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My wife and I took one of the catamaran sunset dinner tours of the rugged Na Pali Coast State Wilderness Park. Would that we had time to hike the famous, perhaps infamous, Kalalau Trail, but alas we did not. We did get the chance to admire the high cliffs (Na Pali means high cliffs) from the air during our helicopter tour of the island, but seeing it from the ocean is necessary to get the full impact of the majesty of these dramatic lava rock cliffs that rise up as much as 4,000 feet above sea level.
The catamaran was large and quite comfortable. Our crew was skilled, efficient, friendly and knowledgable. The Hawaiian beer was excellent and ice cold delicious. Considering that the crew had to feed forty nine passengers buffet style on the high seas, dinner was quite good and the fruit was excellent. An added highlight was the opportunity to make new friends. One in particular turned out to be as avid a photographer as am I.
The Na Pali Coast is truly a unique place, like no other that my wife and I have ever seen. The mountains that come right down to the sea have been sculpted by wind and rain into exotic shapes, narrow valleys that end abruptly at the surf line were once the early home of the Hawaiian people, beautiful beaches and mysterious sea caves along the shoreline stimulate the imagination. Intense color is everywhere, from the azure sky and turquoise ocean to the verdant greens of the foliage, the ancient ebony of the rock, and the volcanic vermillion of the soil. My wife and I definitely want to return someday, our only disagreement is how. She wants to kayak the coast like the old Hawaiians did and I would prefer to hike the Kalalau Trail. (We will probably compromise and make the trip by kayak.)
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