My Kauai: West

When I first visited Kauai I stayed mostly on the west side and have continued to feel most at home there. Of the two ends of the road that I like, the west side is the drier in terms of both weather and personality.

Here are some highlights of the Kauai West Side, working from east to the end of the road to the west. The tour begins in Ele'ele which is just before Hanapepe on the main highway going west toward Waimea.

Kauai Island Brewery [link] is the westernmost beer brewery in the country as well as this side of the International Date Line (there is a lot of that out here in the westernmost island, excepting Ni'ihau, which is private and off limits, of the westermost state). Dave opened the place a year or so ago featuring ten different brews ranging from pale to porter. Often I will swing by after working in the garden and lately the place has been doing a brisk business. Try the sampler to get a taste of several beers to see what you like. I like the Cane Red. There's a full bar for non-beer drinkers and grinds from the kitchen as well.

Hanapepe is on the highway just down the hill from Ele'ele. The old town main street is just off and parallel to the highway, and some businesses also line the highway. The Hanapepe River splits the town (the old bridge is one lane wide), flowing down out of the Hanapepe Valley to the north. Hanapepe Friday Art nights are the time to visit - all other times it's a very sleepy little town. On Friday you will see several restaurants, food stalls, and over a dozen art galleries all open roughly 6 to 9pm. The galleries and restaurants are open at other times but not late and hours may be spotty.

• Taro Ko makes thinly sliced crispy fried chips from taro (kalo), breadfruit (ulu), & potatoes, too. The whole operation from slicing to frying to packaging to sales runs out of a little old house on the east end of the main street off the highway. Every morning they cook until ingredients run out. If he's there, tell Stanley I sent you.
• Little Fish Cafe is a tiny place just around the corner on the main street on the east end of town, open early mornings through lunchtime. Best coffee in Hanapepe hands-down and great bagel creations (I like The Hippie and The Veggie) and the rest of the menu of light fare looks promising. One a nice day eat out in the back patio area.
• Talk Story Bookstore (the westernmost independent bookstore) is a nice, funky local book store, mostly used books run by a friendly fellow who knows his books. Often on Friday nights they feature local authors.
• Kauai Kookie is a local baked goods factory specializing in cookies, of course. The factory store has quite a variety of their non-cookie goods as well and offers free tastes. 
• Da Imu Hut is a funky local grinds place right on the highway that does very good lau lau. Their Chicken Lau Lau plate is the one thing that tempts me to go back to eating meat: chicken wrapped in taro leaves baked until tender, lomi lomi salmon (salmon with tomato and onion), macaroni salad, and two scoops of rice. The non-meat selection is very limited. This place is hard to spot (the name is written on the window perpendicular to the road, very hard to spot and only visible from one direction): it's right along the highway in front of Kauai Kookie, across the street from Wong's chinese.

Salt Pond Park is a short drive from the highway, turn makai just outside of town to the west and follow the signs. This is a beach many locals visit: plenty of parking, grass lawn with tables and benches, sandy beach around a well protected curved bay with rocky reefs around much of the outside. Safe to snorkel inside but not so much to see unless you venture out (where you really need to know what you are doing).

Waimea eating options in Waimea are good but limited.

• For early breakfast Obsessions Cafe (no idea about the name) is open from 6am: good asparagus-mushroom omelet, good macadamia-nut pancakes, and decent coffee (Black Mountain brand).
• Good home-cooked breakfast, lunch, and goodies at Yumi's (for more see Local Grinds).
• And for lunch I like Island Tacos (for more see Local Grinds).
• Ishihara Market has the best fish and makes lots of prepared dishes and lunches: bento, poke, etc.

Waimea walking tour [most Mondays: link] is a must if you are interested in the history of the west side.

Koke'e State Park and Waimea Canyon are both prime hiking destinations. Probably half of the hikes mentioned here are up here. On the west side of Waimea turn mauka onto the 550 just before the West Kauai Technology and Visitor Center. A prominent highway sign tells you to go several miles out of your way to the long way around via Kekaha: ignore that unless you want to also swing by anything listed below on the way. (I assume the local neighborhood prefers fewer visitors driving through the 25 MPH road.)

PMRF (Pacific Missile Range Facility) at Barking Sands (PMRF) is just beyond Kekaha, the last actual city on the west side before the end of the road. This military facility is a significant Department of Defense installation, "the world's largest instrumented multi-environmental range capable of supported surface, subsurface, air, and space operations simultaneously" protecting our western flank. PMRF is a major driver of the local economy and also occupies several miles of prime beach out before the plentiful Kekaha beach that lines the highway beyond town.

Polihale is the end of the road here. Take the highway all the way west, driving past the PMRF gates on the makai side, then turn left on a nondescript dirt road (that I hear is in decent shape these days; previously it was notoriously potholed). Several miles of sand beach run west and right up to a pile of boulders at the foot of an first impassable cliff. Swimming here can be dangerous - strong currents, and if you get in trouble out here there is nothing west of you out to sea for several thousand miles. Polihale is popular but it's a fair drive to get out there. Camping is permitted.

Beyond Polihale, further west and then curving north with the coast the Na Pali cliffs dominate the terrain. You can kayak out there in summer when the sea is calm but this time of year it's difficult. I sure haven't been around the bend or even out to Polihale though I hope to next week or so. The photo to the left gives you an idea of the terrain: it's shot from above the cliffs - I hiked down from Koke'e - showing Miloli'i Beach (look for the white surf just left of center) some 2000 feet below.