I’m kicking off this new series of one day island itineraries with a visit to Kauai. If I only had one day to visit Kauai, I would focus my time on seeing the Waimea Canyon and Kokee State Parks. These colorful parks are adjacent to each other, so it’s easy to see both in one day and they are completely free to visit. Baring any weather issue, you’ll end up with many beautiful photo opportunities and views that will almost take your breath away. The photo above shows the Kalalau Valley that you can see from the Kalalau Lookout and Puu o Kila Lookouts at Kokee State Park. So, let’s take a practical look at how we can see these excellent parks in one day.
Arrival and arranging transportation:
First, you’ll most likely arrive in Kauai at the Nawiliwili Harbor or at the main airport in Lihue. You can pick up a rental car and/or shuttle service to the rental companies. (I suggest you shop around for rates and make a reservation before you arrive. See our Hawaii rental car tips.) Be sure to grab a free map provided by the rental car company and use it to navigate your way to the southwest side of the island heading in the direction of Highway 550, Waimea Canyon Drive. If you don’t want to do the driving, you can easily find tour companies who can arrange a full service tour for you.
Considerations before you get to the parks:
At the parks:
If you still have time, here are other ideas of what to see on your way back to Lihue:
And what else would I do if I had two days or maybe more?
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Hanalei.
Aloha, Brad
G'day,
My wife and I are travelling from Sydney, Australia to Hawaii in late July 2011. This site has been exactly what I was looking for as we will be spending only 1 day in Kauai. I am planning an itinerary based on some of your suggestions as a surprise day for my wife. I have already booked a scenic flight and a dinner cruise and I hope we will have time to see the rest in our rental car.
Ill let you know how it goes when we return to the land of Oz (Australia)
Cheers - Jason
Jason -- glad you are finding these suggestions to be useful. I'll look forward to hearing about your experience. Hope you and your wife have a wonderful time!
G'Day Sheila,
Got back to Sydney a few days ago and I thought I would let you know how we went with your suggestions.
As I said in my earlier email, we only had one day in Kauai to see as much as we could.
We had a great time thanks largely to your web site. We were able to maximise our time and we got to see a lot of the island.
We hired a Mustang convertable for the day and headed off around the island. We also managed a scenic flight and a dinner/sunset cruise in our busy schedule.
Kauai is a beautiful island and when we return to Hawaii we will most definatly spend a lot more time there/
Once again thanks for the info in your site. It helped us more than you could imagine.
Cheers - Jason
Sydney, Australia
Thank you, Jason, for taking the time to share your kind feedback. I'm so glad to hear that you were able to see and do so much with just one day in Kauai.
As you said, Kauai is a beautiful island. It's definitely worthy of more time on your next visit.
Thanks again!
So, I just found this site, and am intrigued. We actually will have 3 days on Kauai -- but we're having a hard time deciding on an accommodation location -- so I have find comparable condos but can't decide between Princeville, Kapaa and Poipu -- what should I consider to help me make the decision.
This article describes all the pros and cons of the different areas of Kauai: https://www.govisithawaii.com/kauai-where-to-stay/