Warning! This outing is for very experienced kayakers. Conditions and weather can cause dangerous or deadly conditions.
In July of 2014 some friends and I paddled the north shore of Kauai, camping two nights at Kalalau and one night at Milolii. We had tried this same trip previously but we had encountered big surf and had to abandon the trip. This time we were launching much later in the kayaking season and we hoped we would have better luck with the surf.
We had arranged for kayaks with NaPali Kayak, the same guys we used last time. They are very easy to work with. On launch day the seas were very calm, with less than 1ft of swell. Much quieter than last time we had launched.
The group I was paddling with is mostly made up of dads from my sons’ boy scout troop. Many of us have stayed together for outdoor adventures after our sons have left the troop. We also get new additions to our group every so often.
We once again visited Honopu, the mystical beach just down from Kalalau. This time it was a very easy swim. There were a few other people there while we visited, which made it seem less special, but it was still very beautiful. As I swam over a small dog was swimming alongside its two owners.
We had brought a bunch of pizza supplies — flour, yeast, cheese, pepperoni — and had hoped to meet a Kalalau local. We had heard that Kalalau pizza was good and thought it might be a good way to meet the locals, and that is exactly what happened. Altogether we made four large, yummy pizzas together. The best one had local pumpkin or squash and a ton of cheese.
The surprise of this trip was Milolii. This camp, several miles down from Kalalau, had been described to us as boring and not as nice as Kalalau, however we all loved it. The views towards and away from the sea are beautiful, and the camping was on a nice flat area with some shade. I would have gladly stayed two nights but we were only permitted for one.
There is actually a kitchen sink in the camping area at Milolii. Very decadent! We later found the water source, a pipe that leads all the way up to the stream along the western edge of the beach. The water needs to be treated of course, but this is a very different system from Kalalau, where you need to hike to get water. There is also a freshwater shower that is amazingly nice after paddling in. The building in the background is an old shack that is used by the park service for storage.
