Overview
Kaua’i: The Garden Isle, home of lush waterfalls, sheer cliffs, and 460″ of rain a year. Kaua’i is the place for exploration, and despite being a popular tourist destination, you’ll find landscapes that will fill you with wonder and calm your soul. Here you’ll find:
- Maha’ulepu Beach Trail: 4mi lazy afternoon stroll
- Canyon Trail: 2.7mi bang for your buck
- Ho’opi’i Falls: 2mi family fun to picnic falls
- Awa’awapuhi Trail: 6mi epic cliff views
- Kalalau Trail to Hanakapi’ai Falls: 8.5mi top hike ever!
Geography
Kaua’i is directly to the West of Oahu and the largest Hawaiian island North-Westward. It’s known for the Na Pali coast, where lush green cliffs drop precipitously 2000ft to the ocean. Waimea Canyon, or the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, was the filming location for Jurassic Park.
Weather
Hawaii in general has a wetter season November through April. You can hit weather storms that last a full week, but usually you’ll get downpours that open up to some sunny skies in the afternoons. Storms often roll through the islands, bringing strong winds, but Hawaii’s great in that you can’t die of exposure…almost anywhere. Thin fleece and windbreaker and you’re set!
Temps in January are usually in the mid-70s to low 80s during the day and 60s at night. Summers will add about 10 degrees of warmth.
Winter Activities
If water’s your thing, winter limits sports. The surf is usually big–10ft to 15ft (Hawaiian scale). Some outfitters will do kayak trips up the Wailua River to Secret Falls in the winter, though storms and flash floods can cancel trips. No outfitters do kayaking tours on the Na Pali coast in the winter.
There’s many protected coves from the surf for families and some are SUP-able. Everything else–horeseback riding, hiking, day cruises, shopping, zip lines–are open! And winter’s the only time you can see the yearly humpback whale migration on ships.
Where to Stay
You can’t go wrong on where to stay. Everything is within 1.5 hours of each other, making day trips easy. In general:
- Poipu (South): The driest with many rental villas. Great for kids.
- Kapa’a (East): Next driest and a larger city with a lot of shopping.
- Princeville, Hanalei (North): Wettest, resort land.
Maha’ulepu Beach Trail: lazy afternoon stroll
- Length: 4mi round-trip
- Elevation gain: virtually 0
- Location: Poipu, South shore
- AllTrails (I highly recommend downloading their app to find the start and view a live map. I found their summary distance / elevation very different from Strava.)
- Family-friendly: totally!
The Maha’ulepu Trail starts at the Hyatt golf course on the South Shore and follows the coastline until you hit Shipwreck Beach. At the end is Makauwahi Cave Reserve, which is a 0.5mi interpretive trail you can add on through a cave, Hawaiian flora, and tortoises.
Canyon Trail: Bang for your buck
- Length: 2.7mi round-trip
- Elevation gain: 1400ft
- Location: Koke’e and Waimea State Parks (West side)
- AllTrails
- Family-friendly: yes
You’ve got to head to Koke’e and Waimea State Parks when you’re in Kauai to see Waimea Canyon and the famous valleys overlooking the Na Pali coast. They’re on the West side and accessible only from the southern Poipu area. There’s many, many paved and unpaved lookouts along the 30mi scenic drive and tons of hikes. Start early and leisurely stop along the road!
Here’s a great resource for the hikes in the state parks. You’ll be heading up to 5,000ft elevation, so a light jacket and windbreaker will help to hold out the blustery 60 degrees!
On to the Canyon Trail: The trailhead starts at the Pu’u Hinahina lookout, mile marker 13 in the park. On a clear day, you can also see Ni’ihau from the parking area. It’s one of the most popular hikes in the park–it’s accessible, easily done in an afternoon, and gives jaw-dropping views into the canyon side (many other hikes go out toward the coast).
Ho’opi’i Falls: Family fun to picnic falls
- Length: 2mi round-trip
- Elevation gain: virtually 0; a few easy, long hills
- Location: East side, Kapa’a
- Details
- Family-friendly: totally!
If you’re on the East side, you can knock off the Wailua Falls overlook and take a casual walk with a picnic lunch to Ho’opi’i Falls. The hike starts in a residential area, wanders through thick forest, meanders along a stream, and crosses through private property until you get to the falls. Please respect the neighborhood and trail so it remains accessible!
Awa’awapuhi Trail: epic cliff views
- Length: 6mi round-trip
- Elevation gain: 1800ft (all down then up)
- Location: Koke’e and Waimea State Parks (West side)
- AllTrails
- Family-friendly: with caveats (see below)
We wanted to do a couple more epic, less-traveled hikes on the Na Pali coast. There’s a few hikes that take you, literally, to the edge of the stunning cliffs that form the famous valleys and cliffs of the Kauai coast. You’ll have these views burned into your memory for life.
A quick web search on these hikes results in warnings of death and dangerous conditions, which alarmed us at first. But they’re totally fine with common sense: don’t go after a huge downpour, don’t go past your comfort zone, and don’t take selfies on the edge of the cliff. And you can totally do the hike and skip the last 50ft if you have kids.
Kalalau Trail to Hanakapi’ai Falls: top 3 hikes ever!
- Length: 8.5mi round-trip
- Elevation gain: 1800ft
- Location: Hanalei (North side)
- AllTrails
- Family-friendly: with caveats (see below)
This trail along the Na Pali coast is in my top 3 hikes of all time (the other two are in Bryce Canyon and the Redwoods). The Awa’awapuhi Trail offers more jaw-dropping views at the edge of the earth, but the Kalalau trail is more varied and more enjoyable altogether as a hike in itself.
The Na Pali coast is only accessible via the Kalalau trail or by ocean–there’s no roads. You can hike the first 2mi without a backcountry permit (you can do the full 22mi hike in 3 days). The 2mi hugs the coast, and at the end, you can opt to head straight inland for 2mi to Hanakapi’ai Falls. You’re exposed on the coast, hiking into a rainforest, stream jumping, hiking into a bamboo forest, and then you end at a 300-ft waterfall.
There’s never a dull moment.
The biggest downside is this hike is very popular, especially the first 2mi, and you need advance reservations. It’ll take forever to pass tourists wearing loafers. You’ll want to get to the parking lot by at least 9am, especially in the summer–there’s overflow parking 1/4mi away, and that fills up early as well.
Best Beta
I’ll leave you with the best beta you’ll get when in Hawaii: in the morning, when you head out for your adventures, stop at a local market or grocery store and pick up spam musubis for lunch. Perfect to keep in the heat and sweet, salty deliciousness later!
More in Hawaii
Here’s also a map of things to do (in blue) and places to eat (in red):
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