Kauai is called the "garden isle" for a reason. In the mountains of Koke'e, lush swamps ring with songs of rare birds, and the aroma of ginger blossoms sweetens the rain forests of Ha'ena. You can explore this Pacific paradise by land, sea, and air -- hiking along the Kalalau Trail, kayaking up the Hanalei River, or hovering in a helicopter high above 5,148-ft Wai'ale'ale, the wettest spot on earth.

One road runs almost all the way around the island but dead-ends on either side of a 15-mi stretch of the rugged Na Pali Coast. Driving from one end to the other takes you past lustrous green stands of sugarcane, which are gradually being replaced with coffee and macadamia-nut orchards. Dating from 1836, when Hawai'i's first sugar mill was built in Koloa, sugar was a key economic force on the island until the early 1990s. Patches of taro are found around Hanalei Valley. This longtime staple of the Hawaiian diet is grown for its root (to make poi, a puddinglike accompaniment for fish and meat) as well as its leaves (used to wrap and cook food).

Kaua'i, the fourth-largest island in the Hawaiian chain, has its capital in Lihu'e, the island's commercial center. Its collection of businesses -- a pair of banks, a library, a school, a museum, some family-run restaurants, and hotels -- is small enough to keep the pace unhurried.

On the south coast the sunny beaches and clear skies around Po'ipu have spawned a crop of condos and hotels. The area has also come into its own as a golf destination, and several fine restaurants have found a home here as well. Head west, beneath the slopes of the Hoary Head Mountains, to encounter such storybook plantation villages as Hanapepe, Kalaheo, and Waimea -- where Captain James Cook first landed back in 1778.

From the southwestern part of Kaua'i you can see the island of Ni'ihau 17 mi off the coast. Until 1987 no uninvited guests were allowed to visit this family-owned island. Most people who live in Hawai'i still consider Ni'ihau off-limits, but its mysteries can now be breached by helicopter.

North of Lihu'e the climate turns cooler and wetter, and everything sparkles green. In Wailua and Kapa'a, resort complexes huddle along a picturesque shoreline called the Royal Coconut Coast for its abundance of palms. As you head farther north to Anahola, Kilauea, Princeville, and Hanalei, vines and flowers flourish. At the end of the road, in Ha'ena, you encounter a misty otherworldliness conjuring up the legends of the ancients.