Na'pali: The Jewel of the Pacific

I couldn't conclude my Hawaii saga without posting about one of the best parts of our trip, the Na'Pali coast. It was breathtaking. Na'pali is fifteen miles of rugged coastline on the northwest shore of Kauai. It's inaccessible by car and it's unbelievable. You have to see it by boat or kayak, or you can hike an 11 mile trail to get there. Lisa and I spent Saturday morning on a catamaran excursion headed there.

So we headed out and along the way, we met up with a pod of dolphins. They were Hawaiian spinner dolphins and they spent 10 or 15 minutes swimming and jumping alongside our boat. Our guides said the dolphins like the feel of the pressure wave created by the wake of the boat. They were racing and jumping all over the place. I was able to get them on video so the kids could see them.

The coastline was gorgeous. I don't think there is a word in the dictionary to describe it. Magestic, sheer cliffs with rock cathedrals created by centuries of erosion, all covered in beautiful green vegitation. All of this falling steeply to the ocean with the waves crashing. There were caves and waterfalls and even sandy white beaches along the way. The water was a deep clear blue, like looking through a blue glass. Half way through the trip they anchored the boat and we snorkelled. We didn't see anything extraordinary, in fact the snorkelling was kind of a waste of time. It did feel good to get in the water, though. Have I mentioned how warm the ocean is in Hawaii?

On the way back to Port Alen where we enbarked, we ate lunch and had some fun. Our captain offered the "trampoline" to the adventure-seekers in our group. They laid down on their stomachs and held on for dear life while we hit some big waves. Those lying on the trampoline flew up in the air superman-style. It was fun. I was actually thinking how much Tristan would have enjoyed that.

This brings up a good point: whether or not to bring ones' children when going to Hawaii. A lot of our friends told us we were crazy to bring the kids along. You take the kids to Disneyland and leave them home when you go to Hawaii, they said. There's no question that our trip would have been more of a vacation without the little ones. We would have been able to sit by the ocean with a book, take naps, have romantic dinners by candelight, sleep in, and the like. We probably could have rented a convertable and cruised serenely down the coast. The problem is, we would have been missing them the whole time and we would have spent the whole trip wishing they were there to experience it with us. Plus, there's nobody on Earth who can handle taking care of them 24/7 for two weeks (or even one). Our week with Dad and Nancy was also intended to be for the kids. So I guess you have to decide what kind of trip you want to have: exciting and memory-filled or relaxing and serene, but probably not both.