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'Aliomanu Beach
Secluded 'Aliomanu Beach is another spot frequented primarily by locals, who pole- and throw-net fish and gather limu (seaweed). It's a mile-long stretch of beach; you can get to the prettier north end by turning onto 'Aliomanu Rd (second), just past the 15-mile marker on Kuhio Hwy. Turn left onto Kalalea View Dr, go 0.5 miles and turn right at the beach access sign.
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'Anini Beach Park
You can't ask for a gentler stretch of beach than this one at 'Anini Beach Park. The water is flat as glass within the lagoon, which is protected by one of the longest and widest fringing reefs in the Hawaiian Islands. At its widest point, the reef extends over 1600ft offshore. The park is unofficially divided into day-use, camping and windsurfing areas. While weekends might draw crowds, weekdays are low key. Facilities include rest rooms, showers, changing rooms, drinking water, picnic pavilions and barbecue grills.
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'Opaeka'a Falls
While neither the highest nor the prettiest, the 40ft 'Opaeka'a Falls became a major tourist attraction because tour buses can easily stop here. Just head up on Kuamo'o Rd for 1.5 miles and turn right into the lookout parking lot. You're likely to encounter a herd of camera-toting sightseers all capturing exactly the same shot.
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Alekoko (Menehune) Fishpond
Although the view is distant, you won't regret a quick stop to look at the tranquil 39-acre Alekoko (Menehune) Fishpond, an ancient loko wai (freshwater pond), surrounded by a vast area of forest. According to legend, Kaua'i's menehune (little people) formed the fishpond overnight when they built the stone wall running along a bend in Hule'ia River. The stone wall is now covered by a thick green line of mangrove trees.
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Anahola Beach Park
A county park on Hawaiian Home Lands, Anahola Beach Park sits at the south side of Anahola Bay. The wide bay fringed with lovely sandy beach was an ancient surfing site and the break is still popular with local surfers. To get here, turn off Kuhio Hwy onto Kukuihale Rd at the 13-mile marker, drive a mile down and then turn onto the dirt beach road.
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Angeline's Mu'olaulani
Experience authentic lomilomi (traditional Hawaiian massage) at this longstanding bodywork center. With outdoor shower, open-air deck, massage tables separated by curtains, and simple sarongs to cover up, Angeline's is rustic and a real contrast to ritzy resort spas. The signature treatment includes a steam, vigorous salt scrub and a special four-hands (two-person) lomilomi .
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Barking Sands Pacific Missile Range Facility
Between Kekaha Beach Park and Polihale State Park, the beach stretches for roughly 15 miles. But there is only limited public access near the US Navy base at Barking Sands Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF). After the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Navy barred access except to Kaua'i residents without felony convictions or to people with military connections.
Read more about Barking Sands Pacific Missile Range Facility
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Donkey Beach
An easy 10-minute walk down from the highway takes you to golden Donkey Beach, Kaua'i's best-known nudist beach. But nudity is illegal on Kaua'i and police occasionally bust those in the buff. No surprise, the site is also popular as a gay beach.
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Fun Factory
Another rainy-day option is Fun Factory, a very '80s place that resembles a carnival arcade, with sports and shooting games, video games and mini carousel rides.
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Gay & Robinson
Olokele exists only for the Olokele Sugar Company, the last remaining sugar producer on Kaua'i, and Kaumakani exists only as the headquarters of Gay & Robinson, owners of this plantation and the island of Ni'ihau.
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Glass Beach
Colorful bits of sea glass decorate the sand at Glass Beach, just east of Port Allen. The smooth glass 'pebbles' originated from a long-abandoned dumpsite nearby, worn and weathered after decades of wave action. Sometimes the glass is plentiful, other times most is washed out to sea.
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Grove Farm Homestead
History buffs might enjoy Grove Farm Homestead, open only for pre-arranged tours, but kids might grow restless. Grove Farm was among the most productive sugar companies on Kaua'i and George Wilcox, the son of missionaries Abner and Lucy Wilcox, built this well-preserved farmhouse in 1864. It feels suspended in time, with rocking chairs sitting dormant on a covered porch and untouched books lining the shelves of the musty library.
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Guava Kai Plantation
The token 'visitors center' at the 480-acre Guava Kai Plantation is not a must-see. But the neatly planted orchard is pleasant enough. At the visitors center, you can sample juice and buy guava, jams, hot sauces and syrups. You can also stroll a pleasant path through a tropical-flower garden and enter the orchards to pick unlimited guavas.
To get here, turn inland onto Kuawa Rd from Kuhio Hwy, just north of the 23-mile marker.
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Hanalei Bay
Captured in countless photographs, the perfectly curved Hanalei Bay is always scenic, but not always swimmable. The wave action here is changeable: flat in summer and pounding in winter, when surfers arrive in droves. The best beaches are at Hanalei (Black Pot) Beach Park and Wai'oli (Pine Trees) Beach Park, which both have rest rooms, showers, drinking water, picnic tables and grills.
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Hanalei Beach Park
Often dubbed simply 'Hanalei Pier,' due to its unmistakable landmark, the stretch of sand shaded by ironwood trees at Hanalei Beach Park is popular mainly with surfers. The sandy-bottom beach slopes gently, making it very safe for beginners. Lessons are typically taught here, just west of the pier, where you find surf schools lining up big ol' softboards and rashguards daily.
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Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge
Birders will enjoy the scenic 2-mile drive through the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, which passes taro fields, banana trees, bamboo thickets, hau (hibiscus) trees and wild ginger across 917 acres of the valley.
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International Surfing Hall of Fame
Fronting Kalapaki Beach is the International Surfing Hall of Fame. In existence since 1966 but without a bricks-and-mortar home until 2004, this long-overdue museum exhibits boards, memorabilia and original art in cool digs replete with thatched roof and piped-in surfing tunes. The museum screening room shows classic surf movies.
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Kalalau Lookout
At the 18-mile marker, the 4000ft Kalalau Lookout faces the emerald depths of the valley and straight out to sea. On clear days, late-afternoon rainbows sweep so deeply into Kalalau Valley that the bottom part of the bows curve back inward. Bright-red 'apapane birds feed from the ohia-lehua flowers near the lookout railings.
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Kalapaki Beach
Hidden behind Kaua'i Marriott Resort, Kalapaki Beach, Lihu'e's best beach, is often overlooked by tourists. But local surfers and bodyboarders trot toward the swells, while resort guests bask on golden sand lined with coconut trees. Sheltered by points and breakwaters at Nawiliwili Bay, waters are quite hospitable to swimmers.
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Kalihiwai Beach
With a wide, deep bay, Kalihiwai Beach is popular for many activities, such as swimming and, when the winter northwest swells roll in, daredevil bodyboarding and surfing along the cliff at the east end of the bay.
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Kamokila Hawaiian Village
Established in 1979, Kamokila Hawaiian Village, perched on the north bank of Wailua River, remains a relatively off-the-radar attraction. Run by a Hawaiian family, the modest site includes grass huts, an assembly house, a shaman's house and other structures, and approximates a traditional indigenous settlement. A small map explains each building's purpose. As you walk around, you might recognize the village as that used in the movie Outbreak .
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Kapa'a Beach Park
Low-key and local, Kapa'a Beach Park is a mile-long ribbon of beach beginning at Kapa'a's north end, where there's a ball field, picnic tables and a public pool. At the south end of the beach, near Pono Kai Resort, there's a nice sandy area.
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Kaua'i Children's Discovery Museum
On rainy days, head to the nonprofit Kaua'i Children's Discovery Museum, an educational indoor playground for the elementary set. Kid-size replicas of Filipino, Japanese and South Indian abodes portray different cultures, while a black-light tunnel and volcano slide make science fun. The museum also offers a day camp (all day around US$50 , per hour around US$10 ) for kids in kindergarten to fourth grade, plus a well-stocked gift shop.
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Kaua'i Museum
For a grounding in Kaua'i's history, check out the modest but interesting Kaua'i Museum. If you're new to the islands, it's worth taking a guided tour; call for reservations. Free Hawaiian quilting demonstrations and lauhala-hat weaving demonstrations are given year-round.
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Kaua'i's Hindu Monastery
On an island virtually devoid of Hinduism, the splendid Kaua'i Aadheenam, commonly called simply Kaua'i's Hindu Monastery, is both serious monastery and growing tourist attraction. Located on 458 acres of lush rainforest above Wailua River, the traditional South Indian Saivite (Shiva-worshipping) monastery is a sprawling garden oasis, with a meditation hall and Ganesha statues sitting amid wildly tropical landscaping.
