Kauai is nicknamed 'the Garden Isle' because of the fragrant, humid, exotic tropical rainforest that covers so much of it. It's also loved for its superb Na Pali coast with its massive cliffs and towering pinnacles, a view that you'll have seen in all sorts of Hollywood movies. If you enjoy hiking you can explore on foot, taking the ten mile track along Waimea Canyon or the amazing Nounou Trails, which criss-cross the wonderful Sleeping Giant ridge.
Take a cultural journey to find out about the ancient hula dance and ancient Hawaiian fishponds.
There's nothing quite like a peaceful horseback ride in the lush, green pastures of Princeville. And there's so much more to do on this remarkable island.
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Visit the Kauai Museum and Grove Farm Museum in Lihue
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Discover local culture in the tiny towns of Hanapepe, Koloa and Waimea
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This island is famous for its year-round festivals, including the Koloa Plantation Days
The Kauai Mokihana Festival includes fiercely-fought hula competitions. Fifty miles of perfect white sand surround Kauai, and there are so many lovely beaches you should be able to find one all to yourself, away from the crowds.
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Golden Cities and Hawaii
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This is Hawaii's fourth biggest island, the oldest and most northerly, a magical place of vivid emerald green valleys, fast-running rivers and cascading waterfalls, much only accessible by air. Get your adventure hat on for this one, a place so strange and ancient it's like being on another world, another planet. This is a wonderland for outdoor activities, all set against breathtaking backdrops.
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Explore the Wailua River by kayak
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Try snorkelling off Poipu Beach
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Discover the island on foot hiking breathtaking trails in Kokee State Park
Get all three under your belt, add extra spice with unforgettable zipline thrills above the island's lusciously green landscapes and you'll go home feeling you've got to know this mysterious and truly extraordinary place.
Kauai has some of the best beaches on the planet, more than any of the larger Hawaiian islands. Some are accessed by a rough trail, others by helicopter or only by sea.
Anini Beach Park provides absolutely miles of white sandy beach and there's a quiet lagoon perfect for L-plate snorkellers. Hanalei Bay Beach Park lies east of Princeville in Hanalei Town, a gorgeous curved bay including Hanalei Pier. Kee Beach has fabulous reefs for shoreline snorkelling. Wherever you swim, take care - the currents can be powerful, so dangerous that many beaches have a year-round lifeguard on duty. Art, culture and museums. Hiking, cycling and fishing, discovering historic places and horseback riding, learning to hula, listening to live music, mountain tubing, scuba diving and whale watching. It's all yours on Kauai. Plus lots of lovely restaurants and bars scattered around the island.
You'll find Kalapaki Beach in front of the Marriot Kauai Beach Club, a great place to watch the surfers do their brilliant thing and offering nice, safe, calm waters for the kids to splash about in. Fancy whale watching on Kauai? You can catch magnificent, gentle humpback whales at play between December and May, when they visit the warm island waters to breed and give birth. Take a tour or charter a boat to see them surfacing, playing, slapping their vast tails on the water's surface and blowing spouts of water into the air.