A Kauai Blog

I realize there’s been a lack of activity reports on this blog lately, so here’s one—with map goodness.

Kayaking the Hanapepe river is a quiet and easy outing if you’re on the west side, for example if you’re camping at Salt Pond. It certainly isn’t as lush and tropical as the east side or north shore rivers, and it is lacking a certain pitturesque quality that keeps it from being a major activity, but all in all, it’s another little corner of Kaua’i that is fun to discover.

The best place to put in is on the west side of the old one-lane bridge through town. Turn inland on Awawa Rd, the little road right next to the falling-down building, and then take the little dirt road down the levee and park out of the way. You should see an easy walkway down to the water a little back towards the bridge. Here’s a picture of the building, it was ruined by Hurricane Iniki in 1992 and never rebuilt.

I once tried to put in down at the harbor, but that was a bit tricky. I wanted to launch on the beach by the river mouth, but I had to carry the kayak down some rocks, and I think that is actually a corner of private property. You could probably walk right down the boat ramp, but then you’d have to paddle out around the little jetty. You’re still relatively protected inside the main breakwater, but this is also an active port.

You’re much better off paddling downstream from the first launch I described, because then you don’t have to deal with the ocean waves unless you want to. That section is very wide and unlike the Wailua river, the river mouth is plenty deep to ride out into the ocean and back in, if conditions allow. Because the bay is partly sheltered, the waves are a bit calmer here, and it can be a fun place to catch a few with the kayak.

From the put-in to the river mouth, you go under the old brige and past a really cool art-house next to the new(er) bridge. That house is even more interesting if you walk on Puolo Rd, which you would do if you took a short walk to Lappert’s ice cream after you put the kayak back on the car–just a suggestion. From the newer bridge, it’s about a half-mile to the ocean, floating past some old-time Hawaiian homesteads. Nothing fancy, but sometimes I wish I had a back porch overlooking a lazy river.

Alternatively, you can skip the whole section of the river downstream of the bridges, or save it for the end of the paddle if you want to earn your ice cream.

From the put-in, most people head upstream towards the “Swinging Bridge.” This is the cable and wooden suspension bridge for pedestrians to cross the river and access some homes on the other side. A lot of visitors walk across from the downtown area, but not many get to paddle underneath.

The bridge looks surprisingly longer from this angle on the river. I got the whole thing in a picture, and then it was too small to see. So the photo above is just the town-side of the bridge.

While the bridge is the biggest and most famous landmark on this whole paddle, this section of the river is almost ugly. The channel here runs between two levees that keep the residential areas from flooding but prevent you from seeing any of the town from the river. And the levees themselves are covered in weeds that are alternatively growing out of control or shriveled up brown, probably from herbicides that are sadly overused.

So once you go under the bridge, keep paddling until the next big turn. There, the first red rock walls of the Hanapepe canyon start, and the shore seems more natural. It isn’t really natural, these banks have been dug up and bulldozed and driven-on over the years, but it does look prettier with some nice monkey-pod trees.

This is the prettiest part of the river, but it only lasts a half-mile before the river gets too shallow. As the banks start to close in, and the rocks reach up from the bottom, you’ll see a split in the river. To the left is very shallow, and to the right are some rocks and this broken dam:

You can float almost to the dam, but then you have to get out. Once out of curiosity, we pulled the kayak though the openings in the dam and got back in, but we didn’t go much more than a tenth of a mile further. After grounding again, my wife walked a little to take in the scenery where the river is finally looking natural and free—even if there are more farms and homesteads just beyond the trees.

If you go, some practical considerations:

• This is the west side, it is hot in the summer, even on the river. Go in the early morning or evening.
• It’s only a mile from the second bridge upstream to the broken dam. We made the round-trip (2 miles) in less than 90 minutes, and we took our time. Add another 1.5 miles (and 60 minutes) if you paddle out to the ocean and back.
• Beyond the levies, all the land here is private and actively farmed. If you get out at the dam, do not wander too far on the dirt roads or you’ll end up in someone’s backyard or planted field.
• I really don’t want to oversell this river. There are some pretty spots and I got nice pictures of those, but it does not compare to Hanalei, Wailua, etc. However, it is a nice spot for an uncrowded outing, and despite some man-made ugliness, there is still some beauty of the land to be seen.

And I almost forgot the map from my GPS track (you can also download it as a Google Earth file):