This September my wife and I will be spending 4 days on the Big Island, 4 Days on Kuai, and 7 on Maui. We have been to the Big Island and Maui before but not Kuai. We are looking to do some things that are not generally thought of. We love the outdoors and unique places that may be off the beaten path. Any suggestions would be great.

"Off the beaten bath in Hawaii" is going to be hard to come by.... You might consider driving out to Mana Nohili Point on the western side of Kauai. There are several state parks beyond that seem to be assessible by 4 wheel drive vehicles only. It's a rather isolated area with some scattered military installations nearby. Being an old Iowa farm girl, I found it fascinating that they even grow some corn down on the southwestern side of the island. Maybe you could hire on a detasseling crew if you're there during the growing season?

echuether
Not "off the beaten path" but the highlight of our trip to Kauai was the helicopter tour. There's a thread going now that will give you information if interested.

We enjoyed our hike in Maui to the Iao Needle--we went to the park and just took what looked like a trail and ended up hiking through a lot of foliage (guava trees, etc) and coming out with a great view of the valley and some waterfalls. I'm pretty sure there are maps you can buy of the trails there, too.

We didn't do it, but I've heard that there is a Pineapple Winery that you can tour--sounds interesting to me!

Also, the beaches in Hawaii are all public, meaning you have access to them, even if they seem private. We found a great little beach between a few houses that was totally deserted--it made for a quiet afternoon of lounging by ourselves on a beach.

one of the things we saw that was definitely "OTBP" was going to the lighthouse up in the Kohala coast in the BI. it's near the end of hwy. 270 (about 3 miles from the end of the road) near pololu beach, which is another nice place to see a black sand beach without the crowds.

the road to the lighthouse is just past the 24 mile marker and just east of a church. you would make the next left. unsure if a car can go past the gate there, but we parked and walked toward the cliff and the lighthouse. it was the rawest sight of hawaii i had seen that trip. you can actually see how much erosion has taken place over the years because there are old cars and sugar equipment embedded in the sides of the cliffs. it was really cool. it was even more interesting than the lighthouse.

and in kauai if you rent a 4WD vehicle, you can get to more OTBP hiking trails in waimea canyon much easier. also if you go hiking on the kalalau trail up in the napali coast, make it a longer day hike by hiking an extra couple of miles to hanakapiai (sp?) falls. there are a couple of stream crossings and a cool bamboo grove and lots of guava trees. (a total of 8 miles rt). make sure you bring lunch and lots of water.

have a fun time!

The Wild Lava Tube hike in VNP on the BI is off the beaten path, because they only let 12 people take it per week. It's only offered on Wednesdays, and you reserve a week in advance. It involves a medium hike over easy terrain, and some rock scrambling in the tube.

We cruised the island several years ago, and our favorite excursion was an off-road day trip on Kaui. It was a van trip, not sure of the name of the operator, perhaps Kaui Adventures?

It was just unbelievably beautiful. We went first to Waimea Canyon, and then into the back country, including to the Kalalau Lookout, over the Na Pali coast. The clouds had just broken over the cliff, and there was a rainbow - just a wonderful sight. We had a great picnic lunch by some little stream, and saw a few hikers, and our guide/driver told us stories of wild boars and flash floods over lunch.

On the Big Island in the Puna District we love a wonderful hike to Haena beach, which is a small white sand beach in a cove. About 1 hour hike in through rain forest, banyan tree forest, Nene reserve, along the shoreline with crashing waves. Find the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision between Hilo and Pahoa, take Kaloli Road to the end, turn left on Beach Road, park and follow the trail.

Do you already own the Ultimate Kauai book in the "revealed" series of books? If not rush out and buy it! I know you can get it at www.wizardpub.com and probably other book stores too. The books are written by locals and included a lot of info on places not in the traditional guidebooks.

ditto on marci's book recommendation... i was afraid of mentioning it, well you all know why! they also have a book for maui & kauai as well!

We will be going into training for hiking the Powerline Trail on Kauai the next trip.
A few of our local friends did it recently and loved it so next trip they will be the guides and one friend will operate the sag wagon/ride home.
Sweet.

Ouimby-Checked out your pics. Biker, yah? We may ship our bikes over to Kauai instead of golf our clubs and try to start off a ride with our back tires in the water on Ke'e beach and finish with our front tires in the water at Polihale. Speaking of needing a sag wag!!!!

We're just back from Maui and would highly recommend some time spent upcountry. There are some great hikes in the forest preserve above Olinda (which is above Makawao which is above Paia....)that take you through some spectacular and unexpected scenery. We climbed up into caves carved by Chinese laborers a century again to bring water down to the sugar plantations in Pukalani. Just the drive up through Olinda is great. The road is bordered by huge old eucalyptus trees and the fragrance alone is wonderful. I'd also recommend a trip up to the Lavender Farm in Waipoli and to the Surfing Goat Dairy on Omaopio Road (again- up country.) We did a fun little tour of the dairy and went back to purchase more of their great cheeses. Yum! I think that upcountry Maui is a treasure that is often overlooked. Driving up Baldwin Avenue from Paia to Makawao through the cane and pineapple trees is wonderful.
On the Big Island we love spending a couple of nights up in Volcano and then head down to the Pahoa area to swim in the hot pools and drive through the dark green tropical forests. We also love the Waipio Valley and the Hilo Farmer's Market. The entire Hamakua coast is beautiful. Also, the town of Hawi is fun if you want to hit the northern tip of the Big Island. Kauai: hiking down to Secret Beach, eating fresh mangos in July and sitting at Hanalei Beach with a view to Bali Hai is all it takes to make me happy!

Pinapple trees!!!! I'm blaming that on jet lag. Make that "pineapple fields."