In spite of its extravagant spectacle, Kauai feels intimate. The towns on its ring road are small, and as that road nears an end on the island’s north side, it shrinks to cute, single-lane bridges over inlets and streams.
It was out there, just past the town of Hanalei and a few miles from the highway’s terminus at the Na Pali Cliffs, that Jean and I were staying, at the Kalalau B & B’s $75-a-night “Jungalow,” which we imagined was hidden away somewhere in the forest.
Not quite. The Jungalow was a small, charming, tin-roofed, bamboo-paneled shack that Mark Pearson, the Long Island-born proprietor, had built in the backyard of his house in a tidy little subdevelopment. As with Lucky Farm, we had access to a panoply of beach gear, plus an outdoor shower, a hot tub, fruit-heavy breakfasts (an extra $10 each) and Mr. Pearson’s 16 years of experience on Kauai.
Just down the street, he told us, was Tunnels, the area’s best snorkeling. He was right — clouds of tiny, blue-silver fish swarmed us the instant we entered the shallows. And down the road, he said, up a rarely explored trail, lay the Blue Room, a monstrous cave filled with swimmable spring water; it was, we discovered, isolated and magical — if a bit too eerie for us to relax.
>> Read the entire NYT article
It was out there, just past the town of Hanalei and a few miles from the highway’s terminus at the Na Pali Cliffs, that Jean and I were staying, at the Kalalau B & B’s $75-a-night “Jungalow,” which we imagined was hidden away somewhere in the forest.
Not quite. The Jungalow was a small, charming, tin-roofed, bamboo-paneled shack that Mark Pearson, the Long Island-born proprietor, had built in the backyard of his house in a tidy little subdevelopment. As with Lucky Farm, we had access to a panoply of beach gear, plus an outdoor shower, a hot tub, fruit-heavy breakfasts (an extra $10 each) and Mr. Pearson’s 16 years of experience on Kauai.
Just down the street, he told us, was Tunnels, the area’s best snorkeling. He was right — clouds of tiny, blue-silver fish swarmed us the instant we entered the shallows. And down the road, he said, up a rarely explored trail, lay the Blue Room, a monstrous cave filled with swimmable spring water; it was, we discovered, isolated and magical — if a bit too eerie for us to relax.
>> Read the entire NYT article
