Koloa, Kauai, Hawaii: Keoki's Paradise; restaurant review

Keoki's Paradise  

2360 Kiahuna Plantation Dr., in Poipu Shopping Village, across from Kiahuna Plantation, in Koloa, (808) 742-7534.  L-D daily.  Reservations advised.

interior of Keoki's Paradise in Koloa, Kauai, Hawaii

Everyone loves eating in this open-air, multi-level restaurant landscaped with cascading waterfalls, koi-filled lagoons, and lush greenery.  Keoki's Paradise has a koa bar with a palapa roof rounds out the tropical decor, along with antique Hawaiian posters and vintage surfboards lining the koa-wood-panelled walls.

pretty salad at Keoki's Paradise in Koloa, Kauai, Hawaii

Menu highlights are fresh island fish, Koloa pork ribs glazed in plum sauce, and a full bone cut of prime rib.  Kids can share with their parents or choose from a keiki menu offering pastas and burgers.

frozen Poipu Pino drink at Keoki's Paradise in Koloa, Kauai, Hawaii

My favorite drinks are a delicious frozen Poipu Pino served in a pineapple and a tasty Bumbai Mai Tai made with smooth local Koloa rum.  Lighter meals, including hamburgers and tacos, are served in the bar, and live local entertainment is featured on Thursday and Friday nights.



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images ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Kauai, Hawaii: National Tropical Botanical Gardens; things to do

National Tropical Botanical Gardens  

(808) 742-2623.  

Described as a “Noah’s Ark” for plants, this non-profit organization preserves more than a thousand categories of endangered plants from Hawaii and other Pacific islands.  The three National Tropical Botanical Gardens are on Kauai.

huge Moreton Bay Fig tree at Allerton Garden in Poipu, Kauai, Hawaii

Allerton Garden  

4425 Lawai Rd., Poipu, (808) 742-2623.  Daily.  $40, 6-12 $15.  Reservations required.  Located just across the road from Spouting Horn, this once privately-owned garden boasts bougainvilleas planted in the late 1800s by Queen Emma--wife of King Kamehameha IV--as well as more than 600 species of palms and 1,200 species of flowering plants and ferns.  Of interest to many school-age kids, parts of Jurassic Park were filmed here and you can take your family’s picture amid the massive, snake-like roots of the Moreton Bay Fig trees seen in the movie.  The 2½-hour tour begins with a ride on an open-air tram that follows the rail-bed of an old sugar cane train and takes you to the heart of the garden.  Then you’ll enjoy a leisurely walk, viewing tropical plants from all over the world as well as the world’s largest collection of native Hawaiian plants.  Special pains are taken by the docent guides to interest kids.  The visitor center and gift shop is inside a restored 1920s clapboard sugar plantation cottage. 

         ●McBryde Garden  

$20, 6-12 $10.  Self-guided tour.  A tram shuttles visitors along a cliff-side road to the garden, which holds the world’s largest collection of native Hawaiian flora.  A Canoe Garden highlights 27 lifesaving plants brought here by ancient Polynesians in canoes.  A Monkeypod tree at heart of garden, and you’ll also see exquisite strangler figs and snake cacti in this colorful garden. 

Limahuli Garden and Preserve in Haena, Kauai, Hawaii

Limahuli Garden and Preserve  

5-8291 Kuhio Hwy., Haena, on North Shore, (808) 826-1053.  Tu-Sat 9:30-4; age 19+ $20.  Guided 2½-hr. tour at 10; age 19+ $40; reservations required; tour is recommended for children age 10+.  Situated on one of the earliest sites of human habitation in the Hawaiian islands, this valley is now carefully nurtured and preserved.  The 985-acre jungle-like preserve is largely inaccessible, but a 17-acre garden is open to explore along a ¾-mile loop trail.

deep-pink hibiscus at Limahuli Garden and Preserve in Haena, Kauai, Hawaii

The garden features original indiginous native Hawaiian plants--many of which are on the endangered list and on the verge of extinction—as well as flowers and fruits introduced during Hawaii’s plantation era, and also a canoe garden with beautiful and rare plants brought to the islands from Polynesia.  Lovely lava stone agricultural terraces are believed to be well over 700 years old.  Five native species of freshwater fish and also several species of freshwater shrimp are found here.



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images ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii: Aqua Kauai Beach Resort; hotel review

Aqua Kauai Beach Resort  

4331 Kauai Beach Dr., Lihue, (888) 805-3843-7976, (808) 245-1955.  5 stories; 350 rooms.  4 mineral-water pools; 2 hot tubs; health spa; 4 tennis courts.  3 restaurants.  Parking $16.95. 

Aqua Kauai Beach Resort in Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii

Set on 25 lush acres on Kauai’s longest beach, the full-service oceanfront Aqua Kauai Beach Resort features plantation-style architecture.

pool area at Aqua Kauai Beach Resort in Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii

A spectacular pool complex is landscaped with lagoons, lava grottoes and waterfalls, and native foliage.  Children especially enjoy their special sand-bottom pool, lava-tube waterslide, and sand-topped lounge area.  The ocean here has strong undercurrents and is not good for swimming, but you can walk along the beach.  The soothing sound of running water can be heard all around the resort, and colorful koi populate manmade streams.  Complimentary tennis, golf, and an exercise center are available off property nearby.  Special activities and excursions are scheduled daily for guests, and a free airport shuttle is available.  Currently a live indoor dinner theater performance of “South Pacific” is being presented every Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m.  A free hula show with complimentary mai tais is held each Tuesday from 5 to 6 p.m., and a torch-lighting ceremony occurs nightly.  All rooms are basically the same except for their view, and each has a private lanai.  Prices normally start at $169 but can be as little as $129 in low season. 

mai tai in Naupaka Terrace restaurant at Aqua Kauai Beach Resort
in Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii

Naupaka Terrace Restaurant 

serves a daily breakfast buffet as well as lunch and dinner.  Shutters Cafe serves daily meals and additionally becomes a lounge in the evenings, when they serve up a delicious mai tai. 

It is interesting to know that the property generates all of its own electricity and solar energy and runs its own sewage plant.



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images ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers