Today, the scene on Kauai has changed considerably with the closing of most of the sugar plantations. Kauai has entered the “modern era” however if you are from the Mainland you may think we are still about 20 years behind the times and you are probably right in many respects….but, that is the appeal that undoubtedly draws more and more people here who want to come to live in our Island community. As a result, our population has nearly tripled since my early recollections bring with it a huge gentrification process. Some of these changes, especially in population growth have resulted in traffic congestion. While a pain in the ankles sometimes, I tell people that this condition is nothing more than a “paradise tax” for everyone wanting to live here. More importantly however, and on the good side, with the recent wave of Mainland people arriving on Kauai, there has also been an increase in community activities along with more conveniences and things to do here that we never had years ago.

People used to ask me, “What’s there to do on Kauai?” In the old days, if you didn’t like fishing and camping, you were stuck and probably why many Mainland people got “Rock Fever” thinking they were trapped on a small Island with no place to go or nothing to do. Today, if you can’t find something to do here, there is something wrong. The Garden Island, our local newspaper alone, has a section called “Community Calendar” that would keep any number of people busy for a life time. What I am seeing here today is a mature Mainland population who are retired but still young enough to be very active. They are generally financially independently and make volunteering for various groups or associations a big part of their lives. While you can still go fishing and camping, many of these people volunteer for work at the Kilauea Light House as an example, or join the Orchid Society to name a few. There are service groups such as Lions or Rotary Clubs available…even canoe paddling clubs. We have four movie theaters on the Island. Of course there are numerous churches and church groups here as well. Based upon your focus in life, all you have to do is look around and you will find something to do here. What is truly great about all of this is that by getting involved in a group of your interest, you will make many wonderful contacts and before you know it, you will be so busy you won’t know what to do. And before you know it, you will have more friends than you know what to do with…but then, that’s what the community on Kauai is all about.

One of the community questions that you would think Realtors would be asked here is how are the schools? While I can pussy foot around, however, with respect to public schools, they are straight out terrible!!! As a matter of fact, Hawaii’s public school system ranks at the bottom of the list for the nation. We do have some wonderful private schools here but they are on the expensive side. To be quite honest with you a good number of caring families here home school their children. I wish I had a better message for you in this respect, but the good news for most buyers of real estate on Kauai is that they are generally from the Mainland and are beyond the child rearing age. While Kauai is a great place to raise children, be prepared to make sacrifices with respect to educating your children.

Having all of these community activities around is important, however, I would like to impart a little tidbit of wisdom upon you with respect to surviving in the community of Kauai that is probably the best community information I can give you at this point. It comes in the form of a local colloquialism which goes, “No talk stink about anyone!” While I was born and raised here, I lived on the Mainland for more years than I would like to admit. I discovered that people who live there tend to get lost in the crowd or in the sheer numbers of people surrounding them. As a result, they sometimes tend to think that they can get away with things, like road rage, or simply being disrespectful or rude to other people in general and then duck back into the crowd of numbers and hide where nobody will likely find them. The problem arises when they bring that attitude with them to Kauai where each person here stand out as an individual in the community and are responsible for who they are. Kauai is a small Island where good news travels at 30 miles per hour and bad news and gossip travel at warp speed. Kauai is not unlike any other small rural community on the Mainland where rumors and gossip are an Olympic sport. Yes, and maybe in that respect we are 20 years behind the times but that isn’t all that bad as it makes us start to think about who we really are. Sometimes that realization can be pretty scary. If people coming here do not learn to “zip it up” and control their attitudes, it doesn’t take long before the real reason for Rock Fever takes affect. The first lesson you will learn here on Kauai is that a small island is no place to have an enemy especially if you want to continue to be a part of the community. Like the bumper sticker on my car says, “Live Aloha” and everything else will fall into place….and you will quickly become a part of this wonderful community.