Kauaʻi has one road, no loop and weather that varies enormously between the two ends of it. Any plan that ignores those three facts becomes a plan about driving in the rain.
This week splits the stay: four nights south in Poʻipū for the dry weather and the canyon, three nights north in Princeville or Hanalei for Nā Pali and the valleys. Every day has a wet-weather alternative because you will probably need at least one.
What this week covers
- The Nā Pali Coast from the water on a morning catamaran
- Waimea Canyon before the cloud fills the lookouts
- Kēʻē and Hāʻena with the reservation sorted in advance
- Hanalei Bay on a slow afternoon
The driving this plan involves
Measured rather than estimated: every figure below comes from two routing engines run over OpenStreetMap, with the slower of the two published. Free flow with no traffic model, so treat them as a floor.
Moving days
- Poʻipū to Princeville 1 hr 20 min, 42.3 miles
Every one of these is a checkout, a move and a check-in, so budget the day around it rather than around the travel time.
Day trips from Poʻipū
| To | Each way | Miles |
|---|---|---|
| Port Allen | 26 min | 11.8 |
| Līhuʻe Airport (LIH) | 33 min | 14.5 |
| Kapaʻa | 43 min | 20.9 |
| Waimea Canyon lookout | 1 hr 3 min | 28.2 |
| Princeville | 1 hr 20 min | 42.3 |
| Hanalei | 1 hr 22 min | 43.8 |
| Hāʻena, Kēʻē Beach | 1 hr 41 min | 50.4 |
Each way, so double it for a round trip. Every measured route on every island is on the drive times page, free to quote and downloadable as CSV.
Land at Līhuʻe and drive south
Based in Poʻipū
A short drive, a grocery stop and a first swim on the sunny side of the island.
- Afternoon
Collect the car at LIH
Poʻipū is about 30 minutes south. Stop at Costco or the Kōloa grocery on the way for the week’s basics.
- 4pm
Poʻipū Beach Park
Protected swimming on one side, a monk seal hauled out on the sand more often than not. Keep 50 feet back if one is resting.
- Sunset
Spouting Horn
A blowhole ten minutes west that performs best on a decent swell. Five minutes of your time and worth it at golden hour.
- Tonight
Check the Nā Pali forecast
Boat trips cancel for swell. Book yours for early in the week so a cancellation still leaves you a spare day.
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- Every remaining day, hour by hour, with drive times that assume real traffic
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