KAUAI'S tunnel of trees between Koloa and its main highway is an indicator of how the island is recovering from Hurricane Iniki six years ago. The tall trees on both sides have almost grown back to interlocking and closing the tunnel roof in cathedral fashion. At one point they have. Kauai’s economy is
recovering from InikiIt seems to be that way with the economy, too. The wonderful Coco Palms and Waiohai hotels still are shut down, but the island-wide hotel room count has pulled up from a low of 4,600 after Iniki to above 7,000 now, compared to 7,800 before the blow.
The recently reopened and substantially upgraded Sheraton Poipu Hotel ranks among the best hotels in the state, as does the nearby Kauai Hyatt, which survived Iniki. The number of condominiums around Poipu is well above pre-Iniki. The condo visitors plus the Sheraton Poipu and Kauai Hyatt guests are vitalizing Poipu Shopping Village and Koloa town.
Roy's Restaurant at the Village is a headline addition to dining in the area. Brennecke's Beach doesn't have the sand it once had but the county government has its rest rooms working again. The area is quite clean, painted and tidy except for the shabby hulk of the defunct Waiohai.
Kukui Grove Shopping Center, anchored by Sears and Liberty House, has a lot of empty store space -- but that may relate mostly to the arrival of K-Mart and Borders nearby and Wal-Mart a few miles away.
Alexander & Baldwin is finally starting small on a big residential/commercial area long planned in South Kauai. It has broken ground for 32 half-acre residential lots about a mile from Koloa and is resuming planning for Kukui'ula Bay Village, an eco-tourism resort near Spouting Horn and the National Tropical Botanical Garden.
A&B's Kauai Coffee Co. has created the largest coffee orchard in the state -- 3,400 acres -- on former sugar lands, also in South Kauai. Sampling its product at the new coffee gift shop and museum near Numila, my taste buds told me it doesn't rank with Kona coffee -- but A&B still is experimenting with blends and its pioneering mechanical harvesting that seems to be plucking off some green berries along with ripe ones.
We stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast near Spouting Horn where Gloria, for whom it is named, seems to brew Kauai coffee better than the museum did, perhaps by brewing it stronger. It was our first B&B stay on Kauai.
Sleeping to the cadence of the waves only 20 or 30 feet down and away from us was made dreamy by posh accommodations including a deep bath and free-flowing wine, cookies and more. It keeps nearly full thanks to the Internet.
The National Tropical Botanical Garden has moved its visitor tour entrance from a difficult-to-find top-of-the-garden site well up-slope, to a more accessible sea level site.
IT is close to Spouting Horn, a mini-version of Old Faithful in Yellowstone. Among Kauai's many beautiful attractions, it also has Waimea Canyon, a mini-Grand Canyon. Kauai can be in contention in any contest to name the World's Most Beautiful Island. The late James Michener rated its green northern cliffs the most spectacular he ever saw.
Unemployment on Kauai peaked at 14.5 percent after the hurricane, briefly got below 10 percent but was up to 11.5 percent in a recent report, still second highest in the state after Molokai at 16.6 percent. This means too many visitors are missing Kauai. It also means freedom from city crowding for today's visitors.
A.A. Smyser is the contributing editor
and former editor of the the Star-Bulletin
His column runs Tuesday and Thursday.