Kauai and the Na Pali Coast
Six days on the oldest Hawaiian island, built around the one coastline you cannot drive to.
Island Escape · 6 days · Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct
Kauai has a road that goes three-quarters of the way round and stops at both ends, which is the whole planning problem: the Na Pali coast is the reason to come and there is no way to reach it by car. So the week is arranged around the three ways in - the Kalalau trail on foot, a boat out of the south shore, and the Waimea Canyon rim from above - and the north shore gets the days it deserves rather than an afternoon. Haena State Park now requires a reservation, and the boats stop running the north swell in winter, so the timing here is not decorative.
Day by day
- Day 1
North to Hanalei
An hour from the airport to the other side of the island, with the first stop being the view that explains the geography.
13:00Kilauea Point and the lighthouse
The northernmost point of the main islands, with red-footed boobies and frigatebirds nesting on the cliff and a 1913 lighthouse on the headland.
A federal wildlife refuge with limited entry; reserve online. Closed some days of the week.
16:00Hanalei Bay and the pier
Three kilometres of crescent sand under 1,200-metre green walls, with waterfalls on them for days after any rain.
Summer is calm and swimmable. From October the north swell arrives and the bay becomes a surf break rather than a beach.
- Day 2
The Kalalau trail
The only walk into the Na Pali coast, and the reservation you should have made weeks ago.
07:00Kalalau Trail to Hanakapiai Beach
Two hours of cliff path 100 metres above the water, and the only way to see the Na Pali valleys from the land.
Haena State Park requires an advance entry and parking reservation, capped daily. Six kilometres return, steep, muddy and genuinely slippery. Never swim at Hanakapiai; the drownings there are numerous and documented on a sign at the beach.
14:00Limahuli Garden
Terraces of taro still worked the way they were 700 years ago, in a valley below Makana, with a native forest preserve above them.
Self-guided and guided tours both need booking. Inside the same Haena reservation zone as the trailhead.
- Day 3
Slow north shore
The day that justifies staying up here instead of driving up here.
08:30Kee Beach and the Haena reef
The end of the road, with the first Na Pali cliff rising straight out of the water at the edge of the reef.
Snorkelling only in summer, and only inside the reef. The channel at the western end carries a serious current.
15:00Hanalei town and the taro fields
A wooden town of one street, a 1912 mission hall, and the valley behind it still growing most of Hawaii's taro.
One-lane bridges on the road in and out; the etiquette is five cars at a time and it is taken seriously.
18:30Dinner at the bay
Sunset on this bay is the reason people move to this island, and it happens whether or not you booked anything.
The north shore closes early; nine is late here.
- Day 4
South, by way of the east coast
Cross the island, stopping at the two things on the way that are worth breaking the drive for.
10:00Wailua River and Opaekaa Falls
The only navigable river in Hawaii, with a 45-metre fall beside it and the old royal complex on the ridge above.
The viewpoint is roadside. Do not attempt the closed trail down to the pool; people are rescued off it regularly.
13:30Allerton and McBryde Gardens
A designed landscape in a river valley that reads as a series of outdoor rooms, and the Moreton Bay figs from the opening of Jurassic Park.
Access is by guided tour only, on a shuttle down into the valley. Book ahead.
- Day 5
Waimea Canyon and the Kalalau lookout
The Na Pali coast from above, which is a completely different mountain range than the one you walked into.
07:30Waimea Canyon Lookout
Sixteen kilometres long and 900 metres deep, cut into red and green volcanic rock. Mark Twain's phrase about the Grand Canyon of the Pacific has stuck for a reason.
Cloud builds from mid-morning almost every day. Early is not a preference here, it is the difference between a view and a wall.
09:30Kalalau Lookout and Puu o Kila
Straight down into the Kalalau valley from above, at the head of a coastline no road reaches.
At 1,200 metres it is cold and often inside the cloud. Two lookouts a kilometre apart; do both.
11:30Kalepa Ridge Trail
An hour along a knife-edge out past the lookout, which puts the whole Kalalau valley and the open Pacific below you with nobody else on it.
Unmaintained, narrow and exposed, with drops on both sides. Do not attempt in wind or wet, and turn back early if in doubt.
- Day 6
Na Pali from the water
The third and last way to see the coast, then the short run back to Lihue.
07:00Na Pali coast by boat from Port Allen
Twenty-seven kilometres of 900-metre cliffs, sea caves you can enter, and spinner dolphins almost every morning: the only complete view of the coast that exists.
Morning departures are calmer. Winter north swell cancels these trips regularly, so leave a spare day if this is the priority.
15:00Mahaulepu Heritage Trail
Lithified sand dunes, a sinkhole full of fossils, and monk seals hauled out on the beaches. The last undeveloped coast on the south shore.
Six kilometres return along the clifftop. No shade and no water; the wind is constant.
Questions
- How long is the Kauai and the Na Pali Coast itinerary?
- The Kauai and the Na Pali Coast itinerary runs 6 days and covers 14 stops across Hanalei, Poipu, Waimea, Lihue.
- When is the best time to do the Kauai and the Na Pali Coast itinerary?
- Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct is the best window for the Kauai and the Na Pali Coast itinerary.
- What happens on day one of the Kauai and the Na Pali Coast itinerary?
- Day one is north to hanalei: An hour from the airport to the other side of the island, with the first stop being the view that explains the geography.
Sources
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