Kauai is the oldest of the Hawaiian Islands, and the northernmost. The tallest buildings are only four stories, limited to the height of the average mature coconut palm tree. In contrast, the Na Pali cliffs on the north shore are majestic 4,000 foot high cathedral-like spires formed by millions of years of wind and water erosion.

Waimea Canyon is often called the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific”.  At one mile wide and ten miles long, is much smaller than and not quite as deep as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, but it is a real crowd pleaser with its amazing palette of colors.

The Garden Isle, as Kauai is known, is warm and sunny most of the time. It rains almost every day, but mostly at night in the mountains. Poipu, on the south shore, is almost always sunny and has generally mild ocean conditions. Poipu Beach is the prime resort destination on the island. Princeville and Hanalei, in the north offer more solitude, some of the most beautiful landscapes and great golf, but the area receives more rainfall than Poipu, and the beaches can be treacherous.

Kauai is home to some of the world’s best golf courses, from the well-known Poipu Bay, Kauai Lagoons and Princeville courses to one of America’s finest public golf courses, Waulua Municipal. Greens fees range from resort to discount.

Kauai is the most pristine and secluded of the four major Hawaiian Islands. It is small enough to get a quaint, old Hawaii feel, and yet so diverse in activities, landscape and geography that it is difficult to take it all in on just one trip.