Kauaʻi’s south and west coasts are the island’s dry, sunny side, so rain rarely ruins a trip. When a shower settles over your beach, drive twenty or thirty minutes to the leeward coast, where it’s often still sunny, or duck into a museum, a plantation tour, or a tasting room and wait it out.
The rain split on Kauaʻi is sharp: the north shore and the island’s center get far more rain than the leeward south and west, so you’ll need an indoor plan far less often based in Poʻipū than in Hanalei. The picks below run from Līhuʻe’s museums to a tunnel-tubing float that runs rain or shine.
Table of contents
| Name | Type |
|---|---|
| 1Kauaʻi Museum (Details ↓) | Museum |
| 2Kīlohana Plantation (Details ↓) | Plantation |
| 3Lydgate Farms (Details ↓) | Chocolate tour |
| 4Kauaʻi Backcountry Adventures (Details ↓) | Tubing |
| 5Kauaʻi Coffee Company (Details ↓) | Coffee tour |
| 6Hanalei Spirits (Details ↓) | Distillery |
| 7Kōkeʻe Natural History Museum (Details ↓) | Museum |
| 8Hanapēpē galleries (Details ↓) | Art galleries |
East Kauaʻi: Līhuʻe and the Coconut Coast when it rains
Most of Kauaʻi‘s indoor stops sit around Līhuʻe and up the Coconut Coast.
- Kauaʻi Museum covers the island’s history and art in downtown Līhuʻe, with permanent and rotating exhibits and a gift shop. It’s open Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm and Saturday 9am to 2pm, adult admission $15. Walk in, no booking needed.
- Kīlohana Plantation is a restored estate near Līhuʻe with several stops under one roof. The Kauaʻi Plantation Railway train departs hourly from 10am to 2pm, $23.50 for an adult. The Kōloa Rum Company tasting room opens Monday to Saturday 11am to 4pm, with a complimentary tasting for a small booking fee, 21 and over. There are also shops and a restaurant, and most of it is covered.
- Lydgate Farms runs a guided cacao and chocolate farm tour near Wailua, about three hours, ages 9 and up, with tastings along the way. Tours run Monday to Friday. It’s a splurge, from $145 a person, so reserve ahead of your trip.
- Kauaʻi Backcountry Adventures floats you about two and a half miles through five old plantation irrigation tunnels near Hanamāʻulu, on an inner tube. The tunnels are covered, so it runs rain or shine, unusual for an outdoor tour on Kauaʻi. Figure about three hours, ages 5 and up, $169 a rider. Book ahead.Suggested tour
Backcountry Kauaʻi Mountain Tubing Tour
Float 2.5 miles of old sugar-plantation irrigation canal on Kauaʻi, drifting through five hand-dug tunnels lit only by your headlamp. A slow ride into interior land closed to the public, easy enough for kids age five and up.
from:
$169
What is a suggested tour?Our suggested tours are hand-picked tours that receive consistent good reviews, give back to the community, and work hard to minimize their impact on the environment. Read more about these tours on our website.
South Kauaʻi: Poʻipū and Kōloa when it rains
The south is the island’s driest coast, so a wet day here is rare.
- Kauaʻi Coffee Company at Kalāheo is the largest coffee farm in the United States. The self-guided walking tour is free. The guided walking tour runs $35, and the open-air truck farm tour runs $50, ages 8 and up. All of them include tastings.
North Shore Kauaʻi when it rains
The north is the wet, green side, so it’s where you’re most likely to need an indoor plan.
- Hanalei Spirits is a craft distillery near Princeville. It runs a 45-minute tasting and a 90-minute tour and tasting, both by appointment and 21 and over. Book ahead, and check road access first, since the north shore’s one-lane bridges past Hanalei close in flooding.
West Kauaʻi: Waimea and Hanapēpē when it rains
The west is dry too, but its canyon views vanish in cloud, so head indoors.
- Kōkeʻe Natural History Museum sits in Kōkeʻe State Park, above Waimea Canyon. Its exhibits cover the area’s plants and birds, with a section on local history and a good bookshop. It’s open Monday to Friday 10:30am to 3:30pm and weekends until 4pm, admission by donation.
- Hanapēpē’s galleries line a walkable strip in the old town. On Friday evenings, Hanapēpē Art Night opens the galleries late with music and food, a dry way to spend a rainy evening.
Activities to Avoid When It’s Raining
A few of Kauaʻi’s best-known outings turn dangerous or pointless in the rain. Save these for a dry day:
- The Kalalau Trail and other Nā Pali coast hikes. Rain turns the stream crossings into flash-flood traps. Hikers have drowned trying to cross Hanakāpīʻai stream when it was running high. Wait for the water to drop.
- Waimea Canyon and Kōkeʻe lookouts. Cloud fills the canyon and hides the view, and the red-dirt trails and overlooks turn to slick mud. You’ll drive up the switchbacks for nothing.
- Waterfall and stream-crossing hikes. The same flash-flood risk applies anywhere a trail fords a stream. Heavy rain in the mountains can raise a crossing within minutes, even where the sky above you looks clear.
- Nā Pali boat tours. Operators cancel these in rough seas, so don’t count on one as a rainy-day fallback. Book it for a settled-weather day instead.
How to Avoid Rain on Your Kauaʻi Trip
You can dodge most of the rain by picking the right coast. For the month-by-month picture, see our Kauaʻi weather guide.
Average rainfall by month on Kauaʻi. The heaviest rain sits over Mount Waiʻaleʻale in the center, while the west coast stays dry all year. Map by Love Big Island.
- Base yourself on the leeward south or west. Poʻipū on the south coast and Waimea on the west are the driest, sunniest parts of the island. Stay there, or drive there on a wet morning.
- Skip the wettest ground for a base. The north shore and the island’s center, around Mount Waiʻaleʻale, one of the wettest places on earth, get far more rain than the leeward coasts. A north-shore base means more indoor days.