| If you're looking for Hawaii vacation rentals for | | | | from which to tour the rest of Kauai. The only |
| the perfect dream vacation, consider the fabulous | | | | drawback is that the North Shore is about 1 to 1 |
| Garden Isle of Kauai! Kauai's main resort areas, | | | | 1/2 hours away. |
| where nearly all the island's accommodations are | | | | Koloa -- This tiny old town of gaily painted sugar |
| located, are all quite different in climate, price, and | | | | shacks just inland from Poipu Beach is where the |
| type of accommodations offered, but the range | | | | Hawaiian sugar industry was born more than a |
| is wide and wonderful. On the south shore, dry | | | | century and a half ago. The mill is closed, but this |
| and sunny Poipu is anchored by perfect beaches. | | | | showcase plantation town lives on as a tourist |
| This is the place to stay if you like the ocean, | | | | attraction, with delightful shops, an old general |
| water sports, and plenty of sunshine. The | | | | store, and a vintage Texaco gas station with a |
| Coconut Coast, on the east coast of Kauai, has | | | | 1930s Model A truck in place, just like in the good |
| the most condos, shops, and traffic -- it's where | | | | old days. |
| all the action is. Hanalei, up on the North Shore, is | | | | Kalaheo/Lawai -- Just a short 10- to 15-minute |
| rainy, lush, and quiet, with spectacular beaches | | | | drive inland from the beach at Poipu lie the more |
| and deep wilderness. Because of its remote | | | | residential communities of Lawai and Kalaheo. |
| location, the North Shore is a great place to get | | | | Quiet subdivisions line the streets, restaurants |
| away from it all -- but not a great place from | | | | catering to locals dot the area, and life revolves |
| which to explore the rest of the island. | | | | around family and work. Good bargains on |
| Lihue is where most visitors first set foot on the | | | | B&Bs, and a handful of reasonably priced |
| island. This red-dirt farm town, the county seat, | | | | restaurants, can be found here. |
| was founded by sugar planters and populated by | | | | Kauai's North Shore may be the most beautiful |
| descendants of Filipino and Japanese cane cutters. | | | | place in Hawaii. Exotic seabirds, a half-moon bay, |
| It's a plain and simple place, with used-car lots and | | | | jagged peaks soaring into the clouds, and a |
| mom-and-pop shops. It's also the source of | | | | mighty wilderness lie around the bend from the |
| bargains: inexpensive lodging, great deals on dining, | | | | Coconut Coast, just beyond a series of one-lane |
| and some terrific shopping buys. One of the | | | | bridges traversing the tail ends of waterfalls. |
| island's most beautiful beaches, Kalapaki Beach, is | | | | There's only one road in and out, and only two |
| just next door at Nawiliwili, by the island's main | | | | towns, Hanalei and Kilauea -- the former by the |
| harbor. | | | | sea, the latter on a lighthouse cliff that's home to |
| Poipu Beach -- On Kauai's sun-soaked south shore, | | | | a bird preserve. Sun seekers may fret about all |
| this is a pleasant if sleepy resort destination of | | | | the rainy days, but Princeville Resort offers |
| low-rise hotels set on gold-sand pocket beaches. | | | | elegant shelter and two golf courses where you |
| Well-done, master-planned Poipu is Kauai's most | | | | can play through rainbows. To find the best in a |
| popular resort, with the widest variety of luxury | | | | luxury Princeville condo - or anywhere on stunning |
| Poipu condos. It offers 36 holes of golf, 38 tennis | | | | Kauai - come to the vacation planning experts - |
| courts, and outstanding restaurants. This is a | | | | us! |
| great place for water sports, and a good base | | | | |