Kauai: No Mongooses So the Birds Survived, Polihale Where Souls Depart and the Island That Resisted Kamehameha
Fly doors-off over Manawaiopuna Jurassic Falls and the Waialeale summit bog in a helicopter covering terrain with no road access, spot Nene Hawaiian geese and Pueo owls that survived because Kauai has no mongooses unlike all other main islands, tour the Grove Farm plantation homestead and Kauai Museum in Lihue, drive 5 miles of unpaved road to Polihale 17-mile dune beach where ancient Hawaiians believed souls departed for the afterlife, snorkel the underwater lava tunnels at Tunnels Beach with sea turtles visible from the surface, and understand how Kauai under King Kaumualii held out against Kamehameha longer than any other island.
Kauai: The Trail Where a Leper Killed Soldiers, Seals on Poipu Beach and the Wettest Place on Earth
Hike the Kalalau Trail 11 miles along 4000-foot Na Pali sea cliffs to Kalalau Valley where a fugitive farmer hid from soldiers for two years in the 1890s, look into the 3000-foot deep Waimea Canyon above cloud forest where 450 inches of rain fall annually on the summit of Waialeale, see the largest wetland taro cultivation in the US in Hanalei Valley backed by fluted Na Pali ridges, share Poipu Beach with endangered Hawaiian monk seals resting within 150 feet, boat the sacred Wailua River to the Fern Grotto cave draped in maidenhair ferns, and watch nesting frigatebirds and spinner dolphins from Kilauea Lighthouse cliffs.
Kauai: Fossil Extinct Bird Bones in Limestone Cliffs, 1924 Labor Massacre and the Swamp Boardwalk at Cloud Level
Hike the Sleeping Giant ridge trail above Wailua River for east coast panoramas, browse the Friday Night Art Walk on Hanapepe plantation-era main street above the swinging bridge and the site of the 1924 Filipino labor massacre, walk the Alaka i Swamp boardwalk at 4000 feet through cloud-level bog where native birds survive, hike the Mahaulepu Heritage Trail past limestone cliffs made of ancient sand dunes where fossil extinct bird bones were found, kayak the Wailua River and hike to Uluwehi Secret Falls, and note how Kauai permit systems and one-lane bridges intentionally limit the 1.5 million annual visitors to 20 times the local population.
Kauai: Jurassic Park Set, the Largest Coffee Farm in America and 4000-Foot Cliffs Entered Only by Boat
Round the entire Na Pali Coast by catamaran seeing sea caves and waterfall cliffs inaccessible by land, recognize Allerton Garden as Jurassic Park and Lumahai Beach as South Pacific in the most filmed island on earth, taste and tour the 3100-acre Kauai Coffee Estate the largest single coffee farm in the United States, book your Haena State Park day-use permit months ahead for the Ke e Beach snorkel lagoon and Kalalau trailhead, stay at the St. Regis Princeville above Hanalei Bay with waterfalls cascading off Na Pali ridgelines, and rent a car because there are no traffic lights on this island of 73000 people and hundreds of thousands of visitors.