The Napali Coast on Kauai - By Trail, Sea Or Air9654477

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Aktuelle Version vom 08:43, 26. Sep. 2013

If you could do only one thing on Kauai, I would recommend you explore the Napali Coast (or by its proper name, the Na Pali State Park. I've lived in Hawaii for over 10 years and have spent months on the Garden Isle, and there's a reason you see so much of the Napali Coast in Hawaii travel brochures.

Those majestic, sculpted, green, cliffs rise in places 1,000 feet above the sea, and literally hundreds of waterfalls fed by Mt. Waialeale (one of the wettest spots on the planet) pour down the steep cliffs into their valleys. At the foot of the Napali are pristine white sand beach coves, intriguing sea caves and beautiful sea arches. All this fronting Hawaii's magnificent blue waters...

I've seen the Na Pali three different ways: from a four seater airplane (during an island tour), from a Zodiac raft and from the Kalalau Trail. Other popular ways to see the Na Pali include kayak, sailboat, catamaran and helicopter.

Kolalau Trail

From the trail hundreds of feet above sea level, the views of the ocean, including the reefs at Ke'e are truly astounding. We hiked to the first beach and just before it stopped at a rushing stream to play under a small waterfall. There were little waterfalls along the way and lush forest. Unlike further down the trail, the first two-mile stretch that I routinely hiked was easy and felt safe (I'm afraid of heights). I often saw families hiking here. Depending on where you hike, you may see artifacts of the early Hawaiians here, such as parts of stone walls, terraces, hale (house) platforms, graves, taro patches and heiau (shrines or temples). The Na Pali is a sacred and mystical place.

Napali Airplane and Helicopter Tours

When I took the airplane tour (my first trip to Hawaii), we could see several of the waterfalls that they show in the Hawaii documentaries and Napali videos. The helicopter tours cost about twice as much as the airplane tours but the choppers actually take you back into some of these steep valleys where they hover for close up views.

Our airplane pilot shared lots of interesting stories with us about the geological and cultural history of the Na Pali area before showing us the rest of Kauai island. In ancient times when an ali'i (member of the ruling class) died, a volunteer would rappel down one of the steep cliffs till he found a secret cave where he would hide the bones. He would never return though. The rope would be cut, sending him hundreds of feet to his death, thus ensuring the burial cave would remain forever a secret and the mana (spiritual power) of the ruler's bones would never be stolen. On a lighter note...

Napali Boat Tours

We took a Zodiac raft tour. The motorized rafts are very sturdy and rigid (the kind the Navy Seals use), but they do bounce over the waves - a lot. I liked it the raft though because being so close to the water made looking up at those towering cliffs all the more impressive and seeing the whales all the more exciting. A humpback whale the size of a bus breeched so close to our raft we could see the barnacles on its head! However, if bouncing over waves isn't your thing, you might prefer a sailboat sunset cruise or a catamaran snorkeling tour.

For more information about the Na Pali, visit kauai waterfalls I've just written a new ebook about how to have an amazing eco vacation on Kauai - on a shoestring budget - and there's an entire section in it devoted to the Na Pali. It's called the Hawaii Eco Travel & Budget Guide to Kauai, and you'll see links to it at Coconut Roads.