Home to the Kalalau Trail. The trail is renowned for its exceptional views of Hawaii's rugged and thrilling sea cliffs.

Hikers must be in good shape to hike the entire 11-mile trail (one-way), which runs from Haena State Park to Kalalau Beach. The strenous trail follows high, green cliffs and dips into lush valleys. Hikers can spend the night at primitive campsites in the Hanakapiai or Kalalau valleys.

You must obtain a backcountry/camping permit which is in high demand. Don't be surprised if the campsites are booked but you can try for cancellations.

Another popular day trip is the two-mile (one-way) hike from Kee Beach at Haena State Park to Hanakapiai Valley. There is a sandy beach and small sea cave at this location. Do NOT swim or wade at Hanakapiai because of dangerous rip currents. It is permissible to shore fish here. This trail allows great coastal views while hiking through kukui and ohia trees and groves of bamboo.

There is also the trail to Hanakapiai Falls which has a small pool for swimming but the trail is 4 miles round trip recommended only for experienced hikers.

Permits are required to hike the trail beyond Hanakapiai Valley.

Holo Holo 3.5 hour Sunset Cruise to the Na Pali Coast
For those that don’t want the snorkel part of the boat tour and would rather just enjoy the scenery with a sunset, then I highly recommend this particular tour. We saw the beautiful coast, dolphins, whales, and places that you just wouldn’t be able to get to. Let me forewarn you what this is not. This is not a dress up, swanky, quiet romantic, gourmet cruise. The first thing is that you have to take off your shoes and you get them back at the end of the cruise. It’s as if you are walking around in a big bathtub so you don’t slip I advise if you are wearing long pants, make sure you can roll them up. This means you also go to the bathroom, barefoot. There is an open bar with unlimited Mai tais, bear, soda, and wine. I chose to not drink anything because I really didn’t want to go to the bathroom barefoot, but everyone else in my party had no problem using the facilities. Then again, I’m squeamish about walking around barefoot.
You will get mildly wet from the spray of the ocean. Bring a towel. It gets pretty choppy and windy, so an anorak or a light jacket is a must. The crew was awesome, very knowledgeable locals, and made the trip a lot of fun. We saw spinner dolphins, and being whale season, we saw humpback whales too. It takes about an hour or so to get out to the Na Pali Coast and we got a pretty good narrated tour down the coast. On the cruise, they serve heavy appetizers and Champaign toast at sunset. The food was served in plastic containers lined with banana leaves. It consisted of Caesar salad with or without chicken, spinach quiche, baquette with spinach dip and hummus, fruit, and veggie wraps. Nothing really fancy but definitely satisfied the appetite while we were out there. The sunset was beautiful and well worth it.
Things to bring: Sunglasses, a towel even if this is not a snorkel cruise you will get wet from the spray of the water and the seats get wet, a camera, jacket.

Cost: $100.86 / person
We went to the Point at Poipu Timeshare presentation and got $100 towards any activity. Note: you can choose $100 towards any activity or 2 for 1 Helicopter ride with Will Squires ($200 value) However, Air Kauai was recommended superior over Will Squires which I agree with. Go to Brennecke’s activity center at Poipu Beach to sign up for the Marriot Vacation Club Timeshare presentation to receive 2 for 1 with Air Kauai.

We hiked the two miles to Hanakapai Beach, which was wide and sandy before the winter tides. The views were spectacular all the way. Then, we went two more miles to Hanakapiai Falls. That is some pretty tough hiking, especially right at the end near the falls, but well worth it to see the falls. It can be done in running or tennis shoes and shorts, but takes some leaping over the stream at points. The four-mile hike back was tiring. In all, it was about a 5.5-mile hike with very little stopping.

Only Na Pali Coast Tour that is permitted to sail out of Hanalei Bay. Only takes a couple of minutes to reach the Na Pali Coast. All others are out of Port Allen on otherside of Island and take 15-20 minutes to get to the coast. Family run boat, nice small groups, I believe 15 was the limit. Great history and story telling by captain and crew. Saw spinner dolphins, green sea turtles, and the gorgeous Na Pali Coast. Great trip, probably the best activity we did all week.

To see the Na Pali Coast, we took a Blue Dolphin charter boat, which departed from the southern coast town of Ele Ele, just 15 minutes' drive from Poipu. There are at least a dozen companies offering charters to the Na Pali Coast, and Blue Dolphin seemed to be reliable and one of the cheaper options. We took the Sunset Cruise, which departed at 2pm and returned just in time to watch a spectacular sunset!

It's about a 4-hour ride altogether, starting out along the southern coast, then turning north up the western edge of the island, which is dominated by these unbelievably beautiful green and red cliffs rippling and soaring into the blue sky. On the way there and back, we must have seen a few dozen whales jumping and playing in the water--it was amazing! They were usually far away, but you could make out their huge backs and massive tails disappearing into the ocean as they dove under.

The crew on the boat were great--really personable and funny, telling stories about Kauai's history and quirks. The one major drawback for me was that I got extremely seasick about 30 minutes in, and never recovered until we returned to dry land--stupid me! I forgot I was seasick-prone and didn't bring along any meds. The crew took good care of me, basically just bringing me water and consoling me, which was about all they could do. I admit that by 6pm, every single minute of the &%@$! sunset felt like an hour, and I was in no mood to admire the dazzling colors in front of me. But everyone else on the boat enjoyed the free drinks and buffet of snacks.

All in all, a great experience-but I will remember the Dramamine next time!