Kauai Hawaii Vacations
Vacation on the Garden Isle of the Pacific
VISIT KAUAI
The Garden Isle
The pacific island of Kauai (pronounced koo-eye) is the oldest of the larger Hawaiian Islands and in size it is the fourth largest with about 550 square miles. Kauai is located just over 100 miles northwest of the island of Oahu.
It is known as the Garden Isle because of the lush green vegetation found throughout the island and as with all of the Hawaiian island is volcanic in origin.
The highest peak on this small but mountainous island is Kawaikini at about 5250 feet above see level and the second highest peak is Mount Waialeale nearer the center of the island, at nearly 5150 feet.
Kauai claims to have one of the wettest places on Earth located on these mountainous slopes on the east side of Mount Waialeale where an annual average rainfall of 460 inches can occur.
Due to these extremely wet conditions the high annual rainfall has caused deep valleys to be eroded in the central mountains with the result that deep canyons have been carved out by the water and many scenic waterfalls created.
There is no conclusive proof as to the meaning of the name of Kauai. However once again there is a legendary link in native Hawaiian tradition to Hawaiiloa the Polynesian navigator who has been attributed with the initial discovery of the Hawaiian Islands.
Surfer Girl on Kauai Waves
Short but Sweet!
For full details on the Hawaiian island of Kauai click here
