time off
The Lawyer’s Life
WATERFALL, WAIMEA CANYON
(LEFT); HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL
Wild
Hawaii
/& 84$0.
THE HAWAIIAN ISLAND
of Kauai is known as
“The Garden Isle” for
the lushness of its volcanic hillsides, perennially cloaked
in a riot of greens. The green is
courtesy of the vast amounts of
rain parts of Kauai receive; 5,148-
foot Mount Wai’ale’ale, in the
center of the island, receives an
average of 444 inches a year, making it one of the wettest places on
earth. But most of the rain falls
at night and in the early morning, and is concentrated in the
mountains—leaving the weather
along the northern, eastern, and
southern shores just about ideal,
perpetually sunny and between
75 and 85 degrees. Though not
unknown to tourists, Kauai is less
populated and less developed
than the other destination islands
in the Hawaiian archipelago, and
it has a pronounced outdoorsy
orientation. In short, Kauai is
the perfect place for snowbound
mainlanders to get out and enjoy
the weather.
For some, the outdoor activity begins (and might very well
end) with golf. At the north end
of the island, the Princeville at
Hanalei Resort boasts two courses
designed by Robert Trent Jones,
Jr., including the Prince, which
Golf Digest magazine has ranked
as Hawaii’s top course. The layout
unwinds some 300 feet above the
Pacific, offering ocean and mountain views that will let one forget
the errant shots that come with a
long layoff. A short trip down the
coast on one of Kauai’s few main
roads brings the linkster to Kauai
Lagoons Golf Club, home of another pair of fine courses. These
include Kiele, a Jack Nicklaus
design sprawling above Nawili-wili Harbor; the 16th hole, a short
par- 4 with a green jutting into the
Pacific, is unforgettable.
A few miles further south,
there’s Poipu Bay Golf Course,
another Robert Trent Jones masterwork. Once home of the PGA
Grand Slam of Golf, Poipu has
the requisite jaw-dropping views
that Kauai golfers expect; if a shot
wanders off the fairway, you may
come upon remains of Hawaiian
heiau, ancient places of worship.
Princeville and Poipu offer resort-style accommodations (Starwood
and Grand Hyatt, respectively)
with the range of amenities you’d
expect from a top-shelf property,
including extensive spa services.
Kauai boasts 113
miles of shoreline,
including 50 miles
of sand beaches.
Some of these are
considered to be
among Hawaii’s best. Hanalei
Bay is a two-mile crescent of
white sand on the north shore
with mountains and waterfalls in
the background and rivers on either side. The water—a balmy 75
degrees on average—is calm for
easy swimming or kayaking; coral reefs on either end of the bay
beckon snorkelers. On the south
shore there’s Poipu Beach, which
also features a protected area for
swimming and is sometimes frequented by Hawaiian monk seals,
an endangered species.
On the west side of Kauai,
gentle beaches give way to the
rugged Na Pali Coast, where
jagged cliffs drop 3,000 feet to
the crashing surf. Na Pali is best
experienced from the water,
INFO TO GO
AIR Alaska, Aloha, American, and
United offer direct service to Kauai
from Los Angeles.
ON THE WEB Discover Kauai:
kauai-hawaii.com; Princeville Resort:
princeville.com; Poipu Bay:
poipubaygolf.com; Kauai Sea Tours:
kauaiseatours.com; Island Helicopters:
islandhelicopters.com
and Kauai Sea Tours offers both
catamaran and zodiac excursions; some trips include stops
at secluded beaches. During the
winter months, migratory humpback whales are present, providing ample viewing opportunities;
in the summer, hearty souls can
kayak the 17-mile Na Pali coastline in what National Geographic
has called one of the greatest adventures in America.
Eons of rain have created
some dramatic landscapes, including Waimea Canyon, which
has been dubbed “the Grand
Canyon of the Pacific.” Waimea
is one mile wide, ten miles long,
and 3,600 feet deep; the play of
light and shadows
upon the canyon’s
striated umber and
copper walls is astonishing. Many
hiking trails lead
along or down into
the canyon; pullouts
allow visitors to experience the canyon
with minimal exertion. Nearby
Kokee State Park is of interest to
birders, as its forests of koa and
ojia are home to endemic Kauai
species like apapanes, anianiau,
and amakihi. At Kilauea Point
National Wildlife Refuge near
Princeville, one may come upon
red-tailed and white-tailed tropicbirds, red-footed boobies, and
nesting Laysan albatross.
Thanks to its mountainous terrain and dearth of roads into the
interior, most of Kauai is inaccessible by land. That’s where the helicopter comes in. Island Helicopters’s Grand Kauai Air Tour will
whisk up to six passengers to and
fro in air-conditioned comfort to
take in the island’s many natural
wonders from above. The highlight—weather permitting—is a
flyover of the Mount Wai’ale’ale
Crater. All the rain that falls here
results in an amazing display of
waterfalls cascading some 3,000
feet down the walls of this extant volcano to the fern-covered
crater floor below. Leaving the
crater, your copter will spirit you
through Wai’ale’ale’s perpetual
mist, back to the sun.
