Kauai

A short drive north of Līhuʻe airport, the twin streams of Wailua Falls pour around 80 feet (25 m) over a lava ledge into a round pool fringed with ferns and hala trees. You see it from a roadside viewpoint at the end of Maʻalo Road, so it takes ten minutes, and on a sunny morning a rainbow often hangs in the spray. It makes a natural first stop on the way from the airport or a gentle finale on the day you fly out.

TipIgnore the worn paths down the slope; they are steep, slippery and have caused serious falls. The view from the top is the one to have.

The Wailua is often called the only navigable river in Hawaii, and its valley was a royal and sacred centre for Hawaiians, lined with heiau (temple platforms) and birthing stones that still survive. The classic way to see it is the riverboat that has run from Wailua Marina since 1946, chugging about two miles upstream to the Fern Grotto, a lava-rock amphitheatre draped with hanging ferns where musicians perform a Hawaiian wedding song. Kayaking up the river is the more active alternative.

TipThe river reopened in September 2026 after storm closures, but individual kayakers were not allowed to land at the Fern Grotto and the hike to Uluwehi (Secret) Falls remained closed. Book a guided trip or the riverboat and confirm what is running.

Just up the hill from the river, a roadside lookout faces a broad, white ribbon of water dropping roughly 150 feet (45 m) down a green cliff. The name means "rolling shrimp", after the freshwater shrimp once seen tumbling in the stream. Cross the road for a view down onto the Wailua River and a reconstructed Hawaiian village site on its banks.

On the island's northernmost tip, the white Daniel K. Inouye Kīlauea Point Lighthouse, lit in 1913, stands on a headland above cliffs that swarm with seabirds. Red-footed boobies nest in the scrub on the slopes opposite, great frigatebirds hang in the wind, and Laysan albatrosses court and nest here between late autumn and summer. Nēnē, the endangered Hawaiian goose, wander the lawns, and from December to April humpback whales spout offshore.

TipThe refuge opens Wednesday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm (last arrival 3.30pm). Every adult aged 16 and over needs a reservation on Recreation.gov, costing $11; walking in up the steep driveway is not allowed. Bring binoculars.

Opposite the shopping centre at the entrance to Princeville, this pull-off looks down into Hanalei Valley, a patchwork of flooded loʻi kalo (taro fields) shining between the river and steep, waterfall-streaked mountains. Much of the valley is a national wildlife refuge protecting endangered Hawaiian waterbirds, and the taro grown here supplies a large share of Hawaii's poi. It is a two-minute stop and one of the defining views of the island.

The road drops past the valley and over a one-lane iron bridge into Hanalei, a small town of surf shops, food trucks, shave-ice stands and wooden churches. The two-mile crescent of Hanalei Bay curves beneath a wall of green mountains, with its old wooden pier at the eastern end. In summer the bay is calm enough for swimming, paddleboarding and gentle surf lessons; in winter big swells roll in and only experienced surfers should go out. The 1830s Waiʻoli Mission House gives a glimpse of missionary-era Kauai.

TipBeyond Hanalei the highway crosses several more one-lane bridges. Local etiquette is to let a group of five to seven cars cross, then give way to the other side.

The road ends at Hāʻena, where a reef-sheltered lagoon at Kēʻē Beach offers some of the island's best summer snorkelling, framed by the first of the Nā Pali cliffs. The park also protects restored taro terraces and an ancient hula platform, still a sacred site, so treat it with respect. After years of overcrowding the state introduced a strict daily cap: non-residents must book in advance through the Go Hāʻena system, which opens 30 days ahead. The options are a shuttle from Hanalei or Princeville ($45 per adult in 2026, including entry), a parking slot ($20 per car per time slot plus $5 per person entry), or entry only for those dropped off.

TipParking slots usually sell out within minutes of release at midnight Hawaii time, so the shuttle is the realistic choice for most visitors. Do not park on the road outside the park; fines are steep and cars are towed.

The Nā Pali Coast is Kauai's masterpiece: 17 miles of cliffs rising up to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) straight from the sea, split by hanging valleys and sea caves. You can see it in three ways. The Kalalau Trail starts in Hāʻena State Park and runs 11 miles to Kalalau Beach; with a Hāʻena reservation you can hike the first two muddy, rocky miles to Hanakāpīʻai Beach (never swim there, as rip currents have drowned many people) and continue inland to the 300-foot Hanakāpīʻai Falls, about eight miles round trip. Going beyond Hanakāpīʻai normally requires a state camping permit, but after the 2026 storms the trail past the two-mile point and all overnight camping were closed until further notice.

The easier options are by sea and air. Catamaran and rigid-inflatable tours leave from Port Allen and Kīkīaola harbours on the west side, sailing along the cliffs and, in calm summer seas, into the sea caves; winter swells often limit them to the southern stretch. Helicopter flights from Līhuʻe sweep over Waimea Canyon, the Nā Pali valleys and the cloud-wrapped crater of Waiʻaleʻale, the island's wettest summit, in about an hour.

TipBook boat trips for early in your stay so a cancelled sailing can be rebooked. Morning departures usually have the calmest water.

On the way to the south shore, the road passes under a tunnel of eucalyptus trees into Kōloa, where Hawaii's first commercial sugar plantation opened in 1835. The main street's restored plantation-era wooden buildings now hold shops, cafés and a small history centre, with a monument to the many immigrant groups, from China, Japan, Portugal and the Philippines, who worked the cane fields. It is a pleasant place for breakfast or shave ice.

Poʻipū is the sunniest corner of the island and its main resort area. At Poʻipū Beach Park a sandbar joins a small islet to the shore, creating two sheltered bays, one with a children's paddling pool behind a rock wall and the other good for snorkelling among reef fish. Hawaiian monk seals, one of the world's rarest seals, regularly haul out to sleep on the sand, and green sea turtles graze in the shallows. Lifeguards are on duty, there are showers and picnic tables, and sunsets are excellent.

TipVolunteers often rope off resting seals. Stay at least 50 feet (15 m) from seals and 10 feet (3 m) from turtles, and never touch them.

West of Poʻipū, waves surge into a lava tube in the shoreline shelf and blast out through a hole in the roof as a geyser of spray, sometimes 30 feet (10 m) high, with an eerie groan from a second opening. Hawaiian legend says the moan is a giant lizard, or moʻo, trapped in the tube. The free county park has a viewing area, craft stalls and wild chickens, the island's unofficial mascot.

TipThe show is strongest at high tide with a southerly swell. Stay behind the railings; the rocks are deadly in big surf.

Across the road from Spouting Horn, the National Tropical Botanical Garden runs two gardens in the lush Lāwaʻi Valley. Allerton Garden, once a retreat of Queen Emma and later laid out by Robert Allerton and John Gregg Allerton, is a series of outdoor rooms with fountains, statues and the giant buttress roots of Moreton Bay fig trees that film fans may recognise from Jurassic Park. McBryde Garden, further up the valley, holds the world's largest collection of native Hawaiian plants alongside breadfruit and canoe plants brought by the first Polynesian settlers.

TipAll visits are by tour, with a shuttle from the Lāwaʻi Gardens Visitor Center (open Tuesday to Saturday). Allerton requires a reservation and closed-toe shoes or strapped sandals; book ahead, as tours sell out.

Mark Twain is often wrongly credited with calling it the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, but the nickname fits. Waimea Canyon is about ten miles long and more than 3,000 feet (900 m) deep, its walls striped red, rust and green, with waterfalls threading down the far side and white-tailed tropicbirds circling below the rim. A winding road climbs from the town of Waimea to a string of lookouts in Waimea Canyon State Park, where non-residents pay $5 per person entry and $10 per vehicle for parking.

TipAfter storm damage the main Waimea Canyon Lookout reopened on 24 October 2026, but other lookouts were still closed. Go in the morning, before clouds build in the canyon.

Beyond the canyon, the road climbs into the cool upland forest of Kōkeʻe and ends at about 4,000 feet (1,200 m) at the Kalalau Lookout, where the ground falls away into the vast amphitheatre of Kalalau Valley, ridged like green velvet, with the Pacific far below. Nearby Puʻu o Kila Lookout and the Pihea Trail along the rim are just as spectacular, and the Alakaʻi Swamp beyond is home to rare forest birds found nowhere else. Kōkeʻe also has a small natural history museum and a lodge.

TipKōkeʻe Road was closed beyond the junction with Waimea Canyon Drive after the September 2026 storms, with downed trees across the road. When it reopens, arrive early: cloud often fills Kalalau Valley by late morning, though it can clear as quickly as it came.

At the far western end of the island, where the Nā Pali cliffs begin, Polihale is a seven-mile sweep of golden sand backed by high dunes, one of the longest beaches in Hawaii and a magnificent sunset spot. Getting there means driving several miles of rough, rutted dirt road through former sugar land, which most rental agreements forbid and which can be impassable after rain. The surf is powerful and there are no lifeguards, so this is a place for walking and watching, not swimming.

TipPolihale State Park was among the Kauai parks still closed after the 2026 storms. Check its status first, and only attempt the road in a high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicle with rental terms that allow it.