Next time I go to this island, and I have to go again, I am going to stay on the north side of the island. I think. Its waters are more dangerous and I wouldn't kid myself about swimming here, but it's less developed and geographically more stunning. Because of Na Pali coast, the island is not ringed by road. So we followed it widdershins to the end, gorgeous and goddamn slow and so at least gorgeous, to hike part of the Kalalau Trail. We did not aspire to the Kalalau Beach, eleven miles out, only to Hanakapi'ai Beach and up to Hanakapi'ai Falls, four miles or less one way.
We didn't manage even that. We didn't start until late morning, and then what with the steep trail with lots of fun big rocks and the pausing to gawp and to photograph, we didn't get to the beach until after 1. The trail upstream is unmaintained and, we heard, more treacherous and we had not availed ourselves of proper provisions so what the hell, we played on the beach.
A suitably wide, deep sandbar allowed a nice safe kiddie pool of ocean water that might have been hot and calm had Hanakai'ai River not flowed into it. So it was warm with a noticeable current and not outrageously salty. Beyond the sandbar, surf pounded cliffs and boulders and even I was not tempted. RDC photographed this and that and I paddled in the kiddie pool and finally rinsed off in the cool fresh water as it tumbled and fell toward the ocean. No huge falls, but nice ones nonetheless.
The stink we emitted was admirable, from stink's point of view, when we returned to the trailhead. This is conveniently alongside Ke'e Beach--protected, shallow, lovely, green, with cliffs overhead. I scrubbed my skin with sand from the bottom and began to feel less like slime mold during a quick swim. It had to be quick because that sunscreeen I had not sweat and swum off I had now scrubbed off. Also because we were ravenous.
We had Bubba burgers in Hanalei--one of two meals I would enjoy during the week in one of only two villages that seemed worth exploring--and motored back to the south shore for more swimming.