Day 17 Kauai: Poipu -, Salt Pond-, Kiahuna Beach & a "spouting horn"

August 8, 2022

Today we explore the surrounding area of Poipu. Loaded with beach equipment (the apartment has a whole closet full of beach equipment like chairs, bodyboards, snorkeling gear, umbrellas, etc.), we head to Poipu Beach. According to various Hawaii websites, this beach is considered the "most beautiful" beach on Kauai. Naturally, our expectations are high.

When we arrive, it's quite crowded. Red flags are flying everywhere - but we already know that. The waves are high, and the narrow strip of beach that connects the two crescent-shaped beaches and leads to a small island is covered with water. I grab my snorkeling gear and try to reach the small island with my son. Although the water is not deep, there is a strong current between the two beaches that pulls us towards the back bay, where swimming and snorkeling are explicitly prohibited today due to strong currents, as announced by the lifeguards. Great...

We manage to reach the small island, but at some point we have to crawl on all fours because there are sharp rocks everywhere. The same goes for the small island. We climb between the rocks onto the sand and take a brief look around. But there's nothing to see here. So we head back. My son has a hard time staying on the sand strip and eventually makes his way back to the shore. I see some snorkelers in the more protected bay and decide to try my luck as well, crawling over the sand strip into the bay. The water is very shallow, but unfortunately there are rocks everywhere, so you have to be careful not to hurt yourself. As soon as I enter the water and navigate through the rocks, a huge turtle swims right in front of me. Apparently, neither of us expected this encounter, as I don't even have my camera ready and the turtle abruptly turns around and swims away. I follow her with my camera, but lose sight of her after a short while because the current is too strong.

I cross the bay to the swimming beach, see some fish and lots and lots of rocks...

No, this is not beautiful at all. You can hardly get into the water from the beach at any point because there are rocks everywhere. Absolutely unsuitable for swimming. What a shame.

The daughter didn't even go into the water and prefers to chill on the beach chair. My son is also no longer interested and waits on the beach. The husband also went into the water with his snorkel, but doesn't see any turtles anymore and also complains about the abundance of rocks in the water.

After drying ourselves off, we move on. We had imagined it a bit differently...

We continue to Salt Pond Beach Park. On the way there, we stop at a scenic overlook and catch a first glimpse of Waimea Canyon, which will also be on the program in the next few days. There is hardly anyone at Salt Pond Beach Park, the parking lot is empty. However, the beach is much nicer here. There is actually only sand here! No rocks! However, the waves are also quite high, and getting deeper when entering the water, so we stay relatively close to the shore and "jump the waves".

For lunch, we stop at a small taco stand called "Paco's Tacos" on the road.

We order burritos, quesadillas, and taco salad. Delicious, but we just lost $60 for a "quick bite"...

On the way back towards Poipu, we stop at the supermarket and treat ourselves to ice cream (a pack of 6 ice cream bars for $10... what a bargain...).

We stop at Spouting Horn Park, which is very crowded. Several tour buses are parked here. After most of the tourists board their buses again, we also get a glimpse of the Spouting Horn. It spouts and blows quite vigorously at regular intervals, but it can't compare to the Nakalele Blowhole on Maui.

We continue along the coast and follow the signs to Kiahuna Beach, where you can apparently rent surfboards. The husband and daughter don't want to miss out on that.

The public parking lot next to the huge Sheraton complex is unfortunately very small, and of course, we can't find a parking spot. I stop on the side of the road and the husband goes to check out the beach and inquire about renting surfboards.

A short while later, he comes back and says we absolutely HAVE to go there, the beach is great and they also have surfboards. Well, but where do we park???

I've been waiting for someone to leave for 10 minutes. No luck. Then, when we're about to give up after almost 20 minutes, a big pickup truck that was parked on the side of the road drives away. I immediately race into the parking space. Perfect! Let's go to the beach.

The husband and daughter walk straight to the surf rental, while my son and I armed with beach chairs search for a shady spot on the beach. I see a gap under a palm tree at the edge and walk there with my chair. Another chair is already in the sand, so I place my chair one meter away and set down my towel to help my son carry the other chair. When we get to our chairs, a woman with two chairs in her hands is standing in front of me and rudely demands that I remove my chair. This is HER spot!

Hello, are you serious???? I'm briefly stunned by so much unfriendliness and audacity, place my second chair demonstratively next to my other chair, and point out to her that this is a public beach and she is welcome to sit NEXT to my chair.

She seethes with anger, insults me, and says they are a group of four and need space for 4 (!) chairs (even though she only has 2). I reply that I'm not going to discuss it any further, that we are also a group of four, and that there is enough space here for everyone.

She continues to rant and threatens to throw my things into the ocean as soon as I leave my spot.

Now this is too much! I threaten her with beach security, who is standing a few meters away and keeping an eye on the lounge chairs of the Sheraton Hotel. She doesn't say anything anymore, sits down on her chair in a fit of rage, and continues to rant when her husband returns to the beach with a cooler. Since she is gesticulating wildly and keeps glancing at me, I know it's about me. Pfff, I don't care. Unbelievable, I have never experienced something like this in all my vacations! And yet Americans are supposed to be friendly and helpful. Unbelievable!

My son splashes around in the water right in front of me with his bodyboard and jumps over the waves afterward. I don't dare to leave my spot because I actually believe the crazy woman next to me is capable of throwing my bag into the ocean. So I can't check if the rest of my family is successful in surfing.

Surfing seems to be great when the husband and daughter come back beaming with joy. I quickly explain what happened here, and the husband sits down on the chair to dry off so that I can also go into the water for a bit.

The waves are getting bigger and we have a lot of fun "jumping the waves".

When we eventually leave the beach, the unfriendly lady and her husband are still alone on the beach. No sign of the alleged third and fourth person. Pffff, truly unbelievable.

But we really like this beach, we have to come back here!

We end the evening on the large balcony of our apartment.

Our apartment doesn't have air conditioning, but due to the many "windows", which are constantly open (equipped with insect screens), some of which can even be manually opened wide or almost closed, the wind blows quite nicely through the apartment and it doesn't get too hot. We don't even need to use the ceiling fans.