The milky way rises over the amazing mountains behind Kalalau Beach on Kauai. This awe-inspiring beach is only reachable by a brutal and steep 11-mile cliff-hugging trail, and I spent three nights camped among the trees of this photo. The landscape is lit by a 71% moon.

Tags:   kalalau kauai beach na pali coast hawaii

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On the island of Kauai.

Tags:   To Do

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Kauai's Na Pali Coast has some of the most amazing geology I've ever seen. The beach on the left is Kalalau and is accessible only by a brutal 11-mile, 4000-ft-gain and 4000-ft-loss hike. Raiatea and I backpacked there and spent three nights photographing the area. One day, we put our cameras in a dry bag and swam to Honopu, the beach on the right side of this photo. It's about 1 km (a bit over 1/2 mile) each way. There was a lot of surge (and white caps on the way back!), so it took us 35 minutes of hard swimming each way. I'll post photos from the ground in the coming weeks. Swimming from Kalalau or landing a boat are the only ways to reach Honopu--so few people go there that the beach had no footprints.

At the end of our trip, we hired a helicopter and saw the same spots from the air.

Tags:   hanalei bay kalalau honopu beach na pali coast hawaii kauai aerial helicopter

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I've seen a few names for this spot. Queen's Bath, Honopu Cove, etc... If you know the actual name, let me know. It's a sea cave on the Na Pali Coast of Kauai. Shot from a doors-off helicopter.

Tags:   kauai hawaii na pali queen queens bath aerial helicopter honopu

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After a 12-mile, 4500 ft gain and 4500 ft loss hike in 90F temperatures with a 45-lb backpack on Kauai's Na Pali Coast, this scene greeted me on my first sunset at Kalalau. The amazing beauty of the area made the whole trip worth it. I spent two full days in this area to photograph the amazing light and nighttime stars.

Tags:   kalalau beach kauai hawaii na pali pano panorama sunset rainbow

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