Things to do in Kauaʻi
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Kauaʻi
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Winter, south shore season and peak prices, north rain and big surf, Poipu swimmable, humpbacks peak January to March.
Spring, arguably the best window, rains ease, north surf drops, trails dry and prices dip after Easter.
Summer, north shore season and family peak, Hanalei flat, full Kalalau and sea cave season, hardest reservations.
Autumn, locals favourite, crowds and prices fall and water stays warm, against peak hurricane risk and humidity.
What's on
- Waimea Town Celebration February
Kauai's oldest and largest festival, paniolo rodeo, hula, film and a town fair in Waimea.
- Prince Kūhiō Day Celebrations late March
Island wide celebrations honouring the prince born at Poipu.
- May Day Lei Day Events 1 May
Lei day events island wide on 1 May.
- Kōloa Plantation Days July
South shore signature festival, parade, rodeo, plantation heritage events, food and music in Koloa and Poipu.
- Heiva I Kauaʻi early August
Tahitian dance and drumming competition at Kapaa Beach Park.
- Kauaʻi Marathon & Half Marathon early September
Scenic road race from the Tree Tunnel to an oceanfront finish in Poipu and Koloa.
- Kauaʻi Mokihana Festival late September
Week long Hawaiian cultural festival with hula competitions, workshops, lectures and concerts island wide.
- Coconut Festival early October
East side food and craft festival celebrating the Coconut Coast in Kapaa.
- Kauaʻi Chocolate & Coffee Festival October
Tastings and demos in the west side art town of Hanapepe.
- Rice Street Block Party / Lights on Rice Usually late October
Lihue downtown street party on Rice Street, the town's liveliest night.
Best things to do in Kauaʻi
Nāpali Coast
Seventeen miles of fluted cliffs, sea caves and waterfalls with no road in, seen by trail, boat, raft or helicopter.
Waimea Canyon Lookout
The main lookout over a ten mile canyon about 3000 feet deep, best early before cloud and flat afternoon light.
Puʻu Hinahina Lookout
Canyon lookout on the Highway 550 climb with Ni'ihau offshore on clear days.
Kalalau Lookout
The free view down into Kalalau Valley and the Napali Coast, clearest before 9am before midday cloud.
Puʻu O Kila Lookout
The end of road lookout above Kalalau Valley and the start of the Pihea Trail along the Napali rim.
Kōkeʻe Museum
Small museum on the canyon drive that works as the trail conditions oracle for Kokee hikes.
Hanalei Bay
Two miles of crescent sand under waterfall streaked ridges, a full slow day of swimming, paddling and walking.
Keʻe Beach
A reef lagoon under the Napali cliffs at the end of the road, for snorkelling in calm summer conditions.
Where to stay in Kauaʻi
Poʻipū / Kōloa, South Shore
first trip, winter base
Sunniest, driest corner with the biggest resort cluster, swimmable Poipu Beach Park year round and canyon access.
Princeville / Hanalei, North Shore
scenery, summer base
Bluff above Hanalei Bay with golf and big views, Hanalei town ten minutes down for the bay, food and soul.
Kapaʻa / Wailua, East Side
value, single base compromise
Midway to everything with a real local town, cheap eats and the bike path, at about half Poipu prices.
Līhuʻe
short stay, logistics base
Airport town with swimmable Kalapaki Bay, everyday shopping and cheap eats, and the most central road position.
Waimea / West Side
canyon adjacent quiet base
Closest sleep to Kokee and the canyon, atmospheric and remote with very quiet nights.
Think twice about
- Bargain rooms fronting town beach parks
Homelessness is concentrated in town beach parks and Lihue, sad background in managed resort areas but outside your door at a bargain park front room.
- Beyond Hanalei, Wainiha and Hāʻena as a sole base
One road, a one lane bridge and a valley that floods, heavy rain still closes the highway and this stretch reopened slowest after Lowell.
- Kapaʻa / Wailua beachfront sold as a swimming beach
Open ocean frontage here is rough, rocky and current prone, budget the five minute drive to Lydgate or a real beach day elsewhere.
- Princeville for walk to the beach stays
A bluff top golf community where every beach is a steep path, shuttle or drive, with no town centre at night.
Best restaurants in Kauaʻi
Bar Acuda
Small plate Mediterranean leaning cooking on Kauai farms and fish, the reservation north shore food people make first.
The Beach House Restaurant
Oceanfront fine dining on Lawai Bay where sunset is a scheduled event, book the sunset seating specifically.
Merriman's Kauai
Founding Hawaii Regional Cuisine chef's farm to table benchmark, menus naming their farms.
Eating House 1849
Roy Yamaguchi's plantation era tribute at Kukuiula, ramen, bao and local fish with mid tier ways in at lunch.
JO2 Restaurant
French technique applied to Kauai product in a plain Kapaa strip mall room, the east side's best dinner.
Koloa Fish Market
Takeout poke by the pound and plate lunches, the south poke benchmark, eaten on a bench or carried to Poipu Beach.
Pono Market
Family run for three generations, spicy poke, laulau, lomi salmon and kalua pig at prices locals actually pay.
Mark's Place
Huge thoughtful plate lunches in a warehouse district, the working Lihue lunch and best airport day meal.
Best bars in Kauaʻi
Welina Terrace
Terrace at 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay for sunset drinks over the bay.
Outdoor things to do in Kauaʻi
Princeville Makai Golf Club
Kauai's headline round, a Jones Jr design across clifftops with ocean holes and a cliff edge par 3.
Poʻipū Bay Golf Course
Championship Jones Jr course beside the Grand Hyatt, former PGA Grand Slam home with oceanfront closing holes.
The Ocean Course at Hōkūala
Nicklaus course by Nawiliwili Bay claiming Hawaii's longest stretch of oceanside holes, ten minutes from the airport.
Puakea Golf Course
Smart second round under the Haupu ridge across an old plantation, with a clubhouse diner praised for poke.
Wailua Golf Course
Oceanfront, walkable municipal course and one of America's best muni values, host of three US Amateur Public Links.
Kukuiolono Golf Course
Quirky, ultra cheap nine hole locals course in a county park with ocean views and peacocks.
Kalalau Trail
Cliffside hike to Hanakapiai Beach and on to its 300 foot falls, the day hike that defines Kauai.
Awaʻawapuhi Trail
Ridge hike dropping to a narrow finger between two valleys with the ocean more than 2000 feet below.
Best hotels in Kauaʻi
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa
Fifty plus acres of gardens, multi level pools and a saltwater lagoon, with Shipwreck Beach a watch not swim beach.
Kōa Kea Resort on Poʻipū Beach
Adults oriented boutique scale resort by Poipu standards, the couples pick on this coast.
Kōloa Landing Resort
Villa sized units at a large Poipu resort, suited to families and groups.
Poʻipū Kai Resort
Condo resort with space and kitchens, walking distance to the beach park, book specific units as quality varies.
Kiahuna Plantation Resort
Condo resort with space and kitchens near Poipu Beach Park, book specific units as quality varies.
Kuhio Shores
Oceanfront condos with snorkelling at Lawai Beach next door.
1 Hotel Hanalei Bay
Wellness luxury resort with the definitive Hanalei Bay view from Welina Terrace.
Hanalei Bay Resort
Spacious condo resort units, a beloved pool and a golf cart shuttle down to Puu Poa beach.
Is Kauaʻi expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $150 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $350 a person |
| Splurge | $750 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Keʻe Beach: weeks ahead
- Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge: weeks ahead
- Limahuli Garden and Preserve: weeks ahead
- McBryde Garden: a few days ahead
- Allerton Garden: a few days ahead
- Smith's Family Garden Luau: weeks ahead
- Luau Kalamaku: weeks ahead
- Auliʻi Luau: weeks ahead
- Haena State Park entry, parking or shuttle via GoHaena, released 30 days ahead at midnight Hawaii time and prime slots go in minutes.
- Book the rental car when you book flights, island fleets sell out and price spike on holidays.
- Helicopters, Napali boats, mountain tubing and ziplines 2 to 4 weeks ahead, scheduled early in the trip for weather rebooks.
- Dinners at Bar Acuda, Beach House sunset, Merriman's, JO2 and 1 Kitchen weeks ahead in peak, luau 4 to 6 weeks ahead in summer.
- Kilauea Lighthouse via Recreation.gov and both NTBG gardens days to weeks ahead, Limahuli parking is the binding constraint.
Is Kauaʻi safe?
- Swim at lifeguarded beaches, never swim at Hanakapiai Beach, never turn your back on a lava shelf, treat brown water after rain as closed.
- Streams rise in minutes from rain miles inland, if water is discoloured or rising do not cross, wait on high ground.
- Leptospirosis lives in Kauai streams and mud, avoid waterfall pools with open cuts and do not drink stream water.
- Keep 10 feet from turtles and 50 feet from seals, use mineral only sunscreen, clean reef cuts fast as they infect.
- Leave nothing visible in rental cars at trailheads and beach lots, valuables stay at the hotel, prefer busy lots and shuttles.
- Verify North Shore, trail and park status the week you go following Hurricane Lowell, check GoHaena, DLNR State Parks and the operator directly.
Kauaʻi travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Fern Grotto as a standalone headline, pretty and gentle but best only as a Smith's add on, do not build a day around it.
- Queen's Bath in anything but flat summer calm, a lava shelf pool that has killed visitors when north swells sweep it.
- Secret unguarded beaches and Wailua Falls base, no lifeguard and no locals in the water means no swimming.
- Whole island in one day, Poipu plus Hanalei plus Canyon is five plus hours driving for three rushed stops.
- Book parks via GoHaena or Recreation.gov and tours direct, Princeville timeshare desks and resellers marking up Haena shuttles rarely discount.
Getting around Kauaʻi: public transport and more
- Rent a car, it is not optional, there is no meaningful rideshare depth outside Lihue and Poipu and the county bus runs on visitor hostile frequencies.
- North and south are 1.5 to 2 hours apart, never put both on the same half day, use the Kapaa bypass when through driving.
- North of Princeville expect eight one lane bridges, yield after 5 to 7 cars, and check county alerts as the Hanalei Bridge can close after heavy rain.
- Arrive before 9am for famous beaches, Haena is reserved, Tunnels has a few stalls, Hanalei fills by about 9.30am in summer.
Who Kauaʻi suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Kauaʻi your trip
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