Aloha from Kaua'i!

First of all -- what part of the island do you want to stay?

October is a good month normally for weather so I wouldn't base my decision on a chance of rain on the North Shore as you may do in the wintertime.

North Shore is lush and green with towering mountains and taro fields -- lots of people love it up there -- you might get more rain up there (but it has been very, very dry this year!) but it only lasts usually for a few minutes and then the sun is out. You are fairly far away from the other parts of the island, so plan on driving aways if you want to go to Lihu'e or the South Shore or West Side. Princeville is a planned community with tons of condos and vacation rentals -- there are also lots of vacation rentals all up and down the coast here -- if you look on previous threads I'm sure you'll find discussions about some of them.

The South Shore is generally the most reliably sunny part of the island (other than the West Side, which is the driest) - there are tons of condos, vacation rentals and hotels to choose from -- there is a lovely swimming beach at Po'ipu Beach Park and also shopping areas around. The downside is that a great part of Po'ipu is going through massive construction -- as a general rule, if you want to avoid any construction, stay someplace east of Po'ipu Beach Park - places like Niki Kai condos, Honu Kai Villas, Po'ipu Kai, Sunset Kahili, Po'ipu Palms are all right along the ocean and are all far away from the construction. Also the Grand Hyatt is a great hotel with wonderful amenities and is far away from construction activity -- it does not have a swimmable beach however, which is why they have several pools, including a saltwater lagoon.

The East Side is the commercial part of the island -- it is also the most central -- if you want to stay somewhere pretty much in the middle so that you can easily drive to the North Shore or to the South or West Side -- this would be the area to stay in. As I said, it is a busy commercial center, but if that doesn't bother you, there are lots of condos to stay at -- lots of people seem to like Waipouli Beach Resort -- there is also Resortquest at Makaiwa and a ton of other vacation rentals and condos.

This area does not have good swimmable beaches, but the condos I mentioned do have lovely swimming pools.

Malama Pono,

Janet