A friend told me about a neat little beach heading north from Lihue just before getting to the Wailua Golf Course (apparently the cheapest place for a round of golf on the island).  Turn Right on the dirt road just past the sugar cane field and right when you see the golf course lined with trees.  The road follows the canal (see map below) along the golf course and then out to the ocean.

On your way in there will be a gate on your right after the road makes a hard left hand turn.  This is where they dirt bike rallies from time to time.  I saw a guy 'grooming' the ground and found out later they were getting ready for a weekend race.

Beyond that are some cool trees with sporadic picnic tables and the beach, with incredible views looking north along the Wailua Golf Course.  You can't see the golf course very much since there is a buffer of trees, and lots of folks had driven along the rugged dirt road to park their vehicles overlooking the ocean and grill or fish (or both!).  It definitely felt like a local hangout, but I was told not to hang out there after dark due to drugs.

You can take that dirt road (I'd recommend a 4x4 or mountain bike) all the way up to the camping area of Lydgate Beach Park.  There you will find one of the coolest playgrounds ever!

A cool biking trip I plan to take is to ride down the Kauai Bike Path to Lydgate, then take the dirt road along the ocean south past the Wailua Golf Course and then come back the same way or along the road.

Another adventure I plan to take is kayaking in the canal that separates this little spot between the golf course and the Kauai Beach Resort.

On the other side of the Kauai Beach Resort is Nokolii Beach Park, apparently created and managed by the Kauai Beach Resort.  Turn off Kuhio Hwy at the Kauai Beach Resort main road and drive down through an astounding corridor of old banyan trees - quite spectacular!  As soon as these trees end and before the solar-panel-covered parking lot, turn right and head down a paved road until you reach the ocean. 

There is a small parking lot with restroom facilities and outdoor showers to rinse off the salt water.  I didn't see any picnic tables like the place on the other side of Kauai Beach Resort, but there was a nice mowed trail that loops around the area along the ocean and back through the field.  Other than a lady and her dog, I was the only one there!  A nice little find on an otherwise overlooked section of Kauai most people just drive past to get to other places!

On Easter, Emily and I took my inflatable kayak (a birthday gift last year from Emily - best gift ever!!) out on the Kilauea Stream, which dumps into Kilauea Bay at Kahili (Rock Quarry) Beach (click link to see pictures and read about my adventure exploring the nearby lava pools).

She was going to lay out on the beach but then decided to come at the last minute, and I happily paddled along as she was even more content to lay down and be treated as a queen being paddled up river.

This excursion is not mentioned in most guidebooks because after a half-hour you pretty much reach the end of the river.  It's private property, but I explored just twenty yards upstream to find an ideal swimming hole with a rope swing.  It's a shame that places like this have been bought up and now people are prevented from enjoying some really cool, unique spots on the island.  Technically, rivers and beaches are supposed to be public, but increasingly people are buying up lands and preventing others from gaining access.  What a shame!

I joined family friends Jane and John on the South Shore for a nice walk behind the Hyatt along Shipwreck Beach and the Makewehi Lithified Cliffs.  

We saw some really cool formations along the cliffs, unlike anything I had seen on Kauai.

After we returned to Shipwreck, I just had to jump off the well-known cliff-jumping spot.  Although it's hard to tell from these pictures, I estimated (and later confirmed) the height to be about 35 feet.

Perhaps the safest and best place to swim and snorkel on the North Shore of Kauai is Anini Beach, just past the Kilihiwai Bridge and Kilauea Town.  The road goes down and runs the length of the long beach with multiple access points.  We chose one at random right before the park where you can camp and came across this delightful scene.  I used a new photo app to "paint the picture."

Living in Kilauea now, I decided to check out one of the local beaches, Rock Quarry or Kahili Beach.  There are two bumpy dirt roads on either side of the Kilauea Stream (which I later kayaked!) Valley that lead down to the beach.  It's easiest to access from the southern dirt road off of Wailapa Road.

However, my first foray down to the beach was walking down the northern dirt access road past a monstrous house going up.  You come out to an incredible view of the river mouth opening to the beach with an ideal picnic spot of cool shade and lush grass.

I decided to explore further up the coast to my left.  I found lots of rocks and a trail that went over ancient lava formations until I came across some amazing tidal pools in the rocks.

I suggest coming here ONLY when the ocean is calm and the tide is low.  There were several stealth waves that came out of nowhere and got me wet.  Quite an adventure and not for the faint-of-heart.  There was at least one nice-sized lava pool to sit in near the end and close to the cliffs that appeared to be the safest.  I would be very careful in any of the others.  I opted not to get in any and kept to the high ground.

On the way back, I took some photos of some old dumped equipment, probably left over from the sugarcane plantation days.

Today I took the inflatable kayak out to paddle the Hanalei River.  I forgot my regular kayak paddle and had to borrow a friend's paddle for stand-up paddleboarding.  Perhaps needless to say, I recommend using the proper paddle.  I made it almost to the Hanalei Bridge before turning around and going out to a sandbar at the mouth of river where it meets the bridge.  They say it takes about 2-3 hours to paddle.  I took two hours.  I plan to return and explore further up the river on a later venture.  One of the side tubes also started to deflate, but as far as I can tell it was because I did not full tighten one of the valves and then sat on it in a peculiar way.  Thankfully I fixed the problem and remained afloat!

In any event, it was glorious.  What a place to call home!

The Kauai Bike Path is a multi-year project designed to follow an ancient Hawaiian path entirely up the east coast of Kauai.  It currently connects Lydgate Park in Wailua with Donkeys Beach north of Kapaa.  The paved path ends well before Anahola but one can follow a dirt path up to the point just before Anahola Bay.  Many people say it will never be completed, yet the 7 miles currently paved make for a nice and beautiful stroll or ride.

Just north of Kapa'a Town is a wonderful beach along the road called Kealia.  The name means "salt land" in Hawaiian and allegedly there used to be a lot of salt flats here for harvesting.  

Kealia Stream flows into the ocean on the south side of the beach.  There is a smaller beach to the south with lots of driftwood and what looks like an unofficial dirt parking lot.  On the north side of the stream is the main beach, complete with lifeguards on duty and about a mile of pristine beach sheltered on either side with small green hills.

I took a paddle board upstream for about a mile.  The water meandered through open pasture land with views of neighboring mountains.  There was very little shade and not a whole lot to see, but it was quite peaceful and I did not see anyone else.  I finally had to turn around about a mile in when I hit a logjam, literally.  I could have portaged around through grass and mud, but I figured I would save that for another day.  I guess the river goes a little further before becoming unnavigable by board or boat.

On a future date, Emily and I plan to explore the Kapaa Bike Path.