Lihue - Hawaii - Culture

Lihue is the County Seat and the main airport on Kauai Island. The island has incredible natural beauty - from the breathtaking heights of the verdant Kokee forests to the magnificent Na Pali coastline, from the ever-changing colours of Waimea Canyon to the romance of moonlit Hanalei Bay, the beauty of the Garden Island overwhelms your senses. Kauai is as close as one can come to the fantasy world of "Bali Hai." The Garden Island, as it is nicknamed, is a tropical paradise with wide sand beaches, and waterfall etched mountains and a mild climate. It is the oldest and most northerly of the Hawaiian Islands

Kauai stands out as the vacation destination of choice, blending the enchantment of ancient Hawaii with all modern conveniences. Kayak on the same river where Indiana Jones escaped, or windsurf with playful spinner dolphins swimming at your side. Enjoy a whale watching expedition, or explore exquisite waterfalls on a scenic helicopter tour, or from a zodiac craft. Sport fishing, scuba diving, and snorkelling are all popular in the pristine waters off the incomparable coasts. Horseback riding offers breathtaking vistas from the mountains to the beaches. It also has a magnificent natural setting for golf.

A few short miles from Lihue, there is the Wailua area that boasts several hotels, shopping centers, restaurants and the Wailua River, home to the world famous "Fern Grotto." Travelling farther north, you will encompass the majesty of the Garden Island as you visit places with familiar names such as Princeville; Hanalei, home of "South Pacific;" Lumaha'i, or "Nurses Beach;" Mt. Makana, known as "Bali Hai;" Makua Beach, called "Tunnels;" and Ke'e, home of the hula and a major location for the television mini-series "The Thorn Birds."

Botanic Gardens - abounding in natural vegetation, Kauai also has four botanic gardens. The Smith's Tropical Paradise at Wailua, Ola Pua Gardens at Kalaheo, Kiahuna Plantation Gardens in Poipu, the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Lawai, offer an unusual assortment of flowers, shrubs, cacti and other magnificent species of plant life.

The hauntingly beautiful cave, Fern Grotto, luxuriantly festooned with growing ferns, is reached from the Wailua Marina. The red cliffs and the handsome colour accent at Hanapepe Valley give the valley's myriad shades of green and blue. At Kalalau Lookout, once peacocks preened their plumage in this tropic Eden and families cultivated terraces of taro. No one lives there and now nothing remains but one of the most beautiful views on earth. Above the great bend of the Wailua River, where war canoes of the King of Kauai, Kaumualii, once assembled, lie the ruins of an old Kamokila Hawaiian village.

The Kauai Museum in Lihue presents a factual history of the Garden Isle, using artefacts and photograph. Other historical and art exhibits are also displayed. The Ke’e Beach Park is a fine bathing beach at the end of the road where the trail begins to the Na Pali Cliffs. The Kokee State Park, which is adjacent to Waimea Canyon, has picnic grounds, cabins and a wide variety of outdoor activities including hunting, trout fishing and hiking. The NASA Kokee Tracking Station is located nearby.

Lumahai Beach chosen for Nurses' Beach in South Pacific is undoubtedly the most photographed beach on Kauai. At Menehune Ditch only small portions remain of what was once a great watercourse or aqua duct. Archaeologists say it was built before Hawaiians came possibly by the Menehune.

The Opaekaa Falls on the Wailua River makes a dramatic plunge over a high cliff. Opaekaa means, "rolling shrimp" and dates from days when swarms of shrimp were seen rolling in turbulent waters at the base of the falls. The Wailua Falls are nicknamed Fantasy Island Waterfalls.

Smith’s Tropical Paradise is a 23-acre site has gardens, lagoons, exotic birds and unique narrated train ride which meanders through a rain forest, a Polynesian village, a Japanese island, a Filipino village and other interesting areas. Kauai's ethnic heritage is reflected nightly in a 75-minute musical production in the lagoon theater.

At Spouting Horn, when tide is running high, waves pressured through lava tubes are forced through a hole in coastal rocks to burst noisily into spectacular fountains of salt spray and foam.

The view at Waimea Canyon is more than a view, it's an experience! You'll treasure in memory its grandeur and jewel-tone colours, its awesome depth and breadth. The Wet And Dry Caves Of Haena has eerie caverns, one dry, the other two filled with limpid green water, are where chiefs are said to have gathered in ancient times.