A PreTeen's Guide to Kauai

On a recent vacation to Kauai, we discovered our 12 year old son, Isaac, has a hidden talent as a tour guide. We were traveling with my extended family, including Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles and 12 year old, 8 year old and 5 year old cousins. I was a little worried about how to keep everyone happy and entertained but we all ended up having a wonderful time with the things to do that our son found. We had bought a guide book titled "The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook" and our son had read it before the trip.

This is a miracle in itself, since he had been resisting all attempts to get him to read during the summer. We stayed in Poipu, in a beautiful vacation home called the Nanea Kai, within walking distance of Brennecke's beach. The older boys enjoyed body surfing and boogie boarding at Brennecke's. Just past Brennecke's was the children's beach, a great protected beach that my 5 year old loved. We probably would have been happy enough, just enjoying the beach, but the trip was greatly enhanced by the places Isaac led us to. The first day, he suggested we go to Kipu Falls, between Lihue and Poipu. It was a short hike from the road and then a beautiful waterfall and freshwater pond with 20 foot cliffs to jump from.

After the success of that excursion, we let Isaac lead us to the North Shore, to the Queen's Bath, a beautiful natural pool formed by lava. The water in the pool was calm enough for my 5 year old to snorkel without fins but there was a lot to see including schools of fish and coral polyps that would retract when touched.

On a drive to the west side of the island, he found a breathtaking viewpoint of the Napali coastline. Since this coastline is inaccessible by car, and I didn't think our 5 year old could make the 17 mile hike, this was the next best thing to being there. It's at the end of the road to Waimea, past the Waimea museum.

Finally, Isaac led us to a secluded beach called Maha'ulepu. We were lucky enough to see a monk seal sunning himself on the beach. The monk seals are the most endangered US marine mammal, so it is recommended that you stay a minimum of 100 ft away from them.

All these places were easy drives and short hikes that a 5 year old could handle. I definitely recommend letting the preteens have a say in the sight seeing decision process.