Princeville Makai Golf Club, Patrick Koenig

There’s more to see, including plenty of golf, on other parts of the island. At Kauai’s northern end is the Princeville Makai Golf Club. There you will find a high-end, lushly manicured layout and countless views that will stop you in your tracks, but especially the par 3 third, a downhiller with views of Hanalei Bay in the distance. The course is good enough to place fourth on Golfweek’s 2019 “Best Courses You Can Play in Hawaii,” making it Kauai’s top-ranked layout. Almost as fun as the golf is a Sunset Golf Cart Tour that makes seven stops at scenic points around the course, ending up on the coastline at the par 3 seventh where the sunsets are, well, let’s just say the pictures barely do it justice.

            At the opposite end of the price spectrum is Wailua, a beloved muni course that opened as a nine-holer in the 1930’s before adding what is now the front nine in 1961. It’s a bit scruffy around the edges, but you can still see why the strong layout hosted the USGA Public Links Championship in 1975, 1985 and 1996. The first two holes run along the ocean before the front side turns inland on a straightaway par 3 that tips out at 245 yards. And the par 3 17th, with an elevated tee and the Pacific in the background, is up there with the island’s best short holes. Wailua also has one of the coolest driving ranges around, with the glistening Pacific Ocean providing the backdrop.