Beautifully situated at the foot of green, lush mountains, the Hale Halawai Community Center is…read morejust a magical place. In addition to their own activities, the center is available for rent for private events as well. There are a number of buildings on the property, as well as a certified kitchen. The staff here is friendly and accommodating, and very easy to work with.

From the owner: Halehalawai.org Hale Halawai 'Ohana O Hanalei is a grass…read moreroots 501 (c)(3) organization founded by community members in 1993. Established out of a need for a gathering place on the North Shore, Hale Halawai 'Ohana O Hanalei became the first privately funded community center in the state of Hawai’i. Our name translates to, "A house for the coming together of the extended family of Hanalei." Our mission is to create and sustain a gathering place for cultural education and for community engagement and actions to support social, civic and recreation events that perpetuate the value of aloha and the betterment of our community. Locally referenced as Hanalei's Cultural Community Center, our center serves as a venue for a variety of services, classes, programs, events, and Hawaiian cultural programs. Our programs help perpetuate traditional Hawaiian culture and the Aloha Spirit. Hale Halawai 'Ohana O Hanalei is dedicated to celebrating and increasing the resources of the people. Said best by Aunty Kapeka Chandler, "...it is a place for everybody."

The beach was great. A little hard to get directions on line but once found . Thanks to a post on…read moreyelp

My family and I stayed at the Dali Hale Estate for 7 days to celebrate my parents 50th anniversary…read more It was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience. The property was amazing with 8 bedrooms (4 upstairs and 4 downstairs), a huge kitchen, a family room, sitting room and media room there was plenty of room for everyone. It was beautifully kept and was stocked with towels, toys, and sports equipment. The house manager was readily available to answer any questions. The walk down to Secret Beach has 360 steep stairs so it was a workout getting back up but the beach is breaking and very quiet although you may see a little bit of nude bathing. The house offers the most amazing views of the ocean, sand and lighthouse. I would highly recommend!

The dinner we had here was delicious! I had the scallops dish, the Hokkaido scallops, and my…read morehusband had the New York wagyu steak. We started off by sharing a mixed greens salad. Everything tasted so fresh and flavorful. We ended with the Lappert's Kauai ice cream pie, sharing one piece, which is out of this world delicious. I would say that I'm really only giving 4.5 stars instead of 5 because for me this amount of food is very light, although my husband did better with the steak. If you're really hungry, the portions here can be very small. Other than that, it was a delightful dinner. The chef used to work at Nobu and it really tastes like it. We ate early at 5:00 because that's all that was open for a reservation, yet we were the only 2 people in the restaurant. That's also just a bit strange. I think dining here when it's dark and candlelit would be more romantic, but I enjoyed looking around at the little house and its design and the beautiful garden surrounding it while we waited for them to open. It's also interesting to read about the history of the house and its site (it's a carefully built replica of the old original house that was here in the 1860's built by a Chinese immigrant rice farmer. Anyway, very charming. I think I'll call next time to try to get a later dinner reservation. This was one of our favorites on the trip. Service, was , of course, fast and the waiter was really nice and friendly.

Postcards is a cute with a beach house vibe going for it. It has indoor & patio seating. We were…read moreseated right away at inside at a round table for 4. We started with 3 appetizers. The Hanalei hummus was good served w/ nori rice crackers & lettuce. The crispy leek salad with soba noodles was tasty. And the raw fish served with peppers and pineapple had a nice spicy, fresh flavor. For dinner we had: Lamb which was decent. Not as good as Bar Acuda's lamb. The Wagyu beef was good and the fresh swordfish was nicely done. The risotto with tomatillo sauce & ricotta was delicious. For dessert we tried the Greek yogurt cheesecake. It was okay. Out of all the cheesecakes we tried over the last 2 weeks, this was the least favorite. We will definitely come back next year. It was easier to get a reservation calling the restaurant directly than trying to from online.

Annual golf outing while on family vacation! This year we were in Hawaii! Our AirBnB was in…read morePrincevile which was walking distance to the course. The course was well kept and beautiful. The iconic Hole 7 view was beautiful. The rough (which I was in most of the time) is what it is rough. The greens were well kept. I'm typically a good putter but I just couldn't get a good read on the speeds this day. The beverage cart passed us a few times which was nice. Although the "swing juice" didn't help my game this day. At some point, a staff member was at one of the holes with fresh pineapples - delicious! At the end, the staff welcomed us back and cleaned our clubs. They were great and very nice. The set the clubs to the side and said it'll be ready for us after the golf shop. The staff in the golf shop were nice and very friendly. The items were fairly priced and lots to choose from! Decided to roll with a hat, sticker and ball marker poker chip. Great time with my sons and best friend. Another successful golf trip on a beautiful island! I would definitely play again!

It is a pretty well maintained course with s few rough patches in many of the fairways,…read more The ladies tees have a great advantage- perhaps a bit too much! The posted rates are pretty high - luckily we had a discounted rate. Everyone was really nice, from the bag drop attendants to the pro shop,

Ola's was always my go to for gifts so I was sad to see it close several years ago. Very grateful…read morethat they have reopened in the same location. Many of items they sell are from the vendors of Ola's past. Beautiful glassware - I mean spectacular! Most everything is hand made and thus one of a kind. Yes, it's pricey - but you're worth it, right? Was a little sad that the jewelry selection was super limited. And everything was precious metals and gemstones so you really have to want it to shell out that kind of money. New to Ola's is a champagne bar. You can buy particular glasses of champagne or order a flight of 3. Flights range from inexpensive for sparking wine to expensive for Veuve Clicquot. Yummy! The saleswoman was super attentive but never pushy. She wrapped up my purchases and delivered them to our table next door at the Dolphin. My sister had her purchases shipped to her mainland home. How's that for convenience?

From the owner: Ola's Room is a reimagined gallery space in the heart of Hanalei, where art meets aloha. Originally…read moreopened in 1982 by artists Doug and Sharon Britt, this historic space has been lovingly revived to showcase both established and emerging Kauai artists. Located next to the Dolphin Restaurant, our bright, airy gallery features original works by Doug and Sharon Britt and Chris Atkinson, alongside handblown glass, artisanal jewelry by Jes MaHarry, and unique treasures. The gallery doubles as an intimate private dining room, hosting our exclusive Chef's Table series, special events, private dining that bring our creative community together.

Food is incredible and portion sizes are perfect. You will leave feeling nourished and practically…read moreglowing. We were celebrating a birthday and I noted this in my reservation. Nothing was mentioned or done about the celebration which was really disappointing for the amount of money I spent. For the price point they really should be doing more service-wise. Once there we spent about $80 on two drinks each, and tipped the bar and wait staff. All around it was a ~$400 experience. I wish something about the experience made me feel the price was worth it. Was a huge let down and slightly embarrassing on me since I organized the celebration for my boyfriend.

Amazing farm tour to table experience that educates and nourishes. This is a quintessential…read moreactivity that I look for on all Hawaii islands. This farm focuses on sustainability and regenerative farming; I appreciated learning that the main course was a byproduct of Ahi fishing: the Mongchong. The practice of lessening our waste is something we all need to be wary and partake in and respect the earth and the oceans that we take nourishment from. The meal was very special. This is a great chance to taste the unfamiliar; food you'll never taste on the mainland. I hope they excel when they start their restaurant business!

Went back on 4th of July to stock up for next week at the timeshare. It was very crowded this…read moreSaturday as compared to last Saturday. We went right @ 9am when they opened. Frequented some of the same stands. Bought 2 loaves of organic sourdough bread. Samosas from the Indian food stand.. Gluten free bakery items from Hanoli (?) Girl stall. The stand has regular bakery items as well that look good, Especially their croissants. Went to the other produce stand as they had a bigger selection. Bought 2 honey sugarloaf pineapples which were extra sweet & $1/lb. cheaper than white sugarloaf pineapples. Bought several mangoes. Cut some this morning & they were very good. Found a stand selling 100% cotton kitchen towels, beeswax paper, reusable paper towels & a few other kitchen items. They had the cutest Hawaiian prints for decent price. I bought 3 rolls of beeswax paper & a set of matching kitchen towels & reusable paper towels as a gifts. Also bought a cute Hanalei Farmer's Market cloth grocery bag for future trips. They were sold at the entrance to the market. I look forward to going to this farmer's market next year with my new bag.

Located in the downtown are of Hanalei on Kauai's north shore, the Hanalei Farmer's Market operates…read moreonly on Saturday morning. With the beautiful weather and easy parking, the setting was perfect for a great time. But found out that it wasn't worth the 50 minute drive by itself, though there are plenty of places to visit on the north shore around that area...still worth the trip. We arrived a bit earlier than the 09:00 start time, so parked near the Hanalei Pier, and walked across the sand of the beach to enjoy the morning before arriving at the market. The market was fairly hopping by 09:30, with 30 different stalls selling their wares. My goal was to find two things to munch on first, as we walked the market: some sliced white pineapple and malasadas. It's clear that for food items, the market does an effective job of making sure a type of a food item is sold by only one vendor at the market...it really inflates the price. White pineapple is a lot less hardier for transport, thus hard to find on the mainland...but definitely a far superior pineapple in terms of sweetness and juiciness. The vendor that sold it here, presented it in slivers inside the typical cored pineapple container. I saw it right away, but noticed that there was no price....it ended up being $20 (I was committed at that point), which is pretty steep for maybe 1/4 of a pineapple. I found the malasada vendor, making it fresh on-site. We only wanted to taste, so got one for $3 non-filled...and it was disappointing...just OK. Should have tasted a lot better considering where we were. We circled the market multiple times, and ended up staying for about an hour. It's a market geared towards tourists like me, not locals: you are not going to find a local restauranteur looking for produce for his/her dinner menu here. Speaking of being a tourist: did end up buying a nice print of nearby Anini beach that we will frame at our home to remind us of Kauai...the artist was super grateful. The picture itself gave me a mission to find that view at Anini (as we were heading there next).

I wanted to check out our old stomping ground. I used to own the Princeville Westin, transferred it…read moreto Maui. We haven't been here since 2012 so it has been a while. They have valet parking and parking for guest staying here. It's even great that they have a parking lot just outside the front entrance for the public access to the beach. So I was able to park and walk into the facility without paying anything. They have updated their facility and remodeled a lot of the units. The lobby area was nice and downstairs. I remember from before that all of the food and restaurants are downstairs. The pool area was really clean and that they also had redone some of that surfacing. It wasn't too crowded, which was nice and we walked around all of the different building areas. They have added a lot more units and it was very big compared to long ago. There wasn't any beach access like before I think you had to go around to the other area to enter that area to access the beach. Facility is clean and very nice. It was so much fun to reminisce and go back to the old complex.

5 stars are for the grounds. Swimming pools and fountains are amazing! I am a bit bias, because my…read moreson did the re-tiling of their pools; resurfacing of their koi ponds, etc. But everything on their property is really beautiful and peaceful. This place is more sedate than a party atmosphere. Their employees were quite pleasant and helpful.

I am writing this many, many months after my perfect, beautiful, amazing, wedding in Kauai in…read moreSeptember 2018. Alii Kauai Weddings did the best job helping me plan my dream elopement from Texas. I had never been to Kauai or even on a tropical vacation anywhere and they were always available to answer my questions and helped me plan everything out exactly like I wanted. The moment that I realized I had definitely made the right decision hiring them was when our flight got delayed causing us to miss our connecting flight and we got stuck in Los Angeles the night before our wedding! It was so stressful and I don't know what I would have done without Jessica. I called her and explained what happened and that we would not be able to get a flight until the next day ( Sunday, our planned wedding day). She made a miracle happen and was able to move our wedding from Sunday to Monday: flowers, cake, videographer, photographer, officiant, wedding coordinator and all! I couldn't believe it and was so grateful to not have to go from the airport straight to our wedding! The vendors that she works with were exceptional. The flowers were better than I could have imagined. The cake was delicious. Our pictures and video were perfect. Our officiant was wonderful. The coordinator onsite was helpful and everything ran very smoothly. I couldn't recommend this company more.

We utilized Jessica for our wedding ceremony in April. I started corresponding with her probably…read moreclose to a year out from the actual ceremony. We wanted a sunset ceremony at Shipwrecks beach on the south end of Kauai. I must have emailed 5 wedding planners to start with and she is the only one that responded. I'm so glad she was the one because she responded to every single email, always within 24 hours. Everything she has listed online is accurate, pricing for everything is upfront. I wanted to upgrade my bouquet, and my husbands lei, also got leis for guests. I added flowers for my hair pretty close to last minute, I sent her pinterest ideas that I loved and got exactly what I wanted. Seriously, my bouquet could not have been any more beautiful. We chose Harneet for our photographer, so far we have our sneak peek of photos and love them all. I can't wait to see the rest. Kahu Chuck was our officiant and he made our ceremony very Hawaiian, which is exactly what we wanted. Meghan did my hair and makeup and I felt so beautiful. She did an amazing job, exactly what I wanted and I really didn't want to wash it off. My hair stayed perfectly, even with the heavy flower comb in my thin hair, how she did that i'll never know. The day of I emailed Jessica with a request for 2 chairs, we had 2 guests over 70 that we wanted to make sure had a place to sit, she arranged that and Harneet brought them from the north side with him. It never crossed my mind previous that we would want any chairs. He also had umbrellas in case it rained, but the sun was out and the wind died down. After all was said and done, we had the best day. We basically showed up and it was all taken care of. If you are looking for a wedding planner, this is the group you want to go with. Honestly, if I ever got to do it again, we'd use Jessica, she's very professional and great at what she does. I referred her to our flight attendant on our way home who is wanting to get married on Kauai. I really can't say enough good things!

We did this tour as a family, over Thanksgiving. The guide is the owner. She is enthusiastic,…read moreknowledgeable, and, as my wife and the other women in the group noted, glamorous for someone toiling in the fields. Basically the activity turns on her story telling. Her accounts of flash flooding are vivid. She sure is accomplished. Her anecdotes are authentic, sincere, and funny. There isn't all that much walking, and they bring chairs out for people who need to sit. One fellow fell over in the mud (the leg of the stool sank and he toppled over; he was unhurt). There are three parts. First, there is the taro farm. Second, there is the rice mill. Third, there is lunch. The taro farm is a real, multi-generation family enterprise. I don't understand how they make money. It looks as if it is all done by hand. And taro is not a luxury item. You help them gather the eggs of invasive snails. Presumably they have some other task if needed and that doesn't work. The rice mill is fascinating. It's too bad it doesn't work anymore. You look at everything that has ben restored. You also drink fresh coconut milk, extracted right from the gourd in front of you, and you eat tarot snacks they make as you watch. The lunch is excellent. We enjoyed, among us, all of the menu choices. The quantities also are vast. The food truck would be worth visiting on its own, without any of the rest of the activities.

If you are looking for a unique tour on the North Shore or you want to step back it to old…read moreHawai'iI, you have to check out the taro and rice mill tour. know a taro farm and rice mill tour may not on the top of your Kaua'i to do list but if you like its definitely worth checking out, especially if history is your thing. The tour is conducted by Lyndsey, a fifth generation farmer, who had grown up out in the taro fields. She makes the tour worth while. Yes, everything you will learn and see is educational and quite fun. And, the food and smoothies are fantastic enough that you will probably want to stop there stand for more the next time you are in Hanalei, but Lyndsey just puts it over the top. You could tell how much she loves her family, their farm, and educating others about their tradition and what they do. First, after meeting at Hanalei Taro & Juice and sampling an ono smoothie made with taro, we headed down the road a bit to go see one of their many, many taro fields. The view was nothing short of breathtaking. There we learned about taro and how its grown and some of the history of farm. She also educated us on the endangered birds the lived in and around farm, which is located on a wildlife refuge. There we did the first hands on activity. If you wanted you could help pick up and collect apple snails and their eggs. It may sound a tad gross but it wasn't at all. I don't really even know how to describe the tool you use to remove them, besides saying that it looked like a metal kitchen strainer attached to a long pole. After the fields we stopped at the rice mill. The mill is no longer in use but the history behind it is incredible. After touring the inside of the mill and looking at old family photos and artifacts we finally got to try the taro. We drank coconut water from a coconut cute open in front of us. We also got to taste taro which was cooked, mashed, and mixed with shredded coconut straight from coconut we just drank from. It was delicious. I've had poi at luaus but this was nothing like that. It was the consistency of mashed potatoes (and those not poi but and other dish) so good. My dad had five servings he loved it so much. At the end of the tour you are taken back to the family's taro and juice cart for lunch. The kalua pig was out of this world. I have tried the kalua pig at at least 20 places on Kaua'i, but their pig, along with the Koloa Fish Market's are my all time favorites. Their taro mochi is a much try! I can't even begin to describe how much I am obsessed with their mochi.