Aug 6, 2011, Kauai. Most of the Na Pali Coast (the cliffs) is not accessible by car. This breathtaking 11-mile stretch of coastline on the northwest side of the island can be seen by boat from the sea, helicopter from the air, or from a very steep hiking trail. Our mission was to see as much of it as we could and we started with the boat. Captain Andy's took us from a small west-coast harbor on a raft that bounced with the Pacific's high-breaking waves. Passengers sat along the side holding on to ropes to keep from being tossed out into the sea. We were joined by boobys feeding on jumping fish and a pod of spinner dolphins, who were all too glad to show off their synchronized jumps while swimming alongside our water-cutting vessel. The views.. well it wasn't easy to capture them on camera, especially trying to keep the camera dry. But the real specialty of the boat ride (had I not been just a bit sea sick) was going inside of the sea caves.
These are the same caves made famous by Pirates of the Caribbean and Popeye, but that's not what was important to me. I was somewhere I had never been--inside one of nature's coolest wonders. Tasting, smelling, and breathing the sea like never before.
August 7. From the west side of the island, there is one highway through the spectacular Waimea Canyon (dubbed the grand canyon of the pacific), that adventures into the island's center through the Kokee State Park. One hiking trail started to take us down the canyon, others into neighboring reserves. We were now south and east of the coastline we had been viewing from the west on the boat. At the northern tip of where the road ends, we were able to catch a view from the inland side of peaks.
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| Waimea Canyon |
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| Na Pali Reserve |
August 8. Our next approach to the Na Pali was from the north and east. After hours spent at the spectacular Kiluea point lighthouse and wildlife refuge, we took the northern highway through Hanalei, until the road ended at the start of the Na Pali cliffs trail. It was late in the day and the equatorial sun was beating down intensely. The trail went straight up. I crawled my way up the steep rocky grade, struggling while bakini-clad beach goers ran up it like it was nothing at all. My goal was the half-mile spot, where both east and west sides of the coast lines could be viewed for miles each direction. The quarter-mile view of Hanalei Bay was not so shabby either.
So we experienced the Na Pali coast from below, behind, and within. And we barely touched it. A catamaran and 10 more miles of trail beckon us to return and experience this spectacular coastline in ways we could never imagine.
Aug 6, 2011, Kauai. Most of the Na Pali Coast (the cliffs) is not accessible by car. This breathtaking 11-mile stretch of coastline on the northwest side of the island can be seen by boat from the sea, helicopter from the air, or from a very steep hiking trail. Our mission was to see as much of it as we could and we started with the boat. Captain Andy's took us from a small west-coast harbor on a raft that bounced with the Pacific's high-breaking waves. Passengers sat along the side holding on to ropes to keep from being tossed out into the sea. We were joined by boobys feeding on jumping fish and a pod of spinner dolphins, who were all too glad to show off their synchronized jumps while swimming alongside our water-cutting vessel. The views.. well it wasn't easy to capture them on camera, especially trying to keep the camera dry. But the real specialty of the boat ride (had I not been just a bit sea sick) was going inside of the sea caves.
These are the same caves made famous by Pirates of the Caribbean and Popeye, but that's not what was important to me. I was somewhere I had never been--inside one of nature's coolest wonders. Tasting, smelling, and breathing the sea like never before.
