Explore Kauai’s North Shore, beaches, hidden trails and all

I was hiking with my college-aged daughter on the Kalalau Trail on Kauai’s North Shore and knew I was in for an adventure, when I went slip sliding across some wet lava rocks into a small stream crossing one of the many gullies of this scenic hiking route on the Napali Coast. Wet socks and hiking boots be damned, we soldiered on, ascending and descending the steep and rugged route leading from Ke’e Beach to Hanakapi’ai Beach, the short first leg of the world famous 22-mile round trip backpackers route to the Kalalau Valley.

Kauai, the smallest (552 square miles), northernmost and geologically oldest of the Hawaiian islands is an ideal destination for adventure travelers. From hiking the lush, jungly North Shore to the kayaking the Wailua River on east shore’s river-laced “coconut coast”, to beach and canyon hikes on the south and west shores, there’s an abundance of adventures to seek out on the “Garden Island.”

I especially love visiting Kauai’s far North Shore, famous for its unspoiled coastline that is known for frequent rain showers, the lush and rugged cliffs of the Napali coast and the surf-kissed, mountain-ringed Hanalei Bay, one of the most beautiful places on earth.

We struck it lucky in early December, during the sweet spot between surges, with a visit that started with a direct flight from Oakland airport to the delightfully small-scale airport in Lihue. Luggage retrieved and a quick change into shorts and “slippahs,” we packed up our rental Jeep Cherokee and beelined it to our favorite post-flight eatery on Kauai: Lihue’s Garden Island Barbecue, a local favorite, where it’s our family tradition to order “onolicious” plates of grilled garlic shrimp served half-shelled with the customary scoops of white rice and creamy macaroni salad.

Hawaii also has fabulous baked treats, so before our drive to the North Shore, we grabbed a box of freshly-made guava and lilikoi-infused malasadas at the nearby Kauai Bakery and embarked on the 90-minute trek north on the Kuhio Highway from Lihue through the charming towns of Wailua, Kapaa and Kilauea, all worth checking out when time allows.

Our base for the next three days was Princeville, the upscale resort area and gateway to Kauai’s far North Shore. The resort’s small shopping center has a gas station that doubles as a pizzeria, a couple of restaurants, Lappert’s Hawaiian ice cream shop (love the Lava Tube sundae) and a Foodland market with everything you need for day trips in the region, including our favorite island-style provisions like fresh ahi poke bowls, banana and mango macadamia nut bread, and purple bread rolls made from taro root.

After checking into our condo at the Cliffs, we walked about a mile to a public beach access path located on the mountain side of former St. Regis Princeville resort (undergoing a major renovation into a resort to be called 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay) and spent the late afternoon at beautiful Pu’u Poa Beach, enjoying the dreamy views of Hanalei Bay. As the deep hues of a Hawaiian sunset descended, it felt like paradise, found.

Early the next morning, we grabbed our hiking boots, water bottles and sack lunch of sandwiches, fresh papaya and pineapple and headed out on our first full day on Kauai’s far North Shore. Our destination: Waipa, just north of the town of Hanalei, and a shuttle bus ride to the popular Kalalau trail, a coastal path that starts at Ke’e Beach in Haena State Park and follows a rugged jungle-and-coast route through wet gulches and along open ridgelines to Hanakapi’ai Beach (4 miles roundtrip) and Hanakapi’ai Falls (8 miles roundtrip).

Until a few years ago, the Kalalau Trail and Ke’e Beach attracted, despite their remote location, thousands of visitors daily and it was, frankly, a zoo. Today, a successful effort to reduce far North Shore visitor numbers requires advance reservations (www.gohaena.com) for trailhead parking, Kalalau Trail access and hop-on and off bus shuttles to Ke’e Beach at the end of the road.

The shuttle took us north on a very narrow coastal road across a series of one-lane bridges and past a scenic wave-swept shoreline, its aquamarine seas framed by white sand beaches. Our driver, whose van frequently brushed against the roadside ferns and foliage, narrated the route’s highlights. Among them, a movie location for the war film “Uncommon Valor,” actor Pierce Brosnan’s self-described “wee cottage” hidden behind a high hedge, unmarked parking spots for scenic Tunnels and Lumahai beaches, and Limahuli Garden, one of three National Tropical Botanical Gardens on Kauai and a preserve for many native plant species, some only found on Kauai’s North Shore.

After about 20 minutes on the bus, we arrived at Ke’e Beach and the new boardwalk leading through taro fields to the start of the world-famous Kalalau Trail. Most of us were here for the day, but a few fully-loaded backpackers were heading on the challenging 11-mile backpacking route to the Kalalau Valley in the Napali Coast State Wilderness Park (advance camping permits required).

The trail from Keʻe Beach to Hanakapi’ai Beach was slick, rugged, rocky and steep in sections but offered awe-inspiring views of the Napali’s wave-pounded coastline, towering cliffs, lush valleys, mountain streams, and waterfalls. It was only a four mile round-trip walk but it took us most of the morning and early afternoon—and four bottles of water.

After about 90 minutes of trail walking and navigating a stream crossing, we paused for a lunch break under shady pandanus trees at tiny Hanakapi’ai Beach, which is pretty and pristine — and extremely unsafe for swimming due to strong rip currents and dangerous shore break.

Some Kalalau trail hikers opt for an additional two-mile grunt to remote and scenic Hanakapi’ai Falls, but we decided to head back to Ke’e Beach for a quick swim and look at the park’s famous wet and dry caves before shuttling back to Waipa, ending our amazing day on the Napali coast.

Our last day on the North Shore focused on Hanalei town and bay, starting with a fun body-boarding session at Black Pot Beach near the iconic Hanalei pier, fish taco lunch at Tropical Taco in town and a mango-passion fruit shave ice at JoJos in the historic Ching Young Village.

There are many other excellent eating options in town, including AMA ramen restaurant (great mountain views from the restaurant patio) and colorful Tahiti Nui, which was featured in a scene from “The Descendants” when George Clooney’s character meets with his cousin, played by Beau Bridges. The family-run restaurant also has a fun, small-scale luau on Wednesday evenings worth checking out. In town, must-see stores include the Havaiki Oceanic and Tribal Art, Yellowfish Trading Company for new and vintage Hawaiiana and Hanalei Strings music shop for handcrafted ukuleles.

It’s North Shore, Old Hawaii at its best and I can’t wait to return.

If you go

As of press time, fully vaccinated travelers could enter Hawaii without pre-testing or quarantine, if they had uploaded their vaccination records to Hawaii’s Safe Travels site ahead of time and had a hard copy in hand. Everything is subject to change, though, so check Hawaii’s Safe Travels guidelines at https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel before you make plans.

More must-do North Shore adventures

Rent a kayak or SUP for a relaxing paddle on the Hanalei river from Kayak Hanalei; kayakhanalei.com.

Take a “Blue Lagoon” kayak and snorkel tour to Pali Ke Kua (Hideaways) beach with Kayak Kauai;

Learn to surf at Waioli (Pine Trees) beach on Hanalei Bay with Hawaiian Surfing Adventures; hawaiiansurfingadventures.com.

See Kauai’s Napali coast from the water with Eleele-based Captain Andy’s, which offers sunset sails, snorkel tours and more on a 65-foot sailing yacht, catamarans and rigid hull boats; www.napali.com.