One of the highlights of our Hawaiian cruise was a daylight passage of the spectacular Na’Pali Coast of Kaua’i. These incredible sea cliffs were formed over the eons first by lava flows, and then by a combination of the ocean undercutting the land from below, and by the water runoff from above. Kaua’i gets a lot of rain, even on the leeward side. (On the land side, you can see more of this amazing landscape when you visit Waimea, the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific”.)

To add to the spectacular knife-edge cliffs, most of Kaua’i is red soil. When that soil is covered by luxurious plant growth, you get a remarkable contrast of green and red. As the clouds pass by, this landscape is sometimes in shadow, sometimes in bright sunlight.

This area is just awesome. Most visitors to the island are unlikely to see this view, unless they take a helicopter ride. Viewing it from the Pride of Hawai’i was wonderful. We actually had two chances to see the coast, due to the unfortunate need to offload a medical case back in Nawiliwili. So, just as the Na’Pali cruise was ending, the Pride reversed course and we enjoyed the entire coastline again.

Approaching Na Pali from Hanalei --- 2006 Cruise on Pride of Hawai’i