Waimea Canyon drops away in stacked bands of red dirt and green, a gorge a thousand feet deep from the rim. Waterfalls on the far wall look like threads until mist fills the gorge, then they return when it lifts.
The pullouts stack as you climb Waimea Canyon Drive, each one a different slice of the gorge, and short rim walks leave the pavement, hit the edge, and come back. The last lookouts in Kokee State Park face the Napali cliffs instead of the gorge, green walls dropping into open ocean. The Waimea Canyon Lookout itself is closed for safety improvements as of September 2026, while the other lookouts, including Puu O Kila at the end of the road, are open, according to the Kokee State Park page.
Camping at Kokee is by permit through the state system, $20 a night for residents and $30 for non-residents as of September 2026, reservable 90 days ahead, on tent sites rather than a van pad. Most van renters do the rim as a day up from a county beach park. West to the canyon is one driving leg. North to Haena is the other, all the way around the east side, and the coast those cliffs hide has no through-road.
Past the end of the pavement on the west side, Polihale is a long white dune beach that runs until the Napali cliffs rise at its north end, with nothing built on it. The road out turns to sand after the pavement ends. Polihale State Park is open daily with camping by permit, $20 for residents and $30 for non-residents as of September 2026. The state closes Polihale and the Kalalau Trail first ahead of a storm, so check the DLNR park notices before driving out.
Kauai county beach parks
The van nights on Kauai sit under ironwoods, on lagoons the reef keeps calm enough to swim. Salt Pond Park is the west-side bed after a canyon day. Anini Beach Park is the north-shore bed, the one you want when Haena is tomorrow morning.
Lydgate Park Campground holds the east side, a protected swimming lagoon and a playground in the same park. Anahola Beach Park is the other east-north option.
A week here is a circuit of those parks. You stay put when the swimming is good, then shift coasts when a closed night or a Haena reservation pulls you around the island.
Those four parks are the county camping list, and each closes one night a week for maintenance. Anini's closed window runs from Wednesday morning into Thursday noon, and Kauai County camping rules set non-resident fees at $3 per adult per night at Anini, Anahola, and Salt Pond, and $25 per day at Lydgate, as of September 2026. Reserve the site on the county's WebTrac system. There is no walk-up, so the site is the first booking and the van is the second.
You sleep in the van at these beach parks. If a campervan bunk is tight for the group, Kauai RV rentals are the next size up.
From Lydgate, a kayak up the Wailua River to Secret Falls fills an east-side day.
Haena State Park and the Kalalau trailhead
Kee Beach sits in a reef-flat lagoon under the green, fluted sea cliffs of Napali. On a calm day the water stays shallow over the reef, and the cliffs fill the back of the beach. A hala-tree arch marks the Kalalau trailhead.
The Kalalau Trail starts there and follows the cliffs. Most day hikers go as far as Hanakapiai and turn around. This is day use, and the van does not sleep in the lot.
Entry, parking, and the shuttle all take a reservation on Haena's reservation system, with three parking windows a day and no same-day tickets. Book that pass first, then book Anini for the night.
Hanalei Bay and town sit on the drive in. They are a pass-through. There is no county camping in Hanalei.
Winter high surf shuts north-shore swimming and can close Kuhio Highway, the only road to Hanalei and Haena. Check NWS Honolulu advisories before you pin a north-shore night. Summer is when that coast stays calm.
For the other Hawaiian islands and the statewide camping-permit rules, start with the Hawaii campervan page.