Hurricane Iniki still shapes tourist experience on Kauai

By Lee Cataluna

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jul 08, 2012

~~<p>A visit to Kauai used to be predictably sedate. Tourists would come to the lush, bucolic island to take pictures at various roadside vantage points — Waimea Canyon, Hanalei Valley, Spouting Horn — all from a safe distance. In the early days of tourism, visitors could even hire a driver to take them up and down the narrow roads. It was all very passive and controlled.</p>
<p>Modern-day tourism comes with very different expectations. It's not enough to see things — they must be experienced. Rather than gaze at a deep, green valley, one must hurtle over it on a zipline or blast through muddy trails on an all-terrain vehicle. A hotel pool isn't desirable unless there are extra features like a water slide or a rope bridge.</p>
~~

A visit to Kauai used to be predictably sedate. Tourists would come to the lush, bucolic island to take pictures at various roadside vantage points — Waimea Canyon, Hanalei Valley, Spouting Horn — all from a safe distance. In the early days of tourism, visitors could even hire a driver to take them up and down the narrow roads. It was all very passive and controlled.

Modern-day tourism comes with very different expectations. It's not enough to see things — they must be experienced. Rather than gaze at a deep, green valley, one must hurtle over it on a zipline or blast through muddy trails on an all-terrain vehicle. A hotel pool isn't desirable unless there are extra features like a water slide or a rope bridge. Login for more...