Experiencing Kauai is a princely pursuit

PRINCEVILLE, Kauai Joseph and Tonja Pyle, scientists from Livermore, Calif., gazed in awe down the 4,000-foot drop from the Kalalau Lookout in Kokee State Park to the wild Napali Coast.
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"It's gorgeous," said Tonja, noting that it was their third visit to Kauai in 11 years, but their first visit to the lookout. "We wanted someplace where it was quiet, so we could just get away.""It's amazing. We weren't sure what we were going to see. The colors of the deep shades of green and the ocean," Joseph said. "You just don't see that type of landscape anywhere else."The lure of Kauai, the Garden Isle, is its wildness, its roadless folds of high ridges and deep valleys sprinkled with waterfalls that rush from springs on the flanks of nearly mile-high Waialeale peak. Averaging more than 450 inches of rainfall a year, it is acknowledged as "one of the wettest spots on Earth." But whether you're filming one of the Jurassic Park movies or breaking in your new digital video recorder, when you retire for the evening, Kauai also can wrap you in the most luxurious of digs.Princeville, on Kauai's north shore, is the Scottsdale of Hawaii. It boasts the island's best resort (the Princeville Resort), the finest golf course in all of Hawaii (the Princeville Golf Club) and, in a land where food and fuel are often far apart, Princeville has its own gas station and its own gourmet grocery store.The food market comes in handy if you want to save money (ask for one of the free discount membership cards) and cook at home after splurging to land one of Princeville's oceanfront condominiums.We stayed in a great two-bedroom, two-bath condo at Puu Poa, which looks onto the northern Pacific Ocean from atop a 60-foot cliff, just west of the Princeville Resort and a short but steep trail leading down to the beach.With its giant patio deck, the place was like a Corona commercial, only with copper and etched-glass doors, a sunroom, laundry, snorkeling gear, computer, big- screen TV with Bose home-theater sound, granite countertops in the kitchen and a large fridge to keep the beer icy.For eight nights this was our base from which we launched our mountain hikes, waterfall discoveries and beach expeditions.A testament to the rapid plant growth on moist Kauai and the resilience of the islanders, almost no evidence remains of destruction inflicted in September 1992 by Hurricane Iniki, which caused an estimated $1.7 billion in damage.One exception is a giant wet cave along the Wailua River - Hawaii's only navigable river - called the Fern Grotto. A famous spot for marriage ceremonies, the trees and hanging ferns were swept away by Iniki's 220 mph gusts. Although the plants are growing back, it will be years before the ferns again cover the nearly 100-foot-high cave opening.Kauai's popularity also is recovering. In the past 15 years, Kauai's population has grown to more than 62,000, from nearly 52,000 in 1990. To avoid the crowds, we visited during the fall. We arrived the first day at our condo after dark. We were in time to flip on Monday Night Football, tape-delayed several hours for Hawaii, of course. Otherwise, they'd have to call it "Monday Afternoon Football" here. Interestingly, they showed the Major League Baseball league championships live, so we missed most of those while out enjoying the islands' many treats.When we weren't cooking at the condo, our dining adventures took us down the coast south to Kapaa for sushi, and down the hill north to the many restaurants bordering Hanalei Bay. In Hanalei, very much the hip local cruise, the choices range from the exquisitely prepared fish and plantation décor at Postcards to the '70s rock and roll and tofu takeout at Hanalei Gourmet, where you can get breakfast as early as 8 a.m. and a snack as late at 10 p.m.Beyond Hanalei, it's a short drive across eight one-lane bridges to Haena State Park and Kee Beach. This is one of the greatest places on Earth to see a sunset, where the misty ocean spray mixes with the golden light, setting aglow the high peaks of the Napali Coast, receding one after another to the horizon.Luckily, everything on Kauai is no more than a few hours' drive, especially because gasoline is among the costliest in the nation. We paid as much as $3.70 a gallon for regular, though we found one station that charged as little as $3.16. If golf is your game, look no further than the Princeville Golf Club, widely recognized as Hawaii's best. If you're staying anywhere in Princeville, course officials will gladly arrange to send a free shuttle to pick you up.Don't expect to shoot a personal best here. The stiff ocean winds will blow your ball anywhere but straight. And don't expect a PGA tournament here any time soon. Because of the outrageous landscapes, set among rolling hills bisected by tropical jungle, the greens and tees are so far apart that play would take too long, given the PGA's walk-only competition requirements. We'll take the cart, thank you.Also here, you'll find a 60,000-square-foot club building with restaurant and lounge, pro shop, locker rooms, health club and spa, with treatments at surprisingly reasonable prices.But if we hadn't gone anywhere on Kauai besides Princeville, it would have been worth the trip, just to hear the ocean every morning when we woke.