The collapse of the walls of one of Kauai's volcanoes formed the Waimea Canyon over 4 million years ago.

Finding Kauai

Curt Lofstedt, a helicopter operator in Kauai, HI since the 1970s, is accustomed to watching his clients get teary . . . and it's not because he chops onions while he flies. It's because the canyon he circles daily is just that beautiful.

"Waterfalls will appear and disappear in an hour," says helicopter tour guide Curt Lofstedt.

"Rain showers will come in and throw up rainbows all around."

"From day to day, hour to hour, the way it looks changes dramatically," he says. "The colors will change. Rain showers will come in and throw up rainbows all around. Waterfalls will appear and disappear in an hour."

It's a true paradise, yet it's something many vacationers never see. Those who make the trek to the sedate West Side of Kauai easily find acres of verdant sugarcane plantations climbing the rolling hills and long beaches greeting the rough, electric blue waters of the Pacific. A 2-lane highway passes through tiny towns and past stunning vistas of mountains and coastline - but none of these things hint at the proximity of Waimea Canyon, a massive natural wonder that Mark Twain once dubbed "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific."

"Passengers in the air can't believe how we can have such a big canyon on such a small island," says Lofstedt.

A catastrophic collapse of the walls of one of Kauai's volcanoes formed the canyon 4 million years ago. Since then, the Waimea River has eroded the canyon into its current meandering state of myriad narrow finger canyons, many topped by waterfalls. The burnt-red cliffs of the canyon plunge 3,000 feet to sea level.

To see the canyon that so impressed the intrepid Twain, hardy visitors can drive up a steep 18-mile serpentine ascent through Waimea Canyon State Park and stop at one of the lookouts. A good one is Puu Hinahina where a 180-degree vista of the ochre abyss awaits. Others choose to join Lofstedt in one of his choppers and score a bird's-eye view of parts of the canyon. You'll land in time for sunset cocktails and macadamia-nut-crusted mahi mahi at The Beach House, an oceanfront gem on the South Shore.

For those who chose to drive, the West Side also offers Kokee State Park, which lies above the canyon. This misty wonderland is honeycombed with hiking trails that lead to panoramas of the Pacific from atop the 3,000-foot Na Pali Coast. (And there's a restaurant at the park lodge that serves excellent Portuguese bean soup and corn bread - lunch lifesavers at this chilly altitude).

Polihale Beach, the longest in the Hawaiian Islands, lies just past Waimea town beyond the cane fields. You can swim at Queen's Pond, a reef-fringed oasis sheltered from the pounding surf, located to the left of a giant monkeypod tree. Strolling on the trackless sands is lovely with the Na Pali cliffs looming at the far end of the beach and Ni'ihau Island, a private island populated by native Hawaiians, shimmering in the offshore distance. It's almost enough to make you want to, well, cry.

"I've [flown] around the island 30,000 times and I still get goose bumps," says Lofstedt. "You feel like you are completely removed from everything else on earth."

Posted on July 31, 2006