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Kaua'i · 8 days · with kids

A week on Kaua'i with kids

Seven nights on the south shore, one big drive north, and two excursion days that earn their early starts. This is a real trip a family took in March, laid out day by day, with the parts worth copying and the parts worth changing.

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Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash

Pick your side of the island first

Almost every other choice follows from this one. The south shore around Po'ipu is the driest, sunniest part of Kaua'i, and its beaches stay calm enough to put small children in the water through the winter. The north shore around Hanalei and Princeville has the scenery people picture when they picture Kaua'i, along with the island's heaviest rain and, in winter, surf that is no place for a seven-year-old.

This trip ran in March and stayed south, at a resort in Po'ipu, then spent one full day driving north. That is the version most families with young kids end up wanting. Hanalei Bay is about an hour and a half from Po'ipu, so the north shore works as a day, and it does not work as a casual afternoon.

If your kids are older, or you are going in summer when the north shore water calms down, the calculus flips and a split stay starts to make sense. Two bases cut the driving considerably.

Palm trees leaning over calm shallow water on a Kauai beach
Calm water on a sheltered Kaua'i beach. In winter that describes the south shore and not the north, which is what shapes this whole itinerary.

Photo by Zane Persaud on Unsplash

A trip we took

The itinerary, day by day

23 stops across 8 days on the island, starting the afternoon they landed. Times are the ones the family actually used.

Day 1

Monday

  • Hertz Car Rental - Medium Convertible

    Medium convertible rental car

  • Flight ATL to LIH

    Leave ATL early; ~16 hours of flights; arrive Kauai late afternoon

  • Koloa Landing Resort - Check In

    25 minute drive from LIH airport

Day 2

Tuesday

  • 9am Chill by the pool

  • 7pm Monico’s Restaurant Bar & Taqueria

Day 3

Wednesday

  • 7:15am Helicopter Tour

    30 minute drive to airport

  • 2pm Waimea Canyon Drive

    Drive with picnic lunch

  • 7pm Beach House Restaurant Kauai - Dinner

    Dinner

Day 4

Thursday

  • 12pm Kauai Surf School (kids)

    Surf lessons for kids

  • 6:30pm Keoki's Paradise - Dinner

    Dinner

Day 5

Friday

  • 9:30am Kipu Ranch ATV Tour

    Older kids and dads

  • 1:30pm Food trucks in Koloa - Lunch

  • 5pm Smith Family Luau

Day 6

Saturday

  • 10am Kilohana Plantation Tour

    22 minute drive

  • 12pm The Plantation House by Gaylords - Lunch

    Lunch at Kilohana Plantation

  • 6pm Cookout by the pool

Day 7

Sunday

  • 9am Duke's at Marriott - Brunch

    Dinner

  • 10am North Shore Day - Hanelei Bay

    Drive to Princeville; see Queen's Bath, Tunnels Beach, Ke'e Beach

  • 6pm One Hotel – Welina Terrace Lounge

    Lunch

Day 8

Monday

  • 10am Poipu Beach

  • 12pm Puka Dog - Lunch

    Lunch

  • 2pm Hotel Check Out

    Check out by 11:00 AM (inquire about late check out)

  • 9pm Flight Home from Kauai

    Departure flight home at 9:00 PM

See this as a shared trip page →

Same trip, the way it looks on a phone during the trip. No app, no account.

Green ridges of the Na Pali coast dropping into the sea on Kauai
The Nā Pali coast, which has no road to it. The helicopter morning is how most people see this.

Photo by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash

Four things worth knowing before you copy it

01

Book the helicopter in the morning

The 7:15am start on day four looks brutal on paper and it is the right call. Morning air is calmer and clearer, and a large share of the island, including the Nā Pali coast and the waterfalls in the interior, simply has no road to it. Pairing it with the Waimea Canyon drive that same afternoon puts both of the island's big scenery days into one, which leaves the rest of the week free for beaches.

02

The north shore reservation catches people out

If you drive to the literal end of the road at Hā'ena State Park, non-residents need an advance entry or parking reservation from gohaena.com. It opens 30 days ahead, closes the day before, and there are no walk-ups, with a daily cap around 900 people. Peak-season slots disappear fast. This trip's north shore day stops at Hanalei Bay, which needs nothing, so it sidesteps the problem, but plenty of itineraries you will read online quietly assume you booked it.

03

Leave the pool days in

There is a whole day here whose only entries are the pool and dinner, and a cookout evening later in the week with nothing scheduled around it. With kids and a five-hour time change from the mainland, those are not wasted days. They are the reason the excursion days work.

04

The driving is slower than the map suggests

Kaua'i has one main road and it does not go all the way around. Po'ipu to Hanalei runs about an hour and a half each way, and the stretch through Kapa'a backs up predictably. Build the north shore day around that rather than treating it as a quick hop.

Use it as a starting point

One family did exactly this in March. The restaurants got picked because someone wanted to eat there, the surf lesson happened because the kids asked, and the slow days are in it because the trip needed them. Treat the shape as the useful part and swap the rest.

In Kintinery, a trip like this becomes one link. You forward your booking confirmations or upload a PDF and the AI lays out the days, then everyone coming along opens the same page on their phone, with no app and no account. Grandparents at home can follow the photos as they go up.

Start a trip free → Planning a family trip?

Common questions

How many days do you need on Kaua'i with kids?
About a week on the island is the sweet spot. Kaua'i is small but slow to drive, so a shorter trip means either rushing or skipping a whole side of the island. This one runs seven nights on the ground, which leaves room for two big excursion days, a north shore day, and enough pool afternoons that nobody melts down.
Where should a family stay on Kaua'i?
For families with younger kids, the south shore around Po'ipu is the easier base: it is the sunniest and driest part of the island, and the beaches stay calm and swimmable through winter. The north shore around Hanalei and Princeville has the more dramatic scenery, but winter brings big surf and the island's heaviest rain. This trip stays south and drives north for one day.
Do you need a rental car on Kaua'i?
Yes, in practice. There is essentially one road around the island and no useful transit for visitors. Every itinerary like this one assumes a car from the airport on day one.
Do you need a reservation to visit the north shore?
For Hāʻena State Park at the very end of the road, yes. Non-residents need an advance entry or parking reservation from gohaena.com, bookable from 30 days out to the day before, with no walk-ups and a cap around 900 visitors a day. Peak-season slots go quickly. Hanalei Bay itself, where this trip spends its north shore day, does not require one.
Is a helicopter tour worth it with children?
It is the one thing on this itinerary that people who have been to Kaua'i consistently say to keep. Much of the island, including the Nā Pali coast and the interior waterfalls, has no road access at all. Morning slots are the ones to book, which is why this trip has a 7:15am start and a slow afternoon after it.
When is the best time to take kids to Kaua'i?
This trip ran in March, which is the trade-off most families end up making: the water is calmer and the crowds thinner than summer, but the north shore gets more rain. Staying on the south shore is what makes a March trip work.