Frommer's Kauai - Jeanette Foster [122]
Niumalu Beach Park
This is a great place at which to stop in the middle of the day for a picnic. It’s located close to Lihue; you can pick up lunch and wander down to this 3-acre quiet area, which has campgrounds. Bordered by Nawiliwili Harbor on one end and the small boat ramp on the other, Niumalu sits next to a very profound archaeological area—the Menehune Fishpond. The pond (also called Alekoko) on the Huleia River was an aquaculture feat built hundreds of years ago. The builders of this 2,700-foot-long stone wall (that cuts off a bend in the river) were believed to be the mythical people who inhabited Kauai before the Polynesians came here (see “Discovering the Legendary ‘Little People’”). The fishpond is located in the Huleia National Wildlife Refuge, 238 acres of river valley that is a habitat for endangered Hawaiian water birds (ae’o, or Hawaiian stilt; ’alae Ke’oke’o, or Hawaiian coot; ’alae ’ula, or Hawaiian gallinule; and Koloa maoli, or Hawaiian duck). Although you can see the fishpond and the refuge from the road, the area is not open to the public. Various small boats, kayaks, jet skis, windsurfers, and water-skiers use the river. You can spend the day watching them ply their crafts up and down. From Lihue, take Rice Street to Nawiliwili Harbor. Turn left on Niumalu Road and follow it to the beach park. The beach does not have a lifeguard, but it does have picnic tables, showers, and restrooms.
Hawaiian Monk Seals & Turtles: Look, but Don’t Get Too Close
If you are lucky, you will get to see one of Hawaii’s rare Hawaiian monk seals or endangered Hawaii green sea turtles when they lumber up on a sunny beach. One of the most endangered species on Earth, about 25 seals (Monachus schauinslandi) call Kauai home. These 400- to 600-pound seals (stretching out 4–6 ft.) are protected by very strict laws, and it is illegal to get closer than 100 feet from them (or a turtle for that matter). It’s understandably exciting when you spot a seal (or turtle), and you’ll want to rush up and get a photo. Remember to stay back 100 feet, and do not use your flash when photographing. Be sure to instruct your children to stay back and not throw anything at the seals or turtles. The endangered-species laws are strictly enforced on Kauai, and the fines are very steep. For more information, go to www.kauaimonkseal.com.
Hanamaulu Beach Park
This large bay is not only close to Lihue but is protected from the open ocean. It’s a great place to have a picnic. However, it’s not a good swimming beach due to the dirt (mainly silt) in the water entering the bay from Hanamaulu stream. The waters outside the bay are cleaner. This area is very popular with scuba divers and with fishermen, who flock here when akule and other migratory fish are schooling in the bay. Camping is allowed in this 61⁄2-acre park; see “Hiking & Camping” for details. From Lihue, take the Kapule Highway (Hwy. 51) north, and turn right on Hehi Road to the beach park. Hanamaulu has no lifeguard, but it does have free parking, restrooms, showers, and a pavilion.
THE POIPU RESORT AREA
Mahaulepu Beach
Mahaulepu is the best-looking unspoiled beach in Kauai and possibly in the whole state. Its 2 miles of reddish-gold, grainy sand line the southeastern shore at the foot of 1,500-foot-high Haupu Ridge, just beyond the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa and the McBryde sugar cane fields, which end in sand dunes and a forest of casuarina trees. Almost untouched by modern life, Mahaulepu is a great escape from the real world. It’s ideal for beachcombing and shell hunting, but swimming can be risky, except in the reef-sheltered shallows 200 yards west of the sandy parking lot. There’s no lifeguard, no facilities—just great natural beauty everywhere you look. (This beach is where George C. Scott portrayed Ernest Hemingway in the movie Islands in the Stream.) While you’re here, see if you can find the Hawaiian petroglyph of a voyaging canoe carved in the beach rock.
To get here, drive past the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa 3 miles east