Poipu

Lia and I chose Poipu almost by accident, drawn by weather forecasts that promised sun while the rest of Kauai sat under cloud, and within a day we understood why the south shore has become the island’s most reliable stretch of beach. Poipu Beach itself is really two beaches split by a sandbar known as Baby Beach, calm enough that families wade in with toddlers on one side while boogie boarders catch small breaks on the other. We arrived our first morning to find a Hawaiian monk seal — one of fewer than fifteen hundred left in the world — hauled out on the sand, a volunteer in a bright vest already stringing tape around it to keep the crowd at a respectful distance.

Snorkeling and tide pools

The lava-rock points bracketing Poipu Beach turn out to be some of the best easy snorkeling on Kauai, and we spent a full morning drifting over reef just offshore, following green sea turtles as they grazed on algae along the rocks. Further along the coast toward Shipwreck Beach, the lava shelf breaks into tide pools that fill and empty with the swell, and Lia spent an embarrassing amount of time crouched over one particular pool photographing a small octopus that kept changing color to match the rock. It’s a coastline that rewards slow looking — nothing dramatic happens quickly, but everything is happening if you wait for it.

Spouting Horn and the old sugar towns

A short drive west brought us to Spouting Horn, a lava tube that blasts seawater skyward with a low moan each time a wave surges through it, the kind of natural spectacle that draws a small permanent crowd of phone cameras at sunset. Nearby, the plantation-era town of Koloa — Hawaii’s first sugar mill town, dating to 1835 — has a handful of low wooden storefronts that now house shave-ice stands and galleries, a quieter counterpoint to the resort strip along the coast. We ate malasadas warm from the fryer at a roadside stand there and agreed it was the best two dollars we’d spent all trip.

Getting There

Poipu sits about twelve miles south of Lihue Airport, a twenty- to thirty-minute drive along Highways 50 and 520, the latter locally nicknamed Tree Tunnel Road for the century-old eucalyptus trees arching over it. Lihue is served by direct flights from several mainland West Coast cities as well as frequent connections through Honolulu. A rental car is close to essential for exploring beyond the beach — the south shore’s attractions, from Spouting Horn to Waimea Canyon further west, are all a short but necessary drive apart.