The top 20 music shops in Kekaha, United States

The owner is very knowledgeable and talented. He gives free lessons as well in the store. I was able to handle and play any ukulele I wanted. They gave me a pretty good discount on a ukulele that had some minor blemishes that came from being used in lessons. They sell online and only will ship blemish free ukulele’s, so they were fine selling with a discount to someone in person.

Merci Sam!
Le magasin est magnifique avec uniquement des produits de qualité, de l’art pour toutes les pièces, perles, ukulélés, chemises…et je n’ai pas eu le temps de tout voir.
Merci pour tes conseils, ta patience et ton amour des instruments, nous avons passé un très bon moment en achetant un Ukulele chez toi! Nous espérons te revoir!

Came to Kauai about a week and a half a go and all I wanted to do was to go to a ukulele store. I like the sound of the ukulele and always wanted to learn! That said, I kept looking at places to go and read a lot of reviews!
The Kamoa Store Kauaʻi, Hawai‘i seemed like the place to go! After a week or so with no visit to the ukulele store, I didn’t think I would get there and finally today I got there!
When we walked in, everyone greeted my wife, daughter, and me with an Aloha and a smile! It was all family in the store, something to be said about a store with all family working!!
I shared I was looking to learn, and Sam said if you have 20 minutes, you can stay for a free lesson. I was a bit nervous at first, my daughter and wife went to shop a bit and I stayed! About an hour later, there was REALLY music happening!! Wow!!! No pressure to buy at all, told him I needed to check with my wife to see and that was no problem!
While we did some really cool things while visiting Kauai, visiting the ukulele store was up there! In the end, I did buy a ukulele. I wasn’t sure if I was going to buy one. It was Sam’s passion for the ukulele and patience working with me that sealed the deal!!
It was WELL worth the visit, and very happy I made it!!
Sam…….will keep you posted on my playing, not practicing LOL.

Was excited to stop by and had purchased a ukulele for the 1st time at Kamaka in Honolulu 2 yrs prior. I let the owner know I was an amateur, and as I played, he assumed I’d learned my strumming pattern on YouTube…but I listen to the music I like and interpret as an artist. He told me about the free lessons he offers. I said, “Let me try playing this song and you can tell me what to improve.” He says, “I don’t need to hear it; I can tell you right now.” I was enjoying playing and felt a bit disappointed. But I listened as he told me I was playing much too harshly, audiences do not like that, compared it to fingernails on a chalkboard, and told me as my audience it was basically terrible for him to listen to. I replied that he is like 2 feet away. I also agreed I could try softening my strumming, but his ex.of very soft, slow strumming did not fit the style of the song I was going for. I explained that, and he then told me that his dad had to leave the room b/c of my harsh playing. I said, “If he needs to leave that is his opinion and doesn’t offend me”(although it did make me feel bad!) I teach piano students and can’t imagine saying my husband had to leave the room b/c of the way they were playing the piano!! I guess there’s a reason the lessons are free! He could’ve said something positive and nicely asked, “What if you tried softening your strumming a bit?” I would’ve felt and responded totally differently. I was happy to take feedback but was there also for the enjoyment of trying out the instruments. This quickly dissipated through the interaction. He needs to work on his approach with a potential customer! I would never want to take lessons here, let alone purchase an instrument. Side note:, instead of starting out by explaining all the info about the instruments and knowledge, maybe could try asking what I’m looking for in an instrument. I highly recommend Kamaka Hawai’i, Inc. in Honolulu, because they treated me very kindly and respectfully.
*Response: His answer is unnecessarily scathing and of course refuses to take any responsibility or acknowledge my honest experience.
A. Don’t talk about my daughter; barely worth replying to; she was not crying because she wanted to try a ukulele. Has cried on and off during our trip when tired, and we both try to console her. Sad he’s even trying to bring up parenting to throw in our faces! Wow…no we were not looking for ukulele lessons for her but thanks for the offer. I told her about egg rolls…
B. There was 1 lady worker in the room who was quiet, and she was actually grooving a little after he walked out for a bit ;), & maybe 1-2 other people milling around, so I’d hardly say I was “entertaining” the store. As any musician can understand, we enjoy going in to a music store and trying out instruments for learning and enjoyment..
C. He has no understanding or care about the frustration that I’m expressing here. I feel like he’s not used to sharing knowledge then listening to a slightly different response. He drives his point home at the expense of a person’s feelings. He wants to paint me as an obnoxious person who was there to brag on my talents and annoy everyone, though I berated my skills sev. times, then he says all these ppl walked out who weren’t even there. Keep in mind this was a short episode: I was talking with him, trying to figure out some chords, playing a couple short songs in a virtually empty store, until my terrible playing completely emptied it?
D. This was not an official “lesson” to my knowledge. I was there to try out instruments and be free to do so /ask for input
E. I took his advice by playing a song again more quietly, to which he said it was much better, so again his story is not adding up. Also, at that point, I was the one who showed myself to the door!
F. I was told this is common behavior for store owners/employees on the island, but we did have some nice experiences! I’m sure others have enjoyed this store, but I did not, and feel it is worthwhile to share my experience, even if it means I’m berated vs. validated once again in return.

Greqt selection of instruments to buy and rent. D’Lissa is wonderful, full of info, helpful, and a great smile

Super friendly and helpful!

Scotty always gives great advice and had the best collection of stringed instruments on Kauai. The deals are also really good once you find a uke that you like.

First thing the manager said to us when we walked in was “don’t touch anything this isn’t a guitar center”. First impression? Poor customer service.

Great service. Friendly and helpful staff. Large selection of ukuleles and gig bags.

Great selection and service

31 year old Male Staff employee took advantage of me(16 year old). Told me a guitar was 600 dollars retail was 400. Made the mistake of buying it, looked it up later and it was 300 dollars. I knew it was my mistake too. Definitely a store you cannot trust

Lovely place, really comfortable chairs to be had if you get there early! Senior and child tickets available. Refreshments were expensive but then they are everywhere. First run movies only lag back by about 3-6 months even though they are a small community theater!

Saw live comedy. Nice arrangement of seats. Intimate. Will go again.

Small town vibe, woth big personality

Seats were tight on the sides and my knees hit the seat in front of me. There is no room to get up and use the bathroom if you’re in the middle. The seats need a retrofit. Nobody will miss the old seats.

The Art Deco style outside is cool.

The bathrooms have been renovated and are nice. The concessions were good.

The staff was friendly and very concerned with safety. Theater may have been oversold that night though.

I would have thought they’d taken advantage of the Lockdown and remodeled, but I was so happy to discover they are open we went the first chance we had. It’s such a great draw for the town and you can save a couple bucks by pre-order. Keep in mind this is a one show movie theater in the oldest Kauai town. Other attractions include the best shave ice, the Kauai Raceway Park, and Koke’e.

A very nice nostalgic theater ,So much history the town of waimea

Went to see a 730pm showing and arrived at 7pm. I was met with an already packed theater for a movie that was already showing. Wanted until 730 for the movie to start only to find the current movie running 40 minutes late. People were very loud and made it impossible to hear the movie. I’ve only ever walked out once before, but I couldn’t even last until the movie started. WORST MOVIE EXPERIENCE EVER.

It’s the only theater on Kauai so it’s sad that the contrast on the current movie Shang Chi was so bad that when there were night fighting scenes, you couldn’t see the picture at all. If every movie plays like that for night scenes, it’s not worth the ticket cost! I don’t understand how whoever runs the projector can’t see how bad it is…or maybe just doesn’t care? But the staff are all friendly & great! The woman at the ticket booth & concession are great!

Great for ukelele’s, very helpful service

Good service. Knowledgeable. Friendly. Nice looking ukuleles.

Beautiful selection! Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. I bought a ukulele that was more expensive but the sound quality was too good to pass on. I highly recommend going here!

Friendly staff

Great diversity in the instruments they sell. Big selection out ukulele’s.

This is a lovely music shop in Hanalei, my family and I have visited several times, and purchased ukuleles as well as taken intro lessons here. The teachers are fantastic and very helpful. Definitely stop by!

Given the quality of our interactions and experiences in the past I was really surprised by the abrasive and rude nature of one of the employees/manager: Holly. A mistake was made–totally understandable, but she had no interest in helping us sort it out, and when I asked for ideas to remedy their mistake she dismissively told me she needed to help other customers. A quick–“how can we make this better” or “shoot, I’m so sorry could you guys stop in tomorrow so we can figure this out” would have been more than enough. She also referred to Hawaiian’s multiple times throughout her class as lazy (even after another student noted her vibe was rude). I grew up on Oahu, and I understand the laid back culture of the islands, but as a white woman with a whole lot of privilege as the teacher in the class, she could have been a lot more gracious in her assessment of the locals. My hope in writing this is that Holly will be more thoughtful in the future. Aloha!

Don’t waste your time. Picked up a guitar, played for 2 mins before asked to “play quietly.” So that she could make a call. No one else was in the store.

Wanted to check this place out. Even though the doors were open the lady was very dismissive shooing us out of the store said come back around 10:45 and said actually 11 is better. I guess I won’t be buying anything here as they have no interest in new customers.

The store hours listed on Google are not accurate – they do NOT open at 11AM. I was there today a few minutes after 11, and the lights were still off and doors locked. I hung out for a bit, but at 11:15 the doors were still locked. No clue what time they actually open

Just enjoyed a week long holiday on the beautiful Garden Island and was lucky enough to stop by Hanapepe on Friday afternoon as the town was setting up for their weekly Art Walk event. The buzz in what seems an otherwise quiet, forgotten and ramshackle little town was palpable and we really enjoyed our walk around (if you go make sure you look out for the Right Slice stand – divine pies!).

The highlight was definitely this lovely old 2nd hand bookstore – the westernmost bookstore in the US according to the owner. I bought a lovely book on teaching kids to cook and he even brought out some of his latest stock (before it had been cleaned – who knew!) for me to peruse. Gorgeous shop full of atmosphere and wonderful old books, sweet cats winding their way between the aisles and a very friendly owner.

A must visit in Kauai!

Amazing selection of new and used books. Name an author, and they probably have a book by that person.

Cute place had some retro toys which I bought an old transformer toy

This is a really cute bookstore and the staff were quite friendly and not pushy.

You have a bunch of books from a variety of subjects to choose from. The prices can be a bit expensive, but you can find a lot of historical data on Kauai and Hawaii and the owners are very nice people

The only real bookstore on Kauai, but an excellent one.

not interesting

Unfriendly owners of the business !

Only “bookstore” on Kauai

We got back today afternoon from the NaPali coast adventure raft tour. Cori was our captain and we also had KaiKoa as our crew member( I hope I remembered the names right). Both of them were amazing. We experienced several thrilling maneuvers right from the beginning, and went inside the sea caves. In addition, we also got a fantastic photo op in front of the best section on the NaPali coast. Would 10/10 recommend them, and would also list this as a must-do while in Kauai.

We had the greatest time with Mads and Jon Jon! Everything about this day was amazing. We made family memories that will last forever. Highly recommend!

What an experience we had! We did the napali beach landing tour with Nessie and Maca (my apologies if I spelled his name wrong) and it was honestly such a life changing experience. The journey was definitely an adventure, choppy waves and us hanging on the ropes for dear life lol, but if you love adventure, good views, and good vibes, I would 100% recommend this!!! Also I just wanted to add that even though the waves got really choppy on our way back, Nessie and Maca were both so experienced and navigated us back to the dock safely!!

Great Nepali trip if your into a loooong bumpy ocean ride. Why this tour doesn’t leave from the north side of island is beyond me….? Takes an hour of spine jarring,neck cracking, arm wrenching pain to get to amazing spots along north coast. Find a tour leaving from NORTH side instead!!! Still healing and resting from trip 3 days later!

So much fun

These guys are serious :-)! The tour to the Napali Coast was quite hard and our muscles were really sore after taking the trip. But that was totally worth it and we´re happy we did it anyway. JSEA and Jay took really good care of us and have earned definitely five stars.

We decided to take the afternoon photography tour, but keep in mind, that you are still in a Zodiac traveling very fast over open water and bumpy waves, so you need both hands (and feet) to stay safe in the boat. Taking pictures along the way is therefore not possible. The 4 stars are only because the homepage text suggested it would be a tour for photographers – I already asked myself how that would be possible on a Zodiac. Luckily, JSEA did a lot of photo stops at scenic places and kept the boat steady. But if I was to do this tour again, I would bring a smaller and less expensive camera. That would be more suitable and more fun and even allow filming the awesome sea cave cruisings 😉 Btw: we had no problems with motion sickness on the Zodiac.

Snorkeling in a remote area of Napali coast, this company’s staff went and dumped bags of potato chips into the ocean to attract fish to the boat. Completely unacceptable practice altering the behavior of wildlife. If you love the beauty of these islands, then use a different company that cares about preserving that natural beauty

We got stuck in traffic but was still there at the dock at 7:27 am….we called the office and let them know we were running behind at 7:05 am….as I ran up to the dock the Captain was untying the zodiac, he completely ignored me and shoved off…I got the attention of the other boat Captain and he waved and got our Captains attention and even though he was only 20 ft away he he shrugged his shoulders and took off. Now we have to pay another $165 for another trip. Very disappointed in the customer service and loss of our vacation money.

Mistakenly went to the wrong harbor. Called and asked if I could reschedule. Nope. No refunds, just an option to pay 50% to be on standby for another trip.

Wish I could give these guys ten stars. Corbin and Nate are the best guides, and I had the most memorable experience with them. My rafting tour was in August so this is a long overdue review. I’m waiting until next summer to do this again. You guys are the best!

If you are looking to book a boat tour for your vacation, look no further!
Captain Hiilei, Jacob and Jake were knowledgeable and funny. They genuinely cared about us having a good time and would ask throughout the trip about our comfort.
Do yourself a favor and book this company.

The Jake’s were amazing! They gave us so much great information and were such fun tour guides! They clearly knew the area well and took us to some great places. Snorkeling, snacks, sea caves, coast, sun, what more could you ask for! Highly highly recommend!

Beautiful sights and Jake and Jacob were super awesome sweet and informative. I would try and get them as your capitans if you chose this tour, as they work super fluidly together. Only thing that didn’t make this experience 10/10 was the weather conditions. Unfortunately the day I went the waves were too high and we couldn’t actually go inside of any caves, weren’t able to snorkel and it wasn’t as gnarly as looked on the website but it had nothing to do with the company itself, solely the weather. This company is the only company you should use when touring na pali coast but MAKE SURE YOU DOUBLE CHECK THE WEATHER OR ELSE IT WILL NOT BE WORTH IT!!!!

Was really nice ! A must see on Kauai.
The Napali coast is absolutely gorgeous. Pilotes were super nice & friendly.
We could not snorkel because of the weather, and we barely swam which was a bit sad. But the weather forecast in Kauaii is so complicated.

Awesome and knowledgeable tour guides. Swells were too large in October for our group to get close to the coast or the caves.

Not to be missed! Great experience, great food, clean bathrooms, beautiful atmosphere, accommodating staff. So happy we came here!

Da food, da service, da atmosphere was da bomb! Fresh pineapple on my pizza and the views from the deck were unmatched. Onion rings were solid. To order you scan a QR code, which isn’t for everyone but I’m technologically efficient.

Delicious!

Stopped here on our vacation and it was good!!! 5 stars for pizza but giving it a 4 star due to cording being a little confusing. Would go again

Very good, lots of cheese. Missing the bell pepper otherwise it would be a 5!

Beautiful place for a slice as the sun sets. Only knocking off one start for the pizza being a bit too floppy. Other than that the flavor was good and the beer wall was pretty cool!

I was sick after eating the pizza the quality was so terrible. If I could give it 0/5 I would. The salad was brown and and sad. You’ll also enjoy the luxury of eating with paper and plastic utensils. Enjoy!

The service is friendly, but over an hour to get one pizza is ridiculous. Went here as we were staying at the Cottages and it would have been faster and not near as frustrating to just drive somewhere.

Pizza vegetarisch in L für $26+Tip+Tax – sportlich. Der Becher fürs Tap Water kostet 50ct extra. Pizza ansonsten gut, sehr gute Bierauswahl

Noch nie so lecker gegessen. Wer hier nicht isst ist selber schuld!!! Preise auch total fair für das leckere essen.

We stopped by for a quick lunch after a hike, and were happily surprised how great this place was. It has a nice atmosphere, and the burgers were being grilled on the porch as we walked in. The burgers were perfect and the beers were nice a cold. I even had dessert.

I never never leave a review but this was the best filet I have ever had in my life and I’ve had many. The food was astonishing the vibe and drinks were immaculate please if you are in Kauai I beg you to come here !!! If you are or aren’t a meat lover the filet is the best food you’ll ever have!

The staff is friendly and the fries were great but I asked for my burger medium well and it came out medium at best. They gave me $1 off the bill.

Good burgers,steak,fish sandwich.

Got vegetarian tempura, but the rice wasn’t cooked all the way.

We waited an hour for our food and when we arrived the place was empty. I know 6 different people ordered after us and got their food before we did. It seems like you need to know someone to get good service. Too bad because I am local and will not return. The food was good but overpriced for the service we received.

Food was solid and service excellent. I got the chicken sammich and wife got portobello vegan sammich. Some great local beers on tap too.

The problem is the FLIES! We sat inside but there were 4-5 swarming around us and our food the whole meal. For that reason, we likely won’t be back.

It’s too bad because the place has such a great vibe. Laid back, but friendly, prompt, attentive service. And a great little town Waimea is.

Horrible service!
We ordered classic burger, we got the Wrangler burger with mushrooms and bacon. We told the waitress, she took it back, removed the mushrooms and bacon and returned it back to us!!!! There was literally left over mushrooms on it!!! It could have been a disaster if somebody was allergic to it.
Ordered water no ice, got iced water!!
We ordered garlic fries, we got regular fries!!
When we kindly pointed out that to the waitress, she rudely said “OMG Is there anything else wrong with your order?”!!!!! We were shocked by her response!!
When we asked for the check, they literally put the wrong burger on it, again!!

Amazing experience ! I highly recommend. Captain A’ A and crew were amazing and so informative. The views were absolutely spectacular!!!

The Seiko 1 is small boat is the way to go! Definitely a must do experience if you are going to Kauai. My family had the best time! On the trip we got to go in some caves, see a huge group of dolphins and saw about 6 whales not to mention snorkeling with Sea turtles.

It was a rockin’ good time! The swell and wind made for a very exciting ride in and out of the harbor! The captain and Tony were fun and engaging and obviously love what they do. One of the best boat tours I’ve ever been on. P.S. If you are at all prone to motion sickness, you will need to prepare for that.

We had a great time on the Makana with a fun crew! They did their best to make sure our cruise was enjoyable and unique including stopping for sea life and entering sea caves. The only reason I didn’t give a 5 star review was because they asked us to be at the launch site at 7:45 when the boat and crew didn’t show up until after 8. We still left by 8:30 but that didn’t make it feel like my time was valuable. I would suggest everyone showing up at 8.

Boat was pretty stable, even in rough water. Crew was very friendly, and we saw quite a few whales!

We did the Na Pali Kai III afternoon tour and it was one of the highlights of the Kauai trip. Since all their tours leave from Kikiaola Small Boat Harbor, the time it takes to get to Nā Pali Coast is the shortest compared other companies operating from the south coast. The ocean was pretty rough the day we went so the Na Pali Kai III couldn’t get inside the caves while their smaller boat was able to. If going inside the caves is a must for you, pick one of their smaller boat tours.

The guides gave us history about various places along the tour. The provided deli sandwiches and various non-alcoholic drinks which were commensurate with the price they charge. They offer inexpensive tours compared to other large name brands. I like that they keep the price low as I really don’t think that the priority of a Nā Pali Coast tour is dining. One thing to keep in mind is that all the tours travel along the exact same route and snorkel at the same pre-destined spots.

Our tour went almost all the way up to Ke’e Beach. I say almost because we had to turn around just before the Ke’e Beach due to rough waters. The weather was perfect in the afternoon with the afternoon light providing perfect opportunity for taking pictures.

The only negative aspect of our tour was that they didn’t stop or give enough time to take pictures at some of the most iconic spots. Considering that our boat was completely sold out with 30+ people on board, it requires at least a few minutes for everyone to be able to take pictures but the tour barely stopped for us to take pictures. Most of the pictures we took came out blurry because we had to shoot on a fast moving boat on choppy waters. Other than that, everything else was perfect.

The boat trip was okay, in the sence that the napali coast line is beautiful and definitely worth visiting by boat!! However, we didn’t go snorkeling ánd we did not go in caves (like other companies and boats did). We expected this and for just a boat ride along the coast we think it was overpriced (though still nice). A lot of people also got seasick, but that, I guess, is the case with every company and a risk you choose to take if going on a boat trip.

But something did happen to us which has caused lots of problems. A very big wave hit us and flooded the entire boat. Everyone was soaked. We had our phones and camera out and my phone is completely broken now. Also, my friends’ phone now stops working at certain times, so we are afraid her phone will also break in the coming days. Also, one lens of her camera is moist and shows spots when trying to take a photo. We have been busy trying to fix these things which has really had an impact on our short stay in Kauai.

We chose Makana charters big boat (and not a speedboat) on purpose, because this is exactly what we didn’t want to happen. But we saw the speedboat company and other companies offered drybags to their passengers. Also, we did not get any warning on the boat, while all our cameras were out.

I did not even want to write this bad review and just discuss it with Makana charters, but they are not answering (also not to the emails we had send before the boat tour with some questions) and are unreachable.

In short: definitely book a boat trip along the napali coast, but do it with another company.

The hostess was rude and appeared as though she had better places to be with the attitude she was displaying. Cretaed lots of confusion and chaos for customers. The boat ride and boat crew were both pretty good. Less fancy than they make it out to be. The dock is filthy and it looks and smells like a garbage dump site. But other than that…

I do not recommend this company. Since they go in a catamaran they are much more likely to cancel as they did with us twice. If you read the one star reviews you will see this happened to many other people as well. The trip itself may be nice but we never got to experience it. If something goes wrong they don’t try to help and communication was extremely challenging. They don’t seem to care that they are canceling. To ensure you go out book with another company or have a backup plan. Note we went out with another company on the same day as we were canceled by Makena Charters and did not have any issues and were able to see the coast perfectly. The weather was beautiful.

Amazing day – the best one in Kaua’i. Captain Aaron is awesome and a great host!! The tour is incredible and money very well spent!! It was the perfect day and he went the extra mile to make sure of it. Thanks Cap!

Captain Aaron was the best! Been to Kauai 10+ times and have done the helicopter and othet bigget boat charters and this was the best things I have ever done on Kauai. We only had 4 people in our group and Aaron made it so much fun and interacting. Also the music he plays is dope and we need a Napali Odessy Playlist on Spotify to listen to back in reality.

Amazing tour!! Great comfy boat & capped capacity for a much better experience than most big companies. Captains boat maneuvering skills were very impressive to get into caves and right next to the coast line. Be prepared for “island time” as he was about 30 minutes late – but absolutely worth it! Will be recommending to all my friends that come on the island

Cooler Ausflug mit einem Schnellboot zur Napali – Coast. In einer kleinen Gruppe (max. 6 Personen) sass man bequem auf einer gepolsterten Bank auf dem Boot. Freundlicher, hilfsbereiter Tourguide, der das Boot geschickt durch die hohen Wellen steuerte. Konnte viel über die Natur und spannende Geschichten von früher erzählen. Der Spass kam auch nicht zu kurz und wir verliessen das Boot komplett durchnässt aber glücklich. Das Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis ist okay. Eher teuer für den knapp vier stündigen Trip.

First time getting tattoos and Thad was great and easy to work with

Sam is the best tattooer hands down on Kauai and in my opinion his talent is hard to top. I have waited years to get tattooed by him again and it’s worth the wait. Professional, light hand, clean shop with good vibes. Highly recommend.

Kalin did an amazing job on a cover up I needed badly. I appreciate that he really took the time to listen and understand exactly what I wanted. It came out better than I could have hoped for! True artist and full of aloha. I’m so grateful, mahalo Kalin

Got my only tattoo there

Thad was awesome and he did a great job. Mahalo until next time.

great place for a tat2thad

Mr. Thad Nakao’s skilled Tribal artwork piece is an intricate, detailed piece. But it was not worth the very torturous six hours of pain and unplanned monetary cost I was not expecting to pay almost Midnight, our last night in Kaua’i.

There ought to have been more communication between Thad and I before and during the tattoo session. I explained previously in texts that I had tattoos in the past, longest sitting with breaks was two / two and.a half hours for a Tribal on the side of my right calf which was also painful. We agreed the week before for two hours at between $150.00 to $160.00, $150 if in cash. But because it took six hours, he decreased if to $130 and we didn’t have enough cash. Thad explained it was because the outlines kept rubbing away and had to be re-drawn, taking a whole lot longer. He said there was an ATM down the street in Town. It was almost Midnight and dark and we’re not from the area. There was a man on a bicycle down the street screaming expletives and cursing at a woman also on a bicycle. It didn’t seem safe to walk down the street in the dark to town withdrawing more cash while already carrying more cash on hand.

I ought to have confirmed that the design Thad drew on the left side of my back was going to take two to two and a half hours. He being the Subject Matter Expert in his tradecraft could have told me it may take longer, possibly four plus hours. If I had known it would take six hours, I would not have done the tattoo or stopped or finished off at two hours wherever in the process Thad would be at.

Even though we took around three breaks, I kept imploring to him if we were almost done because it hurt and was way past my two and half hours pain threshold. Thad was also late, almost arriving at 4:00 P. M.. My appointment was 3:30, so I was expecting to be done at 5:30 P.M.. My Spouse was finishing up his tattoo and we would have a nice dinner, our last night in Kaua’i. We were on a limited budget.

While I asked two small designs to be incorporated into the overall deign, I was still expecting the piece to be a simple, light and feminine Tribal piece similar to the picture I sent to him. My back was already shaking from the excruciating experience. I was dry-mouthed because I was running low with water in my water bottle. This is not criticizing the artwork or quality of the tattoo, but the lack of communication of what I was prepared for time and budget-wise. I feel I ought to have been told “.. for two to three hours, you can only do half of this design.” If I was told that, I would have agreed. Thad ought to have told me this was a four to six hours piece and I would have went with another option. Instead what I thought would be only 15 minutes more at the two and half hours mark resulted in four hours of constantly asking “How much more left?” This will be my last tattoo after this torturous, excruciating, and costly experience to my body, wallet, and memory.

Historical home built by missionaries in the early 1800s. The home is getting an extensive remodel after sitting empty for 15 years. Hale Puna will serve as museum and community center when construction is finished

Went to the farmers market on Thursday evening. Although there were only ~6 tables, the vendors had some pretty rare and unique produce for sale. Was the only place I was able to get my hands on breadfruit.

Stopped here for the farmers market. A little small but all the vendors had quality items and were friendly.

The oldest house and tree on Kauai
1830

Actually was at a Habitat blessing for an up coming housing development accross the street from Hale Puna however I have always admired the structure and am glad that it will finally be getting some needed attention.

It was not open when we went

Muy Feo me pareció!!!!!!!!

Hands down one of the best taco places I visited while in Kauai. The lady taking orders was amazing and very helpful with deciding on what to get. Amazing food and amazing service.

Fast friendly delicious tacos and burritos they offer Tofu as a substitute for meat and fish.

Great food! Friendly service!

Maybe coming from Southern California I have too high of an expectation for tacos. The tacos and burritos here are average at best and a burrito is about $16 hours in a taco is $9. The homemade tortillas are nice but the tortilla chips are really greasy. The tacos come with a weird mayonnaise slaw. Service was friendly however and the restaurants easy to find.

The ahi Wasabi tacos are the way to go!

The food was OK, definitely not worth the price, 2 tacos, chips, and 2 bottles of water, ~$40.00. Everyone was very nice, clean, and had a good environment.

We ordered seared wasabi ahi tacos on the day after Xmas. The fish was not seared at all and we did not like it. The reason might be that the place was too crowded. Ask them to sear the fish well!

Very rude people. Don’t park by dumpster or get in front of menu board! We walked out. Taste of they’re food didn’t matter.

I get a taco everywhere I travel. This was the worse taco of my life. My wife had a burrito and couldn’t handle it. Paid $40 for nothing

Excellent food.

As a Kansas Citian, I know a lot about BBQ and Chicken in a Barrel definitely is on par with the best in the country.

One of the best food I had in Hawaii!! You gotta try their pizza and smoked chicken. And the servers are so sweet and awesome!! Glad we stopped by for the food.

Food was delicious tried the sampler very good,serve yourself restraunt very affordable

Overall the ribs tasted good, but we’re not the fall of the bone ribs that I have had in other establishments. The barbeque sauce was tasty. The cornbread was ok, but nothing like in the southern part of the US.

Amazing plantation house and property.
Food must be amazing, cuz they ran out earlier of the stuff I wanted to order (ribs and chicken).
Food turn-around was very slow, but I’ll give it a pass due to Covid staffing stuff lately. Friendly staff though!
Mahi tacos were ok. Burger was ok.

Location is amazing but the drinks are not good. The Barbecue was good.

Had high expectation for this places after reading good reviews of other locations. The food turned out to be terrible. Chicken was really blend and port ribs were the driest they’ve even had. Hard for me to believe that this is a franchise! Maybe the other locations are ok

2023 update: wow, can’t believe how much worse this restaurant is now. Cheap paper plates and plastic utensils, no flavor to the meals, extremely basic if not annoyed service. We were thrilled to be back but were extremely disappointed. The only pro is the nice view that hasn’t changed. I hope this place finds its groove again.

2019 experience: Great Poco loco for breakfast. Come even if you are not a resort guest for a relaxing and casual atmosphere.

I learned about art night in hanapepe a few years back on my first trip to Kauai. What a happy little western style of a town. Truly a beautiful experience of Hawaiin culture.

Go visit this incredible town, the art is fabulous

Pleasant evening enjoying artistry, food, and conversation.

Art galleries were very nice. Not many options for eating and not many people in attendance, so shops closed early.

Enjoyed it, but I can tell it’s seen better days. Pretty quiet when we went, not many people there, a few shops open and the people working in them were very nice and friendly. No street vendors, not much of a selection for food since most of the restaurants were closed. Fairly long drive from our resort but beautiful scenery on the way. I have a feeling they’re still recovering from the loss of business when Covid was a bigger issue. I really hope things improve for this event, because it’s a cute little town and I think there’s alot of potential for this to be a very popular attraction.

So happy to have stopped here my first night In kuaui- ppl were really nice – good vibe on the street, music, food— highly recommended

Don’t waste your time twice going in August 2019 then hoping it would actually be something worth while giving it a chance again in August 2021. No vendors no food hardly even the local art stores bothered to open or stay open. We went at the 5-9 period Friday nights stating it would be alive.
Again don’t bother the long drive to basically nothing.
You likely would find it possibly busy in the day. But there really isn’t any effort by the local businesses to make this an event and really should be removed from calendar. If one is driving back from Waimea canyon and wanting to drive thru to get a taste of history then drive thru. But don’t have any expectation that there will be anything open other than town mini mart, used book store.