Kauai Highlights
Explore the many wonders of this 'Land of beginnings'
While Kauai's reputation as home to the wettest spot on Earth — Mount Wai'ale'ale, averaging 485 inches of
rain per year — has lead to its popular designation as "The Garden Isle," the island has another, older name:
"The Separate Kingdom."
History
In part this is because Kauai may have been the first of the Hawaiian Islands to be settled by Marquesan
seafarers, somewhere around 750 A.D. Combined with its remoteness from the rest of the island chain, this
may also have led to the belief that Kauai's royal bloodline was the purest in the Islands. Kauai was also the
only island in the chain to withstand the army of Kamehameha the Great as he swept through the rest of the
archipelago in the late 1700s, on his quest to unify Hawaii under one king. (Kamehameha would eventually
have his way, however, when Kauai's chief Kaumuali'i peacefully ceded authority over his island to the king
in 1810.)
Kauai was the first Hawaiian Island English explorer Capt. James Cook
Point of "Discovery"
stumbled upon in 1778, while sailing from Tahiti toward North America.
Kauai was the first Hawaiian Island
While it has long been believed that Cook was the first European to set foot
English explorer Capt. James Cook
in the Islands — he first did so at Waimea, on Kauai's southwest coast —
stumbled upon in 1778, while
recent evidence has some historians claiming that Spanish sailors may have sailing from Tahiti toward North
America. While it has long been
visited the Islands more than a century earlier.
Geography
believed that Cook was the first
European to set foot in the
Islands — he first did so at
Waimea, on Kauai's southwest
coast — recent evidence has some
historians claiming that Spanish
sailors may have visited the Islands
more than a century earlier.
The oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands, it is believed the volcano that
created Kauai first began erupting some 10 million years ago. Once rising
more than 10,000 feet above sea level, Olokele Volcano has since eroded
Visit the island's many attractions
to learn more about its rich history.
down to two main peaks — Wai'ale'ale (5,148 feet) and Kawaikini (5,243
feet) — with the rest of the mountain sinking to form the crater that is home
to Alaka'i Swamp. Alaka'i Swamp is the largest high-elevation swamp in the
world and the starting point for Waimea River, the longest river in the Islands. The 3,000-foot-deep Waimea
Canyon, dubbed "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific," is also the product of these erosive forces.
Kauai's age has also led to something of a geographic anomaly: Although it is one of the smallest of the
main Hawaiian Islands, the forces of nature have had more time to break the island down and produce more
sand beach around its 110-mile coastline than any other island in the chain. Meanwhile, it remains the least
populated of Hawaii's four counties (with roughly 56,000 permanent residents), and both development and
tourism have been concentrated in relatively few locations. All of which furthers the sense that Kauai is, in
fact, a separate kingdom.
Other Useful Information
• The average temperature at Lihu'e Airport ranges between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit year round.
• Wai'ale'ale is aptly named — the word translates as "rippling or overflowing water."
• Kauai plays host to several major events each year, including the Waimea Town Celebration in February;
the Prince Albert Music Festival in June; the Kauai Mokihana Festival in September; and Koke'e Museum's
Emalani Festival in October.
• Kauai's official flower is the mokihana (green berry)
• The island's official color is purple
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