Wednesday, February 25, 2026
8:00 am to 5:00 pm
After the on and off rain we had yesterday, it was nice to wake up to clear skies! I was relieved when the ship was able to dock in Nawilliwilli. The entrance to the pier is narrow and requires that the captain do an S-turn around the breakwater and often the seas are too rough to make the maneuver. On our last cruise in 2024 the port was cancelled at the last minute for that reason. (Although missing the port wasn't a total loss since we got to sail by the Napali Coast instead.)
Today we had another Turo car rental but this time it was Bob who would be driving. The car was parked fairly close to the ship and even with my slow walking it did not take us long to get there. After taking all of the obligatory photos and uploading them to the Turo app as requested, we were off for the north shore.
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| These are such interesting trees! |
A couple of months ago I had gone online and made reservations for the four of us to visit the Kilauea Lighthouse and wildlife refuge. The reservations were only $1 each but without them you had to view the lighthouse from a distance. I wasn't sure how long it would take us to get there so I played it safe with a 10:30 reservation.
It was about 9:50 when we arrived so we parked at the overlook parking lot and spent some time taking photos of the lighthouse in the distance and doing some bird watching. Around 10:20 we drove through the gate. Normally the cost to visit (besides the reservation fee) is $10 per person but Bob's National Park pass covered all of us in the car for free.
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| And even closer view. The lighthouse was being renovated at the time. |
The upper parking lot closest to the entrance was full, but I knew they had a golf cart available and we requested to be picked up so I didn't have to walk up the hill. The view from the cliff was incredible! We didn't see any whales as I had hoped, but one of the workers said they had seen some a few days earlier. We walked around the path circling the lighthouse watching for the many birds that call the area home.
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| A pair of nēnē, Hawaiian geese. |
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| Kilauea Lighthouse visitor center. |
The lighthouse was undergoing renovations and for some reason I didn't take a close up photo. Here is a picture from the "Friends of Kauai Wildlife Refuge" website showing the lighthouse without the scaffolding and protective cover around the light.
From the lighthouse, we drove to Anini Beach where I had hoped to see some turtles that sometimes hang out on the beach. None were there, but it was beautiful. We followed the directions from the Guide Along app and drove until we reached the end of the public road.
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| Looking back at the Kilauea Lighthouse in the distance |
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| Taro fields. |
It was lunch time, but I didn't want to waste our precious time going into a sit-down restaurant so I asked Siri to find some food trucks in Hanalei. She directed us to a location that had several. Well, we might as well have gone to a restaurant because the Brazillian food truck where Michelle and I ordered our meal took nearly 30 minutes to fill our order. The chicken breast was dry and flavorless and the plain rice and green salad served with it was not worth the time or money we spent. Bob and Jon both ordered from a Thai food truck and enjoyed their meal.
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| 👎👎👎 |
We followed Google Maps directions to get to Hanalei Bay but we ended up at the far end of the bay instead of near the iconic pier where I thought we were going. It was still beautiful and the waves were huge!
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| I zoomed in to get a photo of the Hanalei Pier. |
Our port time was much shorter than yesterday in Honolulu which meant we needed to head back south so we wouldn't miss the all aboard time of 4:30. Traffic was very slow but I figured we still had enough time to stop at the overlook for 'Opaeka'a Falls. I knew it was just a parking lot with a distant view of the falls but probably worth a fast stop. Michelle and I were in desperate need of a bathroom so we jumped out of the car as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. A guy was waving Bob over to the side and when we returned I discovered that Jon had paid $30 for us to park there! What!? The guy was not dressed in any kind of uniform and I was sure it was a scammer taking advantage of unsuspecting tourists. I even went online and AI assured me that there was no entry fee. But on a little closer look I read where just a few weeks earlier Kauai had instituted the new fee for state parks in the area. The charge was $10 per car PLUS $5 per person.
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| My $30 photo (and distant view) of 'Opaeka'a Falls. 😠|
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| These boys need a little supervision at times. |
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| But going those few extra feet did get Bob a nice photo. |
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| The sign we didn't see. 😠|
Had I talked to the guy collecting the admission fee before Jon, I would have said "forget it" and just driven on. After all, you can see the falls from the highway so basically we paid $30 to use the restroom. We did take the time to walk across the highway to see the view of the Wailua River.
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| Kayakers on the Wailua River |
I also learned that the new fee also applied to parking at Wailua Falls where we were heading next. Since we kept our receipt, we wouldn't have to pay again when we got there. BUT...when we arrived there was no sign of anyone collecting any sort of fee! The falls are right next to the parking area so we got some good photos and were on our way. By the time we got gas in the car, we were out of time. I'm not sure how my original plan included time for swimming and snorkeling at a beach!
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| Wailua Falls |
With the early aboard time, we were able to watch as the Ruby Princess sailed away from Kauai towards our next port of Kona on the Big Island before we went to dinner.
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