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Poipu Beach
Kauai Island
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Along the sunny south coast are a string of nice swimming and snorkelling beaches alongside the resort area of Poipu. There are a couple of small sandy beaches with safe swimming at Brennecke Beach Park and Poipu Beach and the longest stretch of wild beach aptly named Shipwreck Beach which offers great coastal walks and excellent body surfing when the sea is relatively calm.
Poipu is the main resort area for Kauai. Much of the coastline is rocky and only a few of the resorts are beach front. Where beaches appear, tourists congregate, and in the high season, things can get quite crowded.
Unfortunately there are no nearby beaches to visit - Poipu is a dead end road, hemmed in by an inaccessible rocky coastline to the east and west.
West of Poipu there are few beaches. Salt Pond Beach, at the turn off at the historical town of Hanapepe, is a rather ordinary State Park with camping facilities and safe swimming. At the old sugar plantation town of Waimea, on the south east coast the beach is brilliantly wild with lots of driftwood washed up on the sea. The sea itself is perilous, but walk along the beach and you will loose yourself in time. There is a fine long white sandy beach at Kekeha nearing the end of the South Coast road which has good swimming and some surfing. The beach here is seldom crowded, and you'll always be able to find a quiet spot for yourself.
One of the more unusual and unexpected sights of Hawaii is the Waimea Canyon on the west side of Kauai. Similar in appearance to the Grand Canyon of Arizona, but smaller in size, this rugged region of deep river gorges and multi-coloured cliffs and needles is an excellent place for hiking and enjoying scenic lookouts. There are a handful of short trails to spectacular vistas and a total of 45-miles of maintained trails, several of which lead right down to the valley floor. The road into Waimea Canyon climbs to almost 4000 feet from sea level with cooler air, morning mists and evening clouds. The road continues beyond Waimea Canyon through Kokee State Park, a huge area of natural forest extending all the way to the north west coast. The coastline here is inaccessible but from the end of the road there are hundreds of miles of trails that meander along the high hills overlooking valleys towards the coast.
The remote and mostly inaccessible West Coast of Kauai has some glorious beach locations, notably Polihale State Park with its fine sand and dramatic coastal cliffs but these are extremely remote areas requiring an adventurous soul to get to them and are not recommended for families.
search for ... Kauai Resorts
find ... Kauai Tour Companies
continue to ... Kapaa. Wailua, Lihue and the East Coast
Readers may also be interested in the following destinations:
Cook Islands Travel Guide
Fiji Travel Guide
Samoa Travel Guide
Tonga Travel Guide
Tahiti Travel Guide
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