Kauai's Starring Role

This was published in one of my online travel magazines and I couldn't agree more. Since our last visit to the Hawaiian Islands, I have to say that Kauai was my favorite. It may not be everyone's favorite but since I started in this business (way back in 1994), most of my clients will say that they wish they had more time to spend in Kauai.

"Kauai's Starring Role
By Mimi Kmet
Published on: May 24, 2010-Travel Pulse



There’s nothing like waking up to a rainbow nearly every day. And on my recent visit to Kauai, Hawaii’s most verdant island, my husband and I saw plenty of these multicolored arcs. At the end of those rainbows, we found plenty of scenic treasures, such as rugged sea cliffs, a vast canyon, and plenty of rainforests, waterfalls and pristine beaches.

Kauai is indeed the quintessential “tropical paradise,” holding the designation of being the most filmed of the Hawaiian Islands. It has played the roles of other tropical paradises in movies like “South Pacific,” “Jurassic Park,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Avatar,” “Tropic Thunder” and two “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, including the upcoming “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.” But its biggest starring role is that of a top tourist destination -- especially for those of us who seek a respite from urban life.

You won’t find high-rise hotels, hip nightclubs and designer stores here. For those amenities, Waikiki is the 800-pound gorilla in Hawaii. Instead, you’ll discover plenty of opportunities to visit some of the world’s most beautiful and pristine natural sites.

Among the must-sees is the rugged Na Pali Coast on Kauai’s northwestern side. To get there, we went on a catamaran sail with Kauai Sea Tours (www.kauaiseatours.com), one of several local operators, many of which depart out of Port Allen on the South Shore. Along the way, we saw spinner dolphins, sea turtles and, since we went in early April, the last of the migrating whales from Alaska, who breached playfully, as if putting on a show for us.

We also did a bit of snorkeling. The water can get rough as the boat approaches the coast, but the reward is an up-close look at Na Pali’s undulating cliffs and peaks carpeted in green foliage. These cliffs rise up from the Pacific Ocean almost vertically. Some local operators, including Kauai Sea Tours, also offer inflatable raft tours that venture into sea caves, under waterfalls and onto a secluded beach.

To see Kauai’s “inner beauty,” we took a drive through Waimea Canyon, the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific.” This multicolored state park drops to 3,000 feet in depth and stretches about two-thirds of the length of Kauai from south to north on the western side of the island. The two-lane road that winds through the canyon from the South Shore is 18 miles long and ends up in the adjacent Koke’e State Park on the canyon’s north end.

There are several look-out points and picnic areas (but no drinking water) and plenty of hiking trails to waterfalls and other scenic spots. Near the end of the road is a large rest area with a restaurant, a gift shop, a campground, a small museum that sells trail maps, and plenty of colorful chickens roaming the grounds looking for a handout.

Kauai is the wettest -- and greenest -- of the Hawaiian Islands, thanks largely to Mount Waialeale, located in the center: That peak holds the word record as the wettest spot on Earth, getting 450 inches of precipitation annually. The upshot is acres upon acres of rainforests where you can hike, swim in mountain streams and zipline over the treetops.

And that’s what we did on the North Shore, with Princeville Ranch Adventures (http://adventureskauai.com). Having never ziplined, we discovered that it was perfectly safe. In fact, the only “hazards” we encountered were the meadow muffins in the fields we hiked through to reach the launching areas. While riding the lines, we soared over otherwise hidden parts of the island with topical foliage, babbling brooks and scenic vistas in the distance.

We also took advantage, much as the sugar plantation owners did in the 1800s, of the network of ditches used to irrigate crops as we floated along the shallow waterways and through low tunnels on large, inflatable tubes. The three-hour excursion, provided exclusively by Kauai Backcountry Adventures (www.kauaibackcountry.com), included 45 minutes to an hour of floating, as well as transfers from and to the operator’s headquarters. On the way to the put-in point, we stopped to view Mount Waialeale. And at the end of the float we had a picnic lunch near a waterhole, where those who didn’t get wet enough took a brief swim.

After a morning of adventure, we stopped at the Koloa Rum Tasting Room and Company Store (www.koloarum.com) on the Kiohana Plantation (a sugar plantation-turned tourist attraction) near Lihue. Now I know this is not an activity that highlights Kauai’s natural beauty. But it does highlight the island’s bounty. It’s there where we savored a complimentary taste of rum from Kauai’s first licensed, commercial distillery, which opened just last year.

The rum is produced with locally sourced sugar and island water. The company also makes Mai Tai mix, rum fudge sauce and other products. All of its products are available for purchase at the store, though the rum cannot be shipped legally. Fortunately, Gallo has started to distribute Koloa Rum on the mainland, and we plan to ask our local spirits emporium to stock it. Koloa Rum is also served in select hotels and restaurants throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

The downside to our Kauai visit was that we didn’t have time to experience all of the activities the island has to offer. So I’m making a list for our next trip. Let’s see, we could go flightseeing, horseback riding, ATV touring, kayaking, diving, fishing, bicycling, hang gliding, film location touring and much more. In Kauai, your clients will always find a reason to return."