If my mom were here and saw what we just swam in she would not have thought it was not a good idea…and I would have to agree that it was dangerous…but you only live once right?

After the Napoli Coast Trail we bopped around Hanalei for a while. It was very overcast and on and off rain so we were in and out of the shops. 

Then we headed back to the jeep towards Princeville. A few days ago Sarah showed me an Instagram post of a guy jumping off a rock into a nasty ocean breakwater pool. The area was called Queens Bath. Ever since seeing it I couldn’t get it off my brain. Sarah typed it into the GPS and we found it, tucked back in what looks like a private community is Priceville and the trailhead is in the middle of a residential neighborhood. We parked and got out to find an very very muddy trail. We had already removed our hiking shoes and washed most of the mud off from the Napoli Coast Trail and we didn’t feel like putting those shoes on again. Against our better judgement we descended into the muddy trail with flip flops on.

This was not the best idea and I would not recommend anyone who reads this to repeat this mistake. Go barefoot, it is much more safe. It was about a 10min hike. We came across a couple other people who said it was totally worth it and encouraged us to go forward disputed our footwear struggles. There was a beautiful stream alongside us that fell from a waterfall eventually into the ocean and the start of the aggressive coast of Queen’s Bath. 

The folks we came across on the path had warned that the storm was bringing in big waves and they were nervous about swimming in the baths at the present moment. We didn’t know how serious to take that warning though, and after not being able to hike up to the waterfall on the Napoli Coast Trail I was feeling like we needed to do something crazy to make up for it.

We hopped across the lava rock scattered coastal walls to find mighty Queen’s Bath in all of her glory, laid out right in front of us ready to welcome us…or devour us.

Honestly, we took one look and we were ready to chicken out. The waves were crashing badly over the walls of the pool and there were soooo many warnings about how many people have died there. When we arrived no one else was swimming but there were a few guys sitting around the edge. One guy came up to us and introduced himself as Allan. He was a ginger from Alaska by way of Portland. He has been on Kau’ai working on and off as a farmer since this past January. He seemed pretty familiar with the bath and encourage us to jump in. He went first after explaining that the only thing to remember is to stay away from the mouth of the pool, closest to the ocean. This is “no man’s land” and it will suck you out to the rocky Pacific if you get too close.

So in went Allan, I followed, and Sarah dove in after. It was great. We bopped around and waded in the wavy aftermath for a while and then jumped out. No one was harmed:)

We stuck around and sat on the rocks at Queens Bath for a while and watch some more brave souls jump in, or puss out and leave. Our new friend Allan was hoping to catch a ride with us and hang out but we got scetched out when he informed us that he was really good at massages, if we were interested. Ugh. We could have been friends Allan.

So we headed back towards home for the evening. Sarah found a fancy schmancy Restuarant not far from our hotel called Hukilau Lanai. We stopped at the hotel to get the mud off of ourselves and we headed to dinner.

Dinner was suuuuper good. We each ordered Mah Tai’s and they knocked the pants off of the Smith Family Luau Mah Tai’s. I had the mixed grill- 3 kinds of local fish; Mahi Mahi, something I can’t remember, and Wahloo. All spear caught right on the east coast of Kau’ai and served in a coconut cremy dressing. It was seriously amazing. S.D. got the filet mingon, again incredible. It was served with purple Hawaiian sweet potatoes and a red wine reduction. 

We each had a glass of wine with our meal. It think it got to our heads. 

This restaurant was pleasantly placed on the coast with a beach view and an open lanai. We were thoroughly satisfied and totally ready for bed after a long day of hiking.