From Princeville towards Hanalei, you will pass Ke’e Beach on your way to the Na Pali Coast. This dreamlike coastline is still completely preserved in its originality. No hotel buildings or similar disturb the South Seas idyll here.

After Hanalei, the road becomes ever narrower and winding. It winds west at the foot of the cliffs and you can see the first foothills of the Na Pali cliffs. The vegetation is getting denser and we pass small, crooked wooden houses, which are isolated on the roadside.

The houses are surrounded by tropical gardens in which banana trees grow. On the onward journey, a white dream beach joins the next. Most are deserted.

The beach of Ke’e Beach is lined with palm trees and the white foam crowns that break on the offshore reef, give rise to true South Seas feeling. The shallow water is ideal for snorkeling.

From here you can visit on foot the remains of ancient temples in the mountains. From there you have a wonderful view of the surfing coast. From Ke’e Beach, the Kalalau Trail winds up steeply into the cliffs. In the undergrowth of the shrubbery grow Pandanus trees, Kukui trees, Ti plants, wild ginger and all sorts of other colorful flowering plants. The path winds uphill and downhill and after about one kilometer you reach the first vantage point, which gives an indescribable view of the underneath surf and the thousand-meter-high lava cliffs rising almost vertically into the sky. Truly an impressive experience.

A little further on you come to the Hanakapi’ai Valley. Here the erosion has hit a deep notch in the cliffs. The fine sandy beach invites you to rest. A refreshment can be enjoyed at the small river Hanakapi’ai. Here live freshwater fish, which in the course of the evolution through suction cups at the fins are able to climb up the stony waterfalls. One can climb on a narrow path further up to the Hanakapi’ai waterfalls. The path is overgrown with dense mango and guava trees. Occasionally you can still see the remains of stone walls, which come from earlier settlement times. It’s 6.5 kilometers to and from Hankapi’ai Valley. The tour can be done in about 3 hours. The entire trail is about 12 miles long. Depending on which side valleys one takes, this can take several days. Information about the condition of the trail and special features should be obtained from the State Department.