Commentary on Kauai

While I know that all of you have missed my movie reviews over the past week and a half, I feel obligated to tell you that I have just returned from ten days in Paradise. I am speaking of Kauai, the jewel in the Hawaiian chain that you have to put on your travel bucket list.

Mo and I took my son and daughter-in-law, Chris and Tania, and our grandchildren children (Conner and Calen). While I have had the good fortune of being to that island twice before, their pleasure and enthusiasm was ours.

Though I have been lucky enough to travel to a lot of splendid places over the years, there is no more beautiful place on Earth than Kauai. Unlike the sadly overcrowded Honolulu and Waikiki Beach, Kauai has a rule that limits all construction to no more than the size of a large palm tree. As a result, the resorts and condominiums blend into the beautiful environment, and the whole island has a small town community feel. Furthermore, the entire island has a population under 70,000.

On top of that, we had the good sense to stay on Poipu Beach, which almost ensures sunshine year round. The multiples beaches on Poipu allow you to snorkle in one place while you battle surf sized waves off another. I must also mention the fact that on the beaches at Poipu you will find multiple seals bathing on the sand while large turtles swim 10 to 20 feet offshore.

To add to the adventure, I went hiking with the kids up a steep mountain path near the Bali Hai cliffs seen in the old movie South Pacific (1958) as well as a three and a half hour heart pounding zipline trip through 100 foot pines. In addition, Chris and I took them on a helicopter ride around the island.

Let me also say that we went to a luau on July 4th along the Waimea River on a plantation-type setting owned by a local family that contained multiple varieties of peacocks and other birds. And to add to the journey, we took a five and a half hour catamaran trip around the overpoweringly beautiful Napali coastline.

There was a great deal more, but I don’t want to bore you. This is an island filled with little restaurants and bars, and you find yourself laughing from dawn to dusk. It is also worth remembering that this island was the location of such films as Jurassic Park (1993), the first Pirates of the Caribbean (2003), Tropic Thunder (2008) and Donovan’s Reef (1963) among others, so you have an idea of what you are about to experience in any visit.

In closing, I must also mention that the interior of the island is completely inaccessible. It is filled with a gigantic volcanic mountain chain that in places is larger than the Empire State Building. It contains multiple waterfalls that are the product of the fact that the center of the island is one of the wettest places on Earth.

So there you have it. However, one warning – there is only one movie theater on the entire island. But absent a hurricane, who would ever want to go?