Kauaʻi region
West Side (Waimea, Hanapēpē & Kōkeʻe)
Small towns below the Grand Canyon of the Pacific
About an hour from Līhuʻe: Waimea, where Captain Cook first landed in the Hawaiian Islands in 1778; Hanapēpē, Kauaʻi’s art town; and the road up to Waimea Canyon and Kōkeʻe State Park, whose lookouts face the Nāpali Coast. As of Oct. 20, 2026, Waimea Canyon and Kōkeʻe remain closed after Hurricane Lowell.
Photo: ECTran71 via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Stay here if…
You want a quiet, old-Hawaiʻi base, plan to spend days on Nāpali boat tours from Port Allen, and are coming once the canyon reopens.
The trade-off
Lodging is limited, it’s a long drive to the North Shore, and in fall 2026 the region’s headline sights—Waimea Canyon, Kōkeʻe and Polihale—are closed.
Hotels in West Side
Small towns below the Grand Canyon of the Pacific
Search on Booking.com
Book from here
Tours leaving from West Side
Things to do
Our picks in West Side
West Side
Kekaha Beach Park
It’s the antidote to crowded resort beaches, with miles of sand, huge skies and a sunset with nothing between you and the horizon.
Read more
Shave Ice & SweetsWest Side
JoJo’s Shave Ice (Waimea)
It’s the classic West Side reward, and JoJo’s says all its profits fund free camps for Hawaiian youth.
Read more
