Roughly ten percent of Kauai is accessible by car.
The rest of the island must be explored by foot, bike, or helicopter.
Kauai ATV Tours
Staging area:
in Old Koloa Town - we checked in at the store.
We went to the site where we would gear up and get into our ATV's. We wore army style pants, T-shirts, goggles, and helmets. Since the sandals we bought protected our toes - we didn't need to borrow the boots. We had to change - because it was going to be dusty, muddy, dirty tour!
We took the ATVs through a test track - to make sure we were capable/comfortable riding them in the real tour. At first I (shylene) was uneasy driving it and on a downhill slope got off track and almost drove through the bushes. I toughed it out and made it through the test track. On the real track there were a lot of bumps, uphills, downhills, mud puddles, etc - very challenging, but a lot of fun! Steve was riding 2 ATVs behind me and would give him the "ok" sign so he'd know I was hanging in there.
Tunnel:
This was the entrance into the Haupu valley. It was 1/2 mile long and was made many years ago to transport the cane sugar much faster. We turned on our headlights going through the tunnel because it was very very dark and a bit cold. On the other side of the tunnel was defintely a scenic beauty.
Haupu:
(kauaiatv.com) "The Haupu valley is nestled below the stuing backdrop of the Haupu Mountain Range. The valley supports agriculture, ranching," and because of its scenic beauty many movies have been filmed here.
Bamboo Intake:
We stopped for about 15-20 minutes and walked through a lush & thick bamboo forest (1 of 2 waterfalls during the tour)
Kahili Falls:
Lunch break and swimming opportunity. Lunch was provided by Kauai ATV tours - we requested a vegan lunch and they gave us a fresh and yummy avocado/vege sandwish with a pasta salad and chips. The water was a bit cold, but it didn't stop us from jumping in and taking a few snapshots by the waterfalls.
Mud Splash:
On our way back were the "do something dirty" opportunities. We went through a few mud puddles, but not too many (we were going on our helicopter tour shortly after ATV and might not have the time to take a good shower to take off all the mud). One of the pictures off the Kauai ATV site shows much more than mud puddles - it's more like mud rivers! Fortunately for us it didn't rain that much to create Kauai's famous red mud.
Island Helicopter Tour of Kauai
"Your Island Helicopters tour over the "Garden Isle" is the most scenic and personalized tour of its kind. Everyone should experience such a tour at least once in a lifetime, and there is no better place than Kauai because so much of the island can only be seen from the air.
Over 80% of Kauai's diverse terrain is inaccessible making the helicopter the best way to see our spectacular waterfalls, canyons, mountains, valleys, rain forests and secluded beaches." (www.islandhelicopters.com)
