As my husband and I made plans for our week’s vacation on the island of Kauai in November, we knew we wanted to experience the magnificent and rugged Na’ Pali Coast. Accessible only via boat, air or foot, we felt our best option was a cruise. Most flight options are fairly brief, and since last spring’s hurricane and torrential rains, many trails in the area are closed. We booked a sunset dinner cruise with Captain Andy’s tours out of Hanapepe Bay on the southern coast and kept our fingers crossed for good weather and light seas.

We boarded our 65-foot Star Class catamaran around 2 p.m. with about 40 other guests sans shoes: We were required to leave them on a cart on the dock, as it was safer to maneuver around the deck barefoot. After a short safety briefing in the lounge below, we scattered to the deck and seating areas, hoping we might spot humpback whales which had just started returning to Hawaiian waters for the winter breeding season. A brief but intense rain squall showered us as we left the harbor, and I was glad I had been slow to leave the lounge and stayed dry.

After that it was literally clear sailing, though, as we enjoyed light winds and sunshine with broken clouds all the way around the south and west coasts of the island. We passed coffee plantations and the Pacific Missile Range Facility and lots of lightly populated beaches along the way while spotting dolphins swimming alongside our boat. Gradually, the gentle slopes leading down to the water became more pronounced rounded hills   and steeper cliffs.     The colors intensified and geological formations became more extreme and higher the farther north we traveled.

Soon, the steeply eroded mountains made famous in films like Jurassic Park towered above us.                    I couldn’t get enough of the brilliant green vegetation in sharp contrast to the deep    red-orange of the cliffs and eroded soil.

The constantly shifting light, filtered through light clouds, played over the landscape and revealed and then hid details and a variety of colors in the deep folds and valleys of the land.      It was a mesmerizing display that I could have watched for hours. 

We came close enough to shore to see waterfalls, an arch carved through the rock 

and sea turtles sunning on a beach. (Captain Andy also provides snorkeling tours along the coast where guests can actually step ashore.) After nearly three hours we turned back, and the crew began our dinner service. We had observed the chef grilling our steaks on a set-up perched at the rear of the catamaran — quite a feat of work in a very small space — and were impressed with the quality of the meal.

As we drew closer to the port, the sun sank into a raft of clouds obscuring the horizon.

It wasn’t quite the blazing sunset we’d hoped for, but the colors were still lovely, and it provided a gentle close to an afternoon of amazing sights and beauty.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor