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Polihale State Park - A Kauai Beach Worthy of Paradise

When visiting an island, there is a tendency to want to see it all. Therefore, it seemed obvious to us to continue west to the end of the road.

A quick look at the map revealed that Highway 50 that runs along the southern coast of Kauai ends at Barking Sands Airfield near the southwest corner of the island. But then the fun begins for it also shows a dirt road forbidden to rental cars that leads further north along the western coast to Polihale State Park.

Notwithstanding our hair raising experience along the north-west coast of Maui (see Blog no. 104) our ability to turn down an adventure drive was limited.

It was thus that we found ourselves on a deeply rutted, impossibly bumpy, red dirt road cut through fields of sugarcane. The caution not to drive a rental car was well warranted, as the road was suited to 4-wheel drive vehicles. Because of the bumps in the middle of the road, passage was only possible at many points by hugging the side of the road which meant that the paint job on the side of the car got a not-so-gentle brushing from the overhanging foliage of the sugarcane .

After an approximate half hour drive we arrived at a beach that made it all worthwhile. It felt like we had arrived at a remote jungle island with the rest of the world left far behind.

To the north we could see hints of the splendor of the famous Na Pali Coast, to the south were seven miles of pristine beaches.

The scene was only made more splendid by the sunset.

Among the few people present was a surfer who approached us on the beach asking if we had any experience in resetting a displaced shoulder. Surfing is not without its hazards considering the size of the waves. Unfortunately, we could not help him.

This was one more location where camping would have been a great option.

This had been an outstanding day. First we experienced the beautiful drive along Highway 50 then the splendor of Waimea Canyon and now the pristine, wide, sable sand beach of Polihale State Park.

Our departure from the beach was complicated by an overabundance of toads which made the dirt road their mating grounds in the evening. It was a challenge to avoid them as we made our way back to the highway and the Kauai Sands Hotel in Wailua . During the hour's leisurely drive on highway 50, we fell back into our ritual of listening to the melodic tunes as sung by the Hawaiian legend - IZ.  

Coming Soon: Princeville - A Splendid Resort