Kauai - Driving time from Port to Na Pali Coast

[Ruth]

We are renting a car for 2 days in Kauai. Wanted to drive to Na Pali Coast the first day....Can you drive directly to it. Or does the road stop at Kee Beach Park...It looks like that might be as far as it goes...Is this a good area to start with and then drive slowly back to the port...Any suggestions appreicated...Thanks

[Das K]

sorry, wrong string.

[debtman7]

Well, you can't really drive to the napali coast, you can only drive to the edge of it. The only way to actually see the napali coast is by helicopter, boat, or hiking. Kauai basically has one road that goes around the island, and it dead ends on boat sides of the napali coast. From the port then, you'd have two options, you could drive to the north side or the west side.

 

If you go to the north side, you'd just take the main road until it dead ends at Ke'e beach. The road gets a bit windy, with one lane bridges, up near the end, so it's slow going. I'd say from the port, which I think is near Lihue, you'd be looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.5 hours to drive up there. It will depend of course, if you are driving during peak traffic flows it could take a little longer to get through some of the towns on the east side. On the up side, the north shore is absolutely beautiful. If you go this route, you should stop off and walk around hanalei, see the bay, and stop at some other sites.

 

Once you get to ke'e beach, the road ends. From there on, if you really want to see the napali coast, you have to hike. You can hike in 2 miles to a small beach and get some spectacular views along the way. It is a good hike, but I wouldn't recommend it for those not into that sort of thing. It is constantly uphill and downhill, never really flat, and it will be slipper and muddy when rainy (which is almost a given on this part of the island). You should wear appropriate hiking shoes with good traction (the trail is all rock which gets a slipper coating of mud when wet). You should also expect that whatever shoes and socks you wear are going to be ruined by the red dirt.

 

After that two mile hike, you can hike another two miles to a really nice waterfall inland. Or you can head back. You can't go any further along the hike without a permit. The entire trail is around 11 miles. The two mile hike is almost certainly worth doing just for some glimpses of the coast along the way, however during peak travel seasons it can get a bit crowded. And while it's not a tough hike, it's not an easy one either.

 

If you go to the west, you'll end up driving out to Polihale State Beach Park. However, the road to this beach really really sucks. It's a dirt road, with potholes and ruts all over the place. You wouldn't want to drive it in your car, and you don't want your rental company to know you tried to drive out there, so don't get stuck. It's a looooong rough drive. If you get a jeep you may have better luck, but it's not too fun either way.

 

This drive would probably take you 2 hours. That includes the roughly 45 minutes it would probably take to crawl over the dirt road to the beach. As with the north, you can't really see a whole lot of the coast here. There's also no hiking along here. However, it is one of the best beaches on the island, very quiet and starkly beautiful. It's also almost guaranteed to be nearly empty and is by far the best place on the island to watch a sunset. Another plus to going out here is that you can stop by Waimea canyon on the way, and get a look at the more local/residential side of the island.

 

Now, all that said, if you really want to see the Napali coast, the best way to do it is by boat. If your cruise doesn't go along it, then you might want to consider doing a sunset dinner sail along the coast. They run in the $90 range and give you a fabulous 4 hour cruise along the coast. Ships leave from the north and west.

[Splinter]

You can also see a small part of the Napali coast from the end of the road overlook going up Waimea canyon. Otherwise, the best way to see it is via helicopter.