Cruising the Napali Coast

Kauai Coffee Plantation

After checking out of our AirBnB in Poipu, we headed west again towards Waimea.  We made a brief stop at the Kauai Coffee Plantation to get some drone footage of the neatly lined rows of coffee trees in its vast orchards.  At over 4,000 acres, this is the largest coffee farm in the United States.  For decades, this property was a sugarcane plantation before the first coffee trees were planted in the late 1980s.  We also made a brief stop in Hanapepe to see and walk across the swinging pedestrian bridge over the Hanapepe River.

Hanapepe Swinging Bridge

The big activity of the day was a four hour cruise along the Napali Coast.  The only way to see the Napali Coast is from the water.  Most of the Naopali Coast is inaccessible by vehicle -- only hiking -- and large sections of the coastline are cliffs hundreds of feet in height that drop straight down into the water.  Unlike yesterday when we went to Koke'e State Park but couldn't really see any of the coast because of the cloud cover, today's weather was gorgeous.  Lots of bright sun illuminating the coastline and no significant cloud cover to get in the way of the spectacular views.  We saw spinner dolphins, snorkled amongst a coral reef and colorful fish, ventured into a couple of sea caves, and soaked up the spectacular scenery.  This was a wonderful way to finish up our stay on the south shore.

Jagged spires along the Napali Coast

Afternoon light illuminating a small waterfall in one of the sea caves