Nawiliwili, Kauai

Nawiliwili Harbor is the port of entry for Kauai — Hawaii's 'Garden Isle' and the oldest of the major Hawaiian islands, a designation that has given geological forces an extra million years to sculpt landscapes of such extravagant beauty that Hollywood has used them as stand-ins for paradise, Jurassic-era wilderness, and fantasy kingdoms.

Kauai's interior is dominated by Mount Waialeale, one of the wettest spots on Earth, whose annual rainfall exceeding 450 inches feeds the waterfalls, rivers, and impossibly green valleys that define the island's character. Waimea Canyon — Mark Twain's 'Grand Canyon of the Pacific' — slices through the island's western flank in a gorge of red, orange, and green striations that stretches ten miles long and over 3,600 feet deep. The Kalalau Lookout at the canyon's end provides vertiginous views down to the Napali Coast's remote valleys.

The island's eastern and southern shores, accessible from Nawiliwili, offer more immediately accessible beauty. The Wailua River, Hawaii's only navigable river, leads by kayak or boat to the atmospheric Fern Grotto — a natural lava-rock amphitheatre draped with tropical ferns. Poipu Beach, on the sunny southern coast, provides reliable swimming and snorkeling conditions, while the endangered Hawaiian monk seal occasionally hauls out on its sand with the insouciance of a species that predates human presence by millions of years.

Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Princess Cruises call at Nawiliwili, their passengers discovering an island that has deliberately limited development to protect the character that makes it unique. There are no buildings taller than a coconut palm — a zoning restriction that keeps Kauai's skyline natural — and the pace of life reflects an island philosophy that resists the urgency that tourism brings elsewhere in Hawaii.

Visiting is rewarding year-round, with April through September offering the driest conditions and December through March adding humpback whale watching to the island's already extraordinary catalogue of natural experiences. Nawiliwili opens the door to Hawaii's most pristine major island — a place where the decision to preserve beauty over profit has produced a destination that money cannot buy and development cannot improve.