missile base | Nurture Self 365

“In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.” Nikos Kasantzakis

I have heard about Polihale Beach on the south west side of the Island – at the end of the road. Everything I read held so many warnings about driving on the road out there – that it was very dangerous and rough and not to attempt it unless you had a good 4WD, or with a Local with good transportaion. Despite all the warnings however, we had to attempt the drive because of all the positive things we’ve heard about the beach at the end of the road. It just sounded too spectacular to pass up. So off we went – on a day of exploring.

We were detoured with a stop at Glass Beach in Port Allan where we found an old Cemetery on a hill above the beach – very old with what looks like old Chinese headstones and very neglected and overgrown.

We ate lunch at a spot we found last year called The Grind – excellent food!

We then drove out to where the pavement ends just past the Missile Base and started the drive on the five mile dirt road out to Polihale Beach State Park. Another car (similar to our Rental) was coming from that direction so we stopped them to ask how the road was. They indicated that it was no worse than what we were on – so off we went. Sure enough – the road was not bad at all and we arrived at this amazing sand beach that was surprisingly busy! You can even take your 4WD vehicle out on the beach and drive for miles – so we’ll save that for our next trip to Kauai. In fact, there were several people camping right on the beach – very tempting indeed! We wandered on the beach most of the afternoon and didn’t head back out until after sunset. Amazing Sunset shots let me tell you! I would love to have stayed even longer to get some good star trails and night sky shots but it was a 2+ hour drive back to our Condo on the North Shore.

We have decided that we’ll come back next time prepared to spend a few nights out on the beach, and with a 4WD vehicle.

Yet one more amazing discovery for us on this truly amazing Island!