We have airline tickets to come to Kauai from September 21 - September 28, and I'm having a really hard time deciding if we should stay on the north shore near Princeville or the south shore near Poipu.
Some background - I came to visit Kauai about 7.5 years ago and we stayed in Kalaheo. It was me, my 17 year old brother, and my parents. It was lovely, but we weren't on the beach and it was a distant ocean view. We did a lot of driving around which I was OK with.
Now, I'm married with two small children (aged 3, and 1.5), and I'd like to find someplace with a good ocean view that's also within a 5-10 minute walk to the beach.
None of us will really be swimming beyond about waist deep, but I'd like plenty of room to stretch out and build sand castles with the kids, and play around in the shallow water.
We probably won't be cooking very much at all, so a reasonable selection of restaurants is nice, and if I could swing some place with AC, that would be fantastic.
I've read that Princeville is prettier, but the beaches aren't as accessible, and it seems to be a bit more isolated (from what I remember).
I've read the beaches in Poipu are more kid-friendly, but I'm not sure about the weather this time of year (same goes for north shore). Plus it also seems more of the 'action' is down south. Particularly as far as restaurants and shopping etc.
Overall, I think I'm leaning a bit more towards Poipu, but the folks who advocate the north shore are usually very adamant. I think if it were only me and my wife, I might be more that direction, but with two small children, that makes things more complicated.
Help?