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Kaulu Paoa Heiau
The vague remains of Kaulu Paoa Heiau stand just five minutes' walk from Ke'e Beach. Here, beneath a cliff face, large stones create a long flat grassy platform where a thatched-roof hula halau (school) once stood. In ancient Hawai'i this halau was Kaua'i's most sacred; students aspiring to learn hula came from all of the Hawaiian Islands and the legendary Kaua'i chief Lohi'au trained here.
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Ke'e Beach
Picturesque Ke'e Beach can't be beat for colorful snorkeling and easy access. A reef protects the right side of the cove and, except on high surf days, waters are calm and pleasantly swimmable. The left side is open and can have a powerful current, particularly in winter.
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Keahua Arboretum
Amid towering trees, a gurgling stream and cool misty rain, Keahua Arboretum, east of town, makes a nice little picnic spot. The Department of Land & Natural Resources planted mini groves of teak, eucalyptus and shower trees in the 1940s to create an outdoor nature classroom, showcasing the benefits of forest management.
Avoid the area at night, when it becomes the scene for rave parties.
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Kealia Beach
Mainly a locals' surf and bodyboarding spot, Kealia Beach, at the 10-mile marker, is recommended mainly for experts. The powerful waves are mesmerizing but treacherous. A breakwater protects the north end, so swimming and snorkeling are occasionally possible there - but not recommended. After rainstorms, the sand may be heavily littered with tree limbs carried down Kealia Stream, which empties at the beach's south side.
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Kekaha Beach Park
Just west of Kekaha town, the vast Kekaha Beach Park is ideal for solitary walking. Without any shade, however, the sun is brutal. Before you jump in, watch the tide carefully. This is unprotected open ocean and when the surf is high currents are extremely dangerous; under the right conditions it can be good for surfing and bodyboarding.
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Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge
The Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge is the northernmost point of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands. Topped by Kilauea Lighthouse, built in 1913, the refuge is picture-postcard material. The paved path to the lighthouse is disabled-accessible.
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Kilohana Plantation
Amid sprawling, manicured lawns, Kilohana Plantation is now a tourist magnet featuring Gaylord's restaurant, estate tours and one-stop upscale shopping. Sugar baron Gaylord Parke Wilcox, once the head honcho of Grove Farm Homestead, built the house in 1935. Trivia buffs take note: the Wilcox family was the model for James Michener's famous epic, Hawaii .
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Koke'e Natural History Museum
Learn about local flora, fauna, climate and geology at the small Koke'e Natural History Museum. Also find detailed topographical maps and a display of poi pounders, stone adze heads and other artifacts.
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Koke'e State Park
Sprawling Koke'e State Park is the starting point for almost 50 miles of outstanding hiking trails. Here, you'll see terrain unlike that found anywhere else on the island, including the largest concentration of extant native bird species in Hawaii.
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Koloa Jodo Mission
East of town, find Koloa Jodo Mission, which follows Pure Land Buddhism, a non-meditating form, popular in Japan since the 12th century. The Buddhist temple on the left is the original, which dates back to 1910, while the larger temple on the right is currently used for services.
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Koloa Landing
Koloa Landing, at the mouth of Waikomo Stream, was once Kaua'i's largest port. In the 1850s farmers used it to ship Kaua'i-grown sugar, oranges and sweet potatoes, and it was the third busiest whaling port among the Hawaiian Islands, surpassed only by Honolulu and Lahaina, Maui. The landing waned after the road system was built and it was abandoned in the 1920s. Today only a small boat ramp remains.
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Kukuiolono Park
Whether or not you golf, Kukuiolono Park is nice for jogging or strolling. You'll see only locals here - along with a panoramic vista of the South Shore, including verdant Lawa'i Valley, the resorts in Po'ipu and the endless Pacific beyond.
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Larsen's Beach
The long, golden sands of Larsen's Beach, named after L David Larsen (former manager of C Brewer's Kilauea Sugar Company), is good for solitary strolls and beachcombing. Although shallow, snorkeling can be good when the waters are very calm, usually only in the summer. Beware of a vicious current that runs westward along the beach and out through a channel in the reef.
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Lihu'e Lutheran Church
Atop a curvy country lane just off Kaumuali'i Hwy (Hwy 50)is Lihu'e Lutheran Church, Hawaii's oldest Lutheran church, a quaint clapboard house of worship, with an incongruously slanted floor that resembles a ship's deck and a balcony akin to a captain's bridge. German immigrants built this church, styling it after their own late-19th-century boat.
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Limahuli Garden
Learn to distinguish Kaua'i's flora among native, Polynesian-introduced and modern-introduced (alien) species at Limahuli Garden, part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden . Perhaps the most natural of all Kaua'i's gardens, the setting is spectacular, with Makana Mountain standing guard over plants flourishing from the copious rainfall.
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Lucy Wright Park
The Captain Cook landing site is noted with a plaque on a nondescript rock on the western side of the Waimea River at Lucy Wright Park. Notice how it's named after a prominent Waimea resident and not the captain himself? It's located on Ala Wai Rd, as soon as you cross the Waimea Bridge. This county park also has a ball field, picnic tables, rest rooms and showers.
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Lumaha'i Beach
If Lumaha'i Beach looks familiar, it's where Mitzi Gaynor promised to wash that man right out of her hair in the 1958 musical South Pacific . It's just as spectacular in real life. Plan to stroll this mile-long sandy beach, with jungle growth looming on one side and tempestuous open sea on the other.
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Lydgate Beach Park
Families flock to the clean, safe, conveniently located Lydgate Beach Park, with calm waters in a large seawater pool protected by a stone breakwater. It's ideal for shallow swimming and beginning snorkeling. Beware of the open ocean beyond the pool, where currents are strong. Amenities include changing rooms, rest rooms, showers, drinking water, picnic pavilions, lifeguard and ample parking. The Eastside paved coastal path runs through the park.
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Maniniholo Dry Cave
Directly across Ha'ena Beach Park, Maniniholo Dry Cave is deep and broad and high enough to explore. Drippy and creepy, a constant seep of water from the cave walls keeps the interior damp and humid. The cave is named after the head fisherman of the menehune who, according to legend, built ponds and other structures at night.
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Menehune Ditch
Constructed prior to Western contact, Menehune Ditch, a stone and earthen aqueduct is an engineering masterpiece, with rocks carefully squared, smoothed and joined to create a watertight seal.
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Moir Gardens
If cacti are your fancy, Moir Gardens offers a modest oasis on the grounds of the Kiahuna Plantation condo. It's a low-key, approachable collection of mature cacti and succulents, interspersed with winding paths, a lily pond and colorful shocks of orchids.
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Na 'Aina Kai Botanical Gardens
Joyce and Ed Doty moved to Kaua'i from California in 1982 and began landscaping the grounds of their home. Today the Dotys are in their 80s and their retirement project is a 240-acre extravaganza of Na 'Aina Kai Botanical Gardens, all meticulously groomed.
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National Tropical Botanical Garden
If plants aren't your thing, National Tropical Botanical Garden might inspire you to develop that green thumb. NTBG, a nonprofit working to propagate tropical and endangered species, manages five gardens (three on Kaua'i, one on Maui and one in Florida).
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Ninini Point
You'll enjoy solitude from other tourists at Ninini Point, where 360-degree vistas show jets swooping in the sky above and waves crashing against the rocks below. Looking east, soaring cliffs cut off rainbows and, closer in, golfers tee off near a beckoning scoop of beach.
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Nounou Mountain
On clear days you can see the outline of the Nounou Mountain (commonly called the Sleeping Giant) atop Nounou Ridge from a marked viewpoint just north of the Waipouli Complex.
