Is that thenameof it?
Yes, it’s calledSecret
Beach. You just have to ask the localswhen
you get there. I wish I could tell youmore.
But Hanalei Bay— in terms of swimming,
you can’t beat it. It’s just incredible.
Are you a surfer?
Laird Hamilton has a
homeon the island, andLairdknowsKauai
as well as anybody. He’s smart enough to
live there with his beautiful wife, Gabby,
and their daughter, Reece. He putme on a
longboard one time and gaveme a paddle.
They all sat down andpassed around some
popcorn towatch the little actor boy fall to
hisdeath,but Idisappointed them. Iwason
the longboard, paddled around, and didn’t
fall. I severely disappointed all of them. I
think itwas 10 toone that Iwasgoing togo
down immediately.
Have you had any other adventures in the
ocean?
Well, I remember one of the first
things we did after we went running: We
jumped in thewater. I hadbeen a lifeguard
whilegrowingup, but Iwas in thisonearea
where—I’dnever feltanundertow like this,
because it was completely unpredictable. It
wouldpull youbackout and smashyou im-
mediately, and there was no rhyme or rea-
son to this one drag they had out there. I
just remember being caught, and I was re-
ally far out. It was pretty tricky to navigate
in thosewaters.
[
Later,
]
when Iwas inahe-
licopter, itwas like, “We’reoverDeadMan’s
Cove. There aremore fatalities in that cove
than anywhere else on the island.” So I got
really lucky. You’ve got to be really careful
whenyougo there. Just ask the localsabout
safe places to swim. You don’t want to just
jump inanywhere.
A lot of the cultureon the island is based in
and around the town of Princeville, right?
Yeah. The town has just, like, great little
healthy places to eat, and shopping, and
there are a lot of amazing local artists. I
bought some art from there. The indig-
enous people are incredibly talented. The
people of Kauai are some of the best drum
makers I’ve ever seen. Theymake ukuleles.
The ukuleles from Kauai are some of the
most beautiful I’ve ever seen— just really
great craftsmanship. Thepeoplearekindof
an eclectic group, really interesting people.
One native was a helicopter pilot who put
me on this journey during which I just
learned somuch about everything. He was
really, really cool.
Oh, tell me about that.
We’d go over really
pristine land that no one knows about or
over waterfalls or places where people hide
—youknow, tocampout, to live.Thenpeo-
ple come andfind them, and they all scurry
away.WeflewoverWaimeaCanyon
[
which
Mark Twain called the Grand Canyon of
the Pacific
]
and theNaPali Coast, which is
as dramatic as it gets. It’s just these sharp
rocksand cliffs that kindof jut out from the
ocean.During certain times of the year, you
can take kayaks down there, but only dur-
ing certain times, because it can be kind of
dangerous.
What restaurants are on Kauai?
For lunch
anddinner, there is a place called theBlos-
somingLotus.Youcan situpat thecounter.
It has an outdoor patio, open air, and great
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