Ask the Big Kahuna
“Answering the most common visitor questions”
Question:
I would like to take my wife sunbathing/swimming on Kauai along the coast that is not accessible by car. The last time I was in Kauai we flew over it in a chopper and it was so beautiful. Any advice where I can find a boat to rent or have someone take us out there for the day? Would appreciate your input. After 25 years of marriage, I would like to do something really special.
Brian
Pennsylvania
Response:
Aloha Brian,
I see that sometimes-cold Pennsylvania has not chilled your ardor for your lucky bride of 25 years.
You could charter a boat or helicopter to take you to the remote Na Pali coast and drop you off on or near one of its uninhabited beaches. If you choose this option, visit: Kauai Activities on the Water Providers or Kauai Helicopter Tour Providers for a list of the best boating and helicopter companies available.
However, what few people realize is that many of Kauai’s beaches, even those easily accessible by car, are rarley crowded — and never in the Waikiki or Miami Beach sense. Also, since many of Kauai’s beaches are accessible only or partially by foot, you are likely to have a beach virtually all to yourself — or close to it.
Let’s do the math: there are about 1.1 million visitors to Kauai each year or about 3,014 per day on average. If you assume that there are about 60 beaches on Kauai with every single one of those people going to the beach, that means about 50 people on a beach each day. With 12 hours of daylight, those 50 people spread out to about 4 people on any beach in any one hour. Of course, some of these beaches, like the ones in Poipu (South Shore) and Lydgate (East Side) and Hanalei Bay (North Shore) are going to be a bigger draw, and some visitors will be doing other things, so inevitably there will be some beaches that are nearly deserted.
If you absolutely press me, I’ll suggest Polihale on the West Side (by car only over a severly pot-holed dirt road or via a boat/helicopter trip) or Kalalau Beach on the Na Pali Coast (in summer only via a 22-mile round trip hike or via a boat/helicopter trip). But any beach you choose on Kauai could provide that special place for that special moment.
Whichever beach you choose (and you could choose more than one), be cognizant of the ocean’s cross currents, so your special anniversary can also be safe.
Happy Anniversary,
Big Kahuna