Nualolo Kai Beach, Beach on the Na Pali Coast, Kauai County, United States

Nualolo Kai Beach lies on the Na Pali Coast of Kauai, where a dark cliff of layered black and grey rock rises behind a flat shore of pale sand and rounded boulders. A vertical crack splits the cliff face, a grassy slope meets its base on the left, and shallow reef water lies to the right.

Nualolo Kai holds stone-walled terraces, house platforms and a heiau left by a Hawaiian fishing community that lived in the valley for centuries before the twentieth century. Residents cultivated taro on irrigated terraces behind the beach and fished the reef. The bay was abandoned in the early 1900s as the population moved away from the remote Na Pali coast.

A traditional Hawaiian temple called Heiau stands at this location, reflecting the spiritual importance the bay held for its early inhabitants. Petroglyphs carved into the lava rocks tell stories of significant moments from the lives of those who lived here.

Access requires a state permit and is only possible by boat, as the historic rope ladder to neighboring settlements no longer exists. Visitors should look for boat tours or kayak expeditions to reach this remote location.

The cliff behind the beach shows horizontal bands of rough black and dark grey rock, split by a vertical crack down its centre. Large rounded grey and black boulders rest on pale sand in the foreground, with a green grassy slope meeting the cliff base on the left.