.

By: Leigh Sauchak