Niihau Hawaii Forbidden Island

However, you can stay some days in Niihau by doing a diving, a hunt or a heli trip.

Helicopter Niihau belongs to the same group as the island. Half days trips with an overpass of uninhabited parts of Niihaus and tell the tale of why Niihau is still the "Forbidden Island". "You will probably see a number of species of monks, cetaceans, cetacean, whale and dolphin as you fly over the beach and the sea.

Sightseeing starts from Port Allen Air Strip in Makaweli at the west end of Kauai. Niihau Safaris was also founded by the Niihau family. It arose from the need to eliminate the excessive populations of wild boar and hybrids that have grazed the island. They do not have any carnivores and although the people of Niihau have been chasing for more than a hundred years, the slaughter of cattle has become necessary.

Hunts includes flights to Kauai and Niihau, land transportation, guide and lunches. Groups are small, no more than five at a census. For more than one days you have to go back to Kauai every evening and to Niihau the next mornings.

There are no accommodation or restaurant in Niihau. A Kauai company named Below is offering dives to Niihau from May to the end of September. It is the only season of the year when the sea waves are gentle enough to safely cross the canal between Kauai, Niihau and Lehua Crater.

Winnings are a great opportunity to see spermaceti whale and minke whale, assassin whale, various dolphin populations, scarce Hwaiian blue seal and thousand of tropic salmonfishes. Before you sign up for the Niihau trip, however, it' s better to go on an easy one. When you are fortunate enough to be walking on the Niihau beach, you can find a wealth of small mussels in the colours whites, blacks, yellows, reds and greens.

Kahelelani mussels from which the Niihau mussel is made. After he found the Hawaii an Islands, he returned it to England and is now in the British Museum years later. When you get back to Kauai, look for Niihau shell jewellery and other kinds of jewellery in handicraft shops, jewellery shops and the Kauai Museum souvenir store.

You are on the expensive side, but Niihau Shell Leis will not wither and live on the flight home.