Warning! This outing is for very experienced kayakers. Conditions and weather can cause dangerous or deadly conditions.
In September of 2018 my friend Steph and I paddled to Milolii and camped for two nights. Most of the North Shore, including Kalalau, was closed to mud slides earlier in the year. The closure has had a huge impact on the kayak scene on the north shore. Most kayak campers simply cancelled as Kalalau is normally the main camping destination. For the day tripper kayaks, the situation is complicated. Previously they would launch at Haena and paddle eighteen miles to pull out at Polihale. The only stop was at Milolii as they were not allowed at Kalalau. This was a really tough trip but was popular as you were able to see the whole Na Pali. The new trip starts at Polihale and comes as far around the coast as the guide allows, sometimes only to Milolii. That does not let the clients see much of the Na Pali at all. Really to even get a taste of the north shore you need to go a mile past Milolii (coming east).
Launching from Haena — the usual route — paddlers benefit from wind and current that is generally going the right way. We instead launched from Polihale, which is actually pretty close to Milolii but generally down current and often downwind. We launched very early though, before the wind came up, and the current too was pretty minimal. We ended up landing at Milolii very early. These guys were down the beach a ways when we arrived.
Milolii is pretty remote. There is no way to reach it on foot, instead you have to paddle either from Haena via Kalalau or from Polihale. There were three other parties there when we arrived, but I think it was a bit more crowded than usual due to the north shore shutdown. It was really the only game in town. There are a couple of shade structures and an old building that supposedly was used as a schoolhouse by the military. There is also a freshwater shower that is very refreshing.
We don’t usually skimp on food when camping and this trip was no exception. We froze steaks for one dinner and had plenty of Black Box wine. One of our neighbors dropped off about a pound of thick-cut bacon before leaving as well. We also brought a “white pineapple” with us. If you have the chance to eat one of these while on Kauai, do so — they are ten times tastier than a regular pineapple!
I have almost no photos of the paddling as each time we went out, the waves were huge. We had hoped to paddle to Open Ceiling Cave, or at least to Nualolo, but we ran into ten-foot swells each time we tried. We could paddle in those conditions but there was no way we would have been able to safely enter the cave. Milolii has a somewhat protected landing so we were able to go in and out at will. We spent the days snorkeling and watching the passing sighseeing catamarans. For one afternoon session we counted fourteen boats. We also spent some time talking to the day-tripper kayak groups that came through. I have to give special credit to Annie from Na Pali Kayak. The other guided groups paddled from Polihale to Milolii and then gave their clients a long beach stop before paddling back to Polihale, but Annie took her group all the way to Open Ceiling Cave. She did not need to do that but it made the trip a lot better for her clients. She was hours behind the other guided groups as a result. I hope she got a good tip!
