2013 Na Pali Coast Paddle

2013 Na Pali Coast Paddle

Posted to OHE on 16 September 2013 by Patrick Rorie

Howzit, everyone! Cheeeee Huuuuuu!!!

Doug and Sandy Klein, Ralph Valentino, Eddie and Ginger Carpenter and I recently paddled the magnificent Na Pali Coast on Kauai, and, for the most part, had a wonderful experience. We saw dolfins and turtles and sea birds. We paddled inside sea caves, including the horse shoe cave and roofless cave. Rather than describe the entire trip, I thought it best to share the lessons learned along the way.

First of all, praise God for keeping us safe, for blessing us with excellent weather and for the gorgeous sunsets and amazing star action in the heavens at night. Mahalo nui loa to Doug for setting up the trip and taking care of the logistics. To Ralph for all of his help and to Sandy and Eddie and Ginger for being good company throughout.

On Friday, August 30, we flew over to Kauai and caught a Yamaguchi Bus to Haena Beach Park. The friendly driver welcomed us into the very clean school bus and was accommodating (we made 4 stops before arriving at Haena Beach Park). For groups of 6 or more, Yamaguchi is ideal for ground transportation since they charged us $270 for the service.

We decided to go with Napali Kayak on this occasion mainly because they offer rudders on their boats. A couple of my friends had problems with the other kayak company a few years ago which was another factor in our decision. Although Doug had some communication issues with the owner of Napali Kayak (Josh), I liked his style.

"Have you paddled the Na Pali Coast before?", Josh inquired. When we said "yes", he assigned us boats and then had Doug sign the credit card receipt. Later, in the evening, Josh's partners delivered the kayaks to Haena Beach Park and we were ready to go. Josh charged $55 per day for singles with rudders (Ralph's boat did not have a rudder so his was $40 per day). I didn't hear how much a double with rudder costs. It is nice to have a rudder but is it absolutely necessary? Ralph, any comments?

Admittedly, we did this paddle late in the season. Usually the waves at Haena Beach are small, but a set of larger waves came in. Doug and Ralph tried to launch Eddie and Ginger in their double kayak, but a large wave caused them to suffer a spectacular and violent huli. Fortunately, the couple wasn't badly hurt, but I think they lost some personal items. It is commendable that Eddie and Ginger continued with the trip given the horrific start.

After observing a stand-up paddler going in about 30 yards up the coast, we dragged our kayaks to that calmer spot and successfully entered the ocean. *So*, when it comes time to shove off at Haena Beach, study the waves. It might be best to find a calmer spot up the coast to enter the ocean. Also, I don't recommend a double kayak mainly because you can't store anything inside the boat. Eddie and Ginger also lost personal items when they hulied at Kalalau and Polihale. With the exception of Doug, all of us hulied at Kalalau and Polihale. No one hulied at Milolii.

An anchor is a must if you stop at Nualolo Kai. The skipper of a commercial boat was quite adamant that we could not moor at Nualolo Kai, so Ralph volunteered to stay with the kayaks while the rest of us explored Nualolo Kai. For some reason Eddie and I ended up being the only ones to visit the area. A woman who has been involved in the restoration of the ancient Hawaiian Village there gave the two of us an interesting tour (the village has been featured on the Discovery Network). Later, while paddling out of the channel, we noticed that local paddlers from Kauai anchored their kayaks off to the side about half way inside the channel so that they could snorkel.

*So*, bring or rent an anchor in order to be able to visit impressive Nualolo Kai to stretch your legs and have lunch, for the superb snorkeling, to visit the partially restored ancient Hawaiian Village, to swim back to Nualolo Valley's rocky beach and walk into that valley or to hike along the ancient Hawaiian trail into Awaawapuhi Valley. As we paddled between Honopu and Nualolo Kai, Doug spotted 3 men scrambling along the cliffs above and to the east of the entrance to Awaawapuhi Valley.

Our group spent 1 night at Haena Beach Park (2 passing showers in the early morning hours; otherwise uneventful, although there are still some strange characters living there), 2 nights at Kalalau and 2 nights at windy Milolii (be prepared to share the campground with a few mice and small roaches; secure your food real well to keep the mice from getting to it - they even bit through Doug's unopened freeze dried food).

It took us 4 leisurely hours to paddle from Haena Beach to Kalalau, 3 hours to paddle from Kalalau to Milolii (but allow another hour to enjoy Nualolo Kai) and 3 hours to paddle from Milolii to Polihale.

Doug, Ralph, did I miss anything important?

aloha, paka