We were so disappointed with the shuttle system. The driver was aggressive on the narrow roads. She…read moredrove fast and blew the horn at pedestrians. It was raining hard on our day and I asked if we could reschedule or get a refund and the attendant rudely said "No, check the website. You get several warnings about no refunds." We get to the dropoff inside the park and there were 100 empty parking spaces (but on the website the option to drive in and park was "not available." ) There were 40 people waiting under a shelter for the shuttle to take them back. Our time was cut short by the rain and cold which is just tough luck but as we were leaving there were now 60 people under the shelter waiting for the shuttle. The bathrooms were filthy. Everyone looked miserable. We didn't even see any fish while trying to snorkel (30 mins). Ninety dollars ($45/each) is not a small fee and it was not worth it. If you are hiking the trail then you have no choice but if you just want a good beach...Just go to Aninni Beach. It's free and we swam with turtles! #BooGoHaena.

If I had a chance to avoid visiting this place, I absolutely would have. Unfortunately, this park…read moreis home to the legendary Kalalau Trail, so there's really no way around it. Even if you're only hiking to the waterfall, you're still required to pay $40 per person just to enter the park. And I have a lot of questions about that. 1. We booked the earliest possible shuttle and paid for it, but we ended up leaving 15 minutes late because we were waiting for other people -- which meant we completely missed sunrise. 2. The park itself is dirty. The restrooms are in terrible condition, and there wasn't even toilet paper. You're charging $40 for entry and can't provide the absolute basics? Don't even get me started on the lack of water stations or hand sanitizer near the bathrooms. All of this is standard in California state and national parks, and they don't charge anywhere near this much. 3. On the way in, we were told about drop-off and pick-up locations along the route. In reality, the shuttles basically never stop there. We got off at one of those spots to grab coffee and then couldn't get back on -bus after bus just drove past us. After waiting for an hour, one shuttle finally stopped to drop off a passenger, but there wasn't enough space for the two of us. So yes, when leaving the park, they don't even plan to leave room to pick people up. Be prepared to walk 5 miles. Of course, the views are incredible, and even with this level of service, the park is still worth seeing. That said, I'd strongly recommend getting as close as possible to town or the beach before the park opens and then walking in on your own. Bring water, wet wipes, and refillable bottles. If you're worried about drinking the water, bring purification tablets -despite park staff insisting the water is absolutely not safe to drink. We drank it and were totally fine. Just go prepared and manage your expectations.

Great secluded beach near Haena state park. The wet caves are amazing structures created by natureread more

Need a $5 ticket to get in to Ha'ena State Park. NO CELL SERVICE at location so get tickets…read morebeforehand.

Usually I have an itinerary when I go on vacation. But I didn't for a week long stay in Kauai…read morethinking we'll just hang loose. We'd been to Kauai before but it was many years ago. I was reading up on the Napali Coast. Want to see it without going by air or by sea. Take a hike. We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. But got a clue on the park and ride shuttle when our driver gave a hint. He said if you only want to get a shot of Napali Coast it'll only take you 20 minutes. We started following the signs in Haena State Park where the Trail begins. Folks left sticks that you can use as walking poles. We each took one. Immediately I'm not liking it. The Trail begins as a steep climb on jagged rocks. And it's wet & muddy as it rains intermittently. We were the first group out at 6:30am. More hikers as the day went on. It's 0.5 miles to the lookout. It took us an hour there and an hour back. 2 hours. We got our photo.

This trail was HARD- we took the hanakapiai falls trail and didn't even make it to the falls. We…read moregot a parking spot pass so we had to be back within 6 hours and it took us the whole 6 hours to do. Of course the beauty of the trail kept us going along with the fresh guava we snacked on and the river water we splashed on our faces... I work out 5x a week and this kicked my toosh. This trail is not for the unseasoned hikers. The elevation gain is MASSIVE (2,500+ ft)! We were absolutely pooped by the end. Beware this trail is quite rocky and ankle injuries are common. As long as you have lots of water, more than 6 hours, good ankle support and lot of snacks (more than you think) you'll have an excellent time.

The lush mountains, gentle waves and bay breeze will just take your breath away. We loved coming…read morehere and felt a sense of peace and appreciation for the beauty of Hanalei Bay. It helps that the drive into the area already has you impressed and in aw struck wonder. It is absolutely gorgeous on the north side of the island! As far as the beach itself, it is super kid friendly. Shallow waters for yards and yards! If you're on the right side of the beach it is shallow even past the pier. With gentle yet large enough waves for you to boogie board or surf. The pier is a beautiful way to take in the scenery and if you're brave enough, jump off of. My kids loved it! There are bathrooms and outdoor shower. A taco truck on site. A great beach day!! The only downside. The time of year we came, there were a ton of gnats. It might have been because of the rain. Other than that this beach was perfect.

If you come to Kauai, you have to head up to North Shore and visit Hanalei beach. A beautiful beach…read morefull of white sand, clear waters, and an amazing backdrop scenery of lush, tropical jungles. The protected bay offers nice, calm waters for swimming and other water activities. And there are lifeguards stationed at designated areas throughout the beach. You can also walk down the pier where you'll find people diving into the deeper parts of the water, fishing, or just taking pictures of the beautiful scenery. There are the occasional bits of wood washed up onto shore. So be careful where you step when walking barefoot. A public lot is available for free parking, however it does fill up fast. You can also park along the curb in the residential areas.

We made it to the end of the road and found this gem. We pulled up, just hoping they would have an…read moreopening. It was absolutely beautiful! You could honestly do this as fast or slow as you wanted in the self-guided tour. The guide book was full of great information leading you through. Bring a rain jacket! The weather seemed to change many times while we were there.

This was a great place to spend the morning! There is a lot of information to learn about regarding…read morethe plant life on the island. History of each plant along with uses allows us to understand why we should be great stewards. And it's beautiful!

I don't even know how to properly describe this place. I had seen pictures of the Na Pali Coast…read morebefore, but seeing Kalalau Valley from the boat was completely different. The way the mountains curve and fold into each other is probably what stood out to me the most. You also have the waterfalls coming down the mountains and the ocean right beside all of it, so there is just so much going on everywhere you look. I think that was pretty incredible being able to see the coastline up close, with the cliffs rising straight out of the ocean, is something I had never experienced before. It's one of those places where you take picture after picture and then realize none of them actually capture what you're looking at. Kauai is beautiful everywhere, but this part of the island is on another level.

A group of coworkers and I hiked to Kalalau in September 2011 during the labor day weekend. The…read moreNapali coast is amazingly beautiful, but what an intense hike! I'm not a super avid hiker--I hike maybe once every 2 or 3 months. My coworkers are pretty experienced hikers, so I found myself out of my league on this advanced hike! You can do portions of the trail or the whole 11 miles all the way to Kalalau. The most common thing to do it hike to 2 miles into the beach, where the trail head for Hanakapiai waterfall is. These first 2 miles have pretty intense elevation changes, so pack lightly. The falls is an additional 2 miles in off of the main trail. If you keep going, you need to get permits from this site: https://camping.ehawaii.gov/camping/all,c-search.html At around the half-way point between the trailhead and Kalalau, you'll cross Hanakoa stream, which is the start of the trail to Hanakoa Falls. The trail was marked with pink flags when we went, but I don't expect those to last forever. There's also a camping grounds and composing toilet at this point, for those who want to hang around here. I'd recommend bringing some bug spay or at least a mosquito net if you're planning to set up camp. If you're hiking to Kalalau, grab at least a couple of liters of water at Hanakoa, because there's no guarantee of water sources beyond this. We crossed a few small streams, but they were pretty sparse and might not be flowing if there's no rain. Next is where the trail got INTENSE and my mettle was really tested. Up until this point, the trail was difficult but at least I would consider it totally safe. Beyond Hanakoa falls, you better be comfortable with heights, have some good hiking boots, and have a well-balanced pack. There are points where you're walking along a narrow ledge with nothing to hold on to with the wind whipping in your face. My coworkers were fine with this portion, but I found myself thinking, "if I die here, I'm gonna be PISSED!" My coworker appropriately named this portion "Mordor" because of the volcanic rock and impending sense of doom. After you cross Mordor, you're home free in terms of safety, but you still have a couple more miles to go. Once you get to Kalalau, you can set up camp in the trees, in the caves, or on the beach. There's a waterfall where you can shower (use only biodegradable soaps!) and a composting toilet. It was such a relief to finally get there! I set up tent and immediately crawled in for an hour nap before I arose to the smell of camp food and whiskey. I highly recommend this hike for those who are avid hikers, but definitely caution those who are just beginners like me. Do your research!

Super beautiful dry cave located along the side of the road across the beach parking lot. Had a…read morelocal uncle sitting outside, making sure locals and tourists were being safe. He was super nice, and shared stories with us about his time as a Luna in Maui. The cave itself is a sacred place, so please to everyone, BE RESPECTFUL when visiting here. We made sure to ask permission to enter before we went in. Once inside, I was rushed with an overwhelming sense of emotions and teared up. You could definitely feel the mana and the spirits here. It was such a beautiful feeling. After we exited, we made sure to thank the spirits for allowing us to embrace the experience. Definitely worth the visit as long as you are grateful and respectful of this place.

I wasn't sure this was going to be worth the stop but it ended up being cooler than I thought. We…read moreconveniently got a parking spot as we were turning around to leave so it worked out but I would say you could potentially plan to go here and not be able to stop due to lack of parking. I'd suggest going later in the day for parking purposes.

One of the secret, beautiful beaches in Kauai. This is the…read moreplace that is depicted in the musical " South Pacific" or the famous fictional place "Bali Hai". Use Makua Beach /hAena state beach park to park is the access you can use to get to tunnels beach! Once you get there it's super gorgeous! Definitely worth the 1 hour drive from lihue for a sunrise/sunset in Kauai!

We enjoyed checking out this side of the island this time. It was kind of tricky to find parking…read morebut just be patient and you'll find some. We ended up finding a spot on the street and walked down an alley to the beach. Didn't need an umbrella here as there are plenty of shade trees right on the beach. So beautiful and relaxing. It is very popular and busy, but you only really notice that in the water because of everyone wanting to snorkel. The snorkeling was really cool here! Some of the best I've seen! I spent a lot of time in the water, but tried not to go too far out as the tide can be a little tricky here in some parts as well. A must-see when on Kauai!

We were looking for the end of the road and found it at Ke'e beach. There was a lot of one lane…read morebridges and curves in the road. The distance versus time it took was interesting because it didn't look far but it took a while. We are residents of Hawaii so we didn't need reservations, but if you are visiting it is a must. The walk to the beach was about 0.3 miles of boardwalk over the lo'i or taro patches. Then through the woods on sandy/rock/soil. There are restrooms at the beach along with water fountains but no showers. The beach was pretty but it wasn't recommended that you snorkel due to the rip currents. There is a life guard stand there if something happened. We didn't spend a lot of time at the beach, just wanted to check it out. Make sure you take everything you need because there isn't much out there past hanalei.

This is a great beach to go to. I just don't like the fact that you have to pay for park entrance…read more I remember the first time I came here in 2013, we could drive right up to the parking lot. Though, parking was not ideal back then, it was still free. But now you have to either reserve a parking spot or if you can't, reserve a shuttle seat. We were here on a Wednesday and it was nice and quiet. There weren't a bunch of people here and it was great. Was not crowded whatsoever and we pretty much had the run of the place. The beach is beautiful and there's a reef that protects you from any big waves. The water is, for the most part, calm. The water is clear and the sand is fine. There's no rocks or stones I have to watch out for when walking around. Unlike Anini Beach, where there are stones and rocks all over the place, this is a very nice calm beach to go to. If you can wake up early enough to reserve a parking spot, then do it. If not, make shuttle reservations.

Did this hike today and am still feeling like i have a lingering adrenaline rush at bedtime…read more Absolutely amazing, and will be potentially the high point of my entire trip. We'll see how sore I am tomorrow, lol. The only hike I have ever done that was harder was Half Dome, from the base to the top in one day. This might actually be more technically challenging because of the slipperiness in so many places. I didn't take any bad spills but the possibility was always there. I highly recommend starting early, before it gets hot. Makes a big difference in terms of how much water you need and how much sweating you do. A couple of minor things: one review mentions filling up water bottles at the waterfall. It's probably safe but as one of those nerds who reads the informational signs posted, they don't recommend you do that as the water can apparently have leptospirosis. Also, another review mentions water above the waist. They are pretty clear that you should not be crossing if the water is that high: In fact, you are supposed to turn back if it's above knee height. Happy hiking!!

This was an absolutely beautiful and incredible hike, one of the most amazing trails! Let's be…read morehonest though, this was a hard hike. The sun will beat down on you and you're gonna climb some inclines. To get to the trail and hike you need a permit, we went through a tourist service that provided a Shuttle at Hāʻena State Park. The shuttle is frequent so you're able to plan your day and get a ride back to the lot. When they say bring 2 liters of water per person, they mean it. We also brought 2 snack bars per person too. Listen to the guides at the beginning!! This hike took us about ~6.5-7 hours with some breaks and we swam in the waterfall. I highly recommend picking up dinner and storing it in your fridge because restaurants might be closed by the time you finish the hike. Ke'e beach is right on the trailhead, this is a safe beach to enjoy! The beach at 4 miles (halfway towards the waterfall) is not safe and it is mentioned over and over- the rip tides will sweep you away. On the trail, there were lots of guava which smelled amazing! You cross the flowing stream from the waterfall multiple times. The trail can get muddy too. It rained briefly on the way back and it was really nice break from the sun. The falls were worth the hike for sure. So beautiful and cool to swim. I would hike this again, so incredible! I will say, I was extremely exhausted and sore after, but loved the experience!