The Garden Isle

The last Hawaiian island that we visited was Kauai.  It is the northernmost island in the archipelago, as well as the oldest–some sites say 5.8 million, other say over 6 million years old, I say potato, potahto!  We stayed there the longest of all three islands–and for good reason, there was a lot to see and do!

But before I get into our activities, I thought I’d share some fun/interesting facts about Kauai!  My sources can be found here, here, and here.  For full disclosure, I pretty much just copied and pasted the points–so do check out the source sites because I will be ignoring any and all accusations of plagiarism!

• Known as the Garden Isle, it is the fourth largest island and has a population of about 65,000 people.
• Kauai covers 552.3 square miles of land and is so small it is measured in acres = 401,280 in total.
• Kauai’s coastline is 111 miles and over 50% of those miles are sandy beaches.

• Over 97% of the land on Kauai is used for conservation and agriculture.
• 70% of the island is inaccessible by foot
• Kauai Coffee is the largest coffee plantation in the United States.
• Kauai grows more taro than any other island.
• Some of the cliffs along the spectacular Napali Coast reach heights of 2,500 feet.

• More than 60 movies and tv shows have filmed on Kauai.
• Kauai is the legendary home of the Menehune, a mythical race of very small people who performed legendary feats of construction and engineering.
• By law, no building on Kauai is allowed to be built taller than a coconut palm tree.
• Kauai has the only navigable rivers in the state of Hawaii.

• Kauai’s official color is purple and the official flower is Mokihana.
• It has 7 (yes–7!) microclimates throughout the island.
• Mount Waialeale (elevation 5,148 ft) is one of the wettest spots on Earth, averaging about 450 inches of rain each year!

Aloha!