Kauai · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
The wettest, greenest island, with state-park camping and a bus that almost gets there.
Kapaa and the east side
The east coast between Kapaa and Wailua holds what few hostel beds and cheap motels the island has, and sits on the bus route. Book weeks ahead.
What a day costs
Roughly $80–140 a day: a bunk or campsite, $25–35 on food from Big Save or the Lihue warehouse stores, and fuel across a road that does not loop.
Camping at Koke'e and Haena
Koke'e State Park has a campground and rustic cabins at 3,600 feet, cool and misty. Haena at the road's end needs an advance reservation that also covers parking.
The Kauai Bus
County buses run cheaply from Hanalei to Kekaha but stop short of Waimea Canyon and the Napali trailhead. A shuttle from Waipa serves Haena for those without a car.
Free by day
The eight-mile paved coastal path north of Kapaa, Hanalei Bay, Kealia Beach and the Spouting Horn blowhole all cost nothing beyond parking.