Shopping is a pleasure on this island. Where else can you browse vintage Hawaiiana practically in a cane field, buy exquisite home accessories in an old stone building built in 1942, and get a virtual agricultural tour of the island through city-sponsored green markets that move from town to town throughout the week, like a movable feast? At Kauai's small, tasteful boutiques, you can satisfy your shopping ya-yas in concentrated spurts around the island. This is a bonanza for the boutique shopper -- particularly one who appreciates the thrill of the hunt.
"Downtown" Kapaa continues to flourish, and Hanalei, touristy as it is, is still a shopping destination. (Ola's and Yellowfish make up for the hurricane of trinkets and trash in Hanalei.) Kilauea, with Kong Lung Store and the fabulous Lotus Gallery, is the style center of the island. The Kauai Heritage Center of Hawaiian Culture & the Arts makes it possible for visitors to escape the usual imitations, tourist traps, and clichés in favor of authentic encounters with the real thing: Hawaiian arts, Hawaiian cultural practices, and Hawaiian elders and artists. What else can you expect on Kauai? Anticipate great shops in Hanalei, a few art galleries and boutiques, and a handful of shopping centers -- not much to distract you from an afternoon of hiking or snorkeling. The gift items and treasures you'll find in east and north Kauai, however, may be among your best Hawaiian finds.
Niihau Shell Lei: The Island's Most Prized Artwork
Because Kauai is so close to Niihau (the "Forbidden Island" is just offshore, where the public is prohibited), it's the best place in the state to buy the exquisite art form, Niihau-shell leis. Nothing can match the craftsmanship and the tiny shells in this highly sought-after and highly prized jewelry. Niihau is in the best position to catch the very tiny and very rare shells that roll up from the deep onto the windward shores after a big storm (generally Nov-Mar). When the tiny shells are spotted on a beach, everyone (men, women, and children) on Niihau drop what they are doing and race down to the beach to begin the backbreaking work of collecting these exceptional shells.
The shells are then sorted according to size and color, and only the best are kept. Some 80% of the shells are thrown out because they are chipped, cracked, discolored or flawed in any way that renders them imperfect. The best shells are the teeny, tiny ones. The best colors (the shells can be white, yellow, blue, red, or gold) are white or the rare gold.
The shells can be crafted into anything, but leis and necklaces are the most popular items. A necklace may take anywhere from hours to years to complete. Each shell is strung with very small and very intricate knots. The patterns sometimes mimic flower leis, and the length can range from a single-strand choker to a multi-strand, 36-inch (or longer) necklace. No two leis are alike. The leis are not cheap; they range from several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on the length, the shells used, and the intricate work involved.
You can find Niihau shell leis at numerous locations on Kauai. One of our two favorite places is Hawaiian Trading Post, Koloa Road and Kaumualii Highway, in Lawai (tel. 808/332-7404), which carries a range of items from junky souvenirs to excellent Niihau leis. (You have to ask for them to bring out the "good stuff" from the back.) Our other favorite place to buy the leis is at www.hawaiian.net/~niihauisland/leis1.htm, which is owned and operated by Niihau residents. (You can buy direct, so to speak.)
Ultimate Kauai Souvenir: The Red Dirt Shirt
If you are looking for an inexpensive, easy-to-pack souvenir of your trip to Kauai or gifts for all the friends and relatives back home, check out the Red Dirt Shirt. Every T-shirt is hand-dyed and unique. The shirts were the result of a bad situation turned into a positive one. The "legend" is that Paradise Sportswear, in Hanapepe (tel. 808/335-5670; www.dirtshirt.com), lost the roof of their warehouse during Hurricane Iniki in 1992. After the storm passed, employees returned to the building to find all their T-shirts covered with Kauai's red soil. Before throwing out their entire inventory as "too soiled to sell," someone had an idea -- sell the shirts as a Kauai "Red Dirt Shirt." The grunge look was just starting to be popular. Unbelievable as it is, people took to these "dirt" shirts. Fast-forward a dozen years and the shirts have numerous outlets on Kauai.
There's also an interesting story behind how these T-shirts are dyed. Paradise Sportswear is a true community effort. They employ families who, due to family or disability challenges, prefer to work from home. Their employees take ordinary white T-shirts home and dye the shirts in vats with red dirt collected from valleys on Kauai where centuries of erosion have concentrated red iron oxide into the dirt. It's this red iron oxide that is used in the tinting agent, along with some other organic compounds to the dye solution, that ensure that your dirt shirt will keep its red dirt color.
The best prices on the Red Dirt Shirts can be found at the factory by the Port Allen Small Boat Harbor, open daily 9am to noon and 1 to 4pm. You can watch the silk-screening process or purchase a few shirts from the retail shop, which has everything from T-shirts for infants to XXXXL. The deals are on the factory seconds and discontinued designs.
