Has anyone been to the small island of Nihau off the coast of Kauai? Any information about how to get there and what it is like would be appreciated.

I believe it's privately owned and reflects realy Polynesiaon cultures.

At one point, I think there were very limited tours and very expensive.

Does anyone have any current info

dick's right--niihau is owned by the robinson family of kauai. until a few yrs ago there was absolutely no public access unless u were a guest of one of the several hundred native hawaiian residents of niihau, or unless u were a doctor or other needed specialist. hawaiian is the language on this island, and there is no electricity or phone service. the robinsons maintain access restrictions to respect the privacy of the residents.

in recent yrs, tho, to drum up revenue to keep subsidizing the island's lifestyle, they've begun helicopter tours to uninhabited parts of the island for sightseeing, bird watching, etc.

more info at hawaiianbeaches.com

That's the island where the women find the teeny tiny shells and make Hawaii's famous and expensive Nihicau (not sure of spelling) necklaces!

Skip this island and forget it's even part of Hawaii. It's nothing more than a struggling, elitist, dictatorship from the 1800s. There is nothing "Hawaiian" about this island either. True Hawaiians consider the Robinson dynasty an insult to their heritage. To add insult to injury, they own a considerable amount of conservation land on Kauai that they are aggressively trying to have converted to resort use so they can sell it off to the highest bidder in an effort to further line their pockets.

You will not be able to actually get ON Niihau. It is privately owned, as everyone has said, by the Robinsons and you would not be welcomed there. There are boat and air tours from Kauai that will get you close enough to see it, but that's as good as it gets. And "thetruth" is right - the Robinsons are currently getting a resort built on some of their Kauai land because they are "cash poor" and "can only afford to go out to dinner twice a year". Sure. Besides, from parts of Kauai (most especially Waimea) you can see the island itself. It's only 17 miles off the coast.