The Kilohana Plantation covers over 105 acres and offers a variety of activities, including 40-minute train rides around the property, a fabulous restaurant, rum tasting (located in the Koloa Rum Company shop), luaus, and shops featuring local artisans. We came for the food and shops but considered joining a rum tasting.
The Plantation House
The restaurant is located in The Plantation House, which also houses the shops, filled with items from local artists. The food was delicious. I definitely recommend eating here.
The grounds at the Kilohana Plantation
The grounds were beautiful. This was the view from our table.
The grounds at the Kilohana Plantation
After lunch, we wandered around the grounds. There were a few more small shops located amongst the trees.
One unusual thing that we happened to notice while we were enjoying our adult beverages was, it was literally raining lizards. The first one I saw out of the corner of my eye and asked my husband if that was a lizard that just fell out of the sky. He immediately reverted to his 5-year-old self, jumped out of his chair, and tried to catch the lizard. He was unsuccessful, sat back down, and a few minutes later I saw another one falling from the sky. Apparently, they were either on the roof, or in tall trees, and would leap off and fall to the ground. As I am not afraid of lizards, and I found my adult beverage to be quite relaxing, I decided that falling lizards was a delightful Hawaiian experience to be having. Had the lizards been interested in my lunch, I might have had a different perspective, but they found us to be utterly uninteresting.
Bird of Paradise
After lunch, we walked over to the Koloa Rum Company Shop (on the property of the plantation). They had an amazing selection of rum, most with a tropical flair. We were going to sign up for a tasting, but it was early in the afternoon and my husband wanted to do more snorkeling. As I believe that sober snorkeling is a wise choice, I agreed completely. If you are interested in doing a tasting, they recommend signing up early, spots fill up fast.
Things to Know Before You Go:
- Happy hour is from 3-5 in the Mahiko Lounge, in the Plantation House, on Monday – Saturday.
- It’s best to make a reservation to eat at the Plantation House.
- They offer a variety of packages with train tours, rum tastings, luaus. Check their website for details.
- They are 10 minutes from the airport. It would be a nice place to get something to eat and drink before your flight home.
The next day we were headed to the north side of the island, with a tour of the Fern Grotto and a stop at the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. As always, wishing you happy travels and fantastic adventures in this thing called life.
Fun Things To Do on Kauai
Sailing and Snorkeling Along the Napili Coast
The Best Helicopter Tour on Kauai
The Lookout Points at Waimea Canyon and Kokee State Park
