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There aren't a lot of shops and spas on Kauai, but what you will find here are a handful of places very much worth checking out for the quality of their selection of items sold and services rendered. Many shops now make an effort to sell as many locally made products as possible. When buying an item, ask where it was made or even who made it.
Often you will find that a product handcrafted on the island may not be that much more expensive than a similar product made overseas. You can also look for the purple "Kauai Made" sticker many merchants display.
Along with one major shopping mall, a few shopping centers, and a growing number of big-box retailers, Kauai has some delightful mom-and-pop shops and specialty boutiques with lots of character. The Garden Isle also has a large and talented community of artisans and fine artists, with galleries all around the island showcasing their creations. You can find many island-made arts and crafts in the small shops, and it's worthwhile to stop in at crafts fairs and outdoor markets to look for bargains and mingle with island residents.
If you're looking for a special memento of your trip that is unique to Kauai County, check out the distinctive Niihau shell lei. The tiny shells are collected from beaches on Kauai and Niihau, pierced, and strung into beautiful necklaces, chokers, and earrings. It's a time-consuming and exacting craft, and these items are much in demand, so don't be taken aback by the high price tags. Those made by Niihau residents will have certificates of authenticity and are worth collecting. You often can find cheaper versions made by non-Hawaiians at crafts fairs.
Kauai is often touted as the healing island, and local spas try hard to fill that role. With the exception of the Hyatt's ANARA Spa, the facilities aren't as posh as some might want, but it's in the human element that Kauai excels. Many island residents are known for their warmth, kindness, and humility, and you can often find all these attributes in the massage therapists and technicians who work long hours at the resort spas. These professionals take their therapeutic mission seriously; they genuinely want you to experience the island's relaxing, restorative qualities. Private massage services abound on the island, and your spa therapist may offer the same services at a much lower price outside the resort, but if you're looking for a variety of health-and-beauty treatments, an exercise workout, or a full day of pampering, a spa will prove most convenient.
Though most spas on Kauai are associated with resorts, none is restricted to guests only. And there's much by way of healing and wellness to be found on Kauai beyond the traditional spa—or even the day spa. More and more retreat facilities are offering what some would call alternative healing therapies. Others would say there's nothing alternative about them; you can decide for yourself.
Open Hours. Stores are typically open daily from 9 or 10 am to 5 pm, although some stay open until 9 pm, especially those near resorts. Don't be surprised if the posted hours don't match the actual hours of operation at the smaller shops, where owners may be fairly casual about keeping to a regular schedule.
The best-known brands in camp, beach, surf, and skate gear can be found at this flagship of Aloha Exchange, along with a good selection of locally designed graphic T-shirts and caps available exclusively here. Personalize your reusable water flask with a couple of their stickers as Island souvenirs. It's popular with locals, especially younger beachgoers.
Hawaiian quilts made by hand and machine, a beautiful selection of fabrics, quilting kits, handmade aloha wear, and unique fabric arts fill a cute, small, red plantation-style building a mile outside Lihue. The staff is friendly and helpful---even though a steady stream of customers keeps them busy---and will ship your purchases anywhere.
The signature treat here, the chocolate opihi, is made with a dash of culinary humor: layers of crispy cookie, gooey caramel, crunchy macadamia nut, and chocolate shell form a little cone . . . a lot like the shape and texture of limpets found clinging to shoreline rocks and which are also considered a delicacy. Fear not: no seafood is involved in this decadent candy. Fudge, bars, and chocolate-covered pretzels make good gifts, and the gelato is ono (delicious). Phone and online orders are now accepted.
Kauai produces more coffee than any other Island, and this is the largest coffee farm in the United States. The 100% local product is grown with sustainable practices and can be purchased from grocery stores or at the plantation, where you can sample nearly two dozen coffees before or after a tour. Be sure to try some of the exclusive estate-roasted varieties. Coffee is available online, too. Fun fact: the factory, quaint old camp houses, and visitor center are located in a settlement called Numila, which is a Hawaiian way to say "new mill."
This is the biggest and best farmers' market on Kauai, sponsored by the Kauai Farm Bureau, Kauai Grown, and Kauai Community College and held 9:30 am to 1 pm on Saturdays in the college's parking lot in Lihue. You'll find fresh produce---including those grown by the college's agriculture students---and flowers, as well as packaged products like breads, goat cheese, pasta, honey, coffee, soaps, lotions, and more, all made locally. The market also offers educational displays and cooking tips. Seating areas are convenient if you want to grab a tasty snack or lunch from the food booths and lunch wagons that set up here.
The gift shop at the Kauai Museum sells some fascinating books, as well as lovely authentic Niihau shell jewelry, handwoven lauhala hats and bags, local food items, historic postcards, hand-carved wooden bowls and boxes, Tahitian pearl jewelry, and a wide selection of unique aloha wear clothing. It's a wonderful place to find quality items not sold elsewhere.
The South Shore's upscale shopping center has boutiques, exclusive galleries, several great restaurants, a gourmet grocer, a large drugstore, and Kauai-made Lappert's Ice Cream. The flagship of the Malie Organics bath line, used by many top hotels and spas, is here, along with anchors like Lululemon, Tommy Bahama, and Deja Vu Surf. Check out the Kauai Culinary Market on Wednesday afternoons to see cooking demonstrations, listen to live music, and shop from local vendors. This attractive open-air plantation-style center gets busy on Friday nights. It's at the roundabout as you enter Poipu.
Located in a historic building in quiet Hanapepe Town, this is the only bookstore on Kauai, with some 25,000 titles and a resident cat. On Friday Art Nights, authors sign their books out front while live music and food trucks entertain meandering crowds. New, used, rare, and out-of-print books are sold here, as well as vinyl records, comics, vintage video games, and two exclusive sticker lines.
As you browse shelves stocked with international wines, gourmet nibbles, local rum, and etched glassware, you may notice romance in the air. The Wine Shop is where couples can obtain a state marriage license, gather charcuterie supplies for a honeymoon beach picnic, or order a gift basket for a milestone anniversary. Want a particular vintage for an upcoming family trip? They will bring in special orders and hold them for your arrival.
What started as a one-woman operation in 1991 now employs a dozen artists who hand-paint ceramic tiles, tableware, ornaments, and fun signs at this factory store in a 1926 former pool hall. Glazes are lead-free and kilns are powered by solar panels, which feed back to the power grid when they're not firing. The studio's "Mahalo for Removing your Slippers" plaques are a classic island souvenir. Custom orders are available.
This popular family-run shopping center has its roots in the Chinese immigrants who came to Hawaii in the early 19th century. Hanalei's only full-service grocery store is here, along with other shops useful to locals and visitors, such as a music shop selling ukuleles and CDs, jewelry stores, art galleries, a surf shop, a variety store, and several restaurants.
Sparkling crystals of every shape, size, type, and color, as well as locally made jewelry and paintings, are sold in this amply stocked boutique. The knowledgeable staff can help you choose crystals for specific healing purposes.
This family operation has a great assortment of branded surf wear and clothes for outdoors fanatics, including tank tops, caps, swimwear, footwear, and Kauai-style T-shirts. They also carry sunglasses, bodyboards, and water-sports accessories, as well as Hawaii-style gifts.
In addition to offering original paintings, scratchboard art, and ceramics by Hawaii artists, this stylish gallery in The Shops at Kukuiula doubles as a boutique that sells a unique sampling of clothing, jewelry, bags, and gifts by local designers with prices that range from good values to splurges.
Once an old schoolhouse, the Hanalei Center now houses a bevy of boutiques and restaurants. You can dig through '40s and '50s vintage memorabilia, find Polynesian artifacts, or search for that unusual gift, including fine jewelry and paper-art jewelry. Buy beach gear as well as island wear and women's clothing. A full-service salon and a yoga studio are in the two-story modern addition to the center.
This is the big name in aloha wear for tourists throughout the Islands, and Hilo Hattie has only one store on Kauai, located a mile from Lihue Airport. Come here for cool comfortable muumuu and aloha shirts for men, women, and children in bright floral prints, as well as other souvenirs. Also, be sure to check out the line of Hawaii-inspired home furnishings.
Just down the highway between Kauai Community College and the Lihue town center, this newer retail plaza has a bank and Verde New Mexican restaurant, plus a Safeway, Aloha Aina Juice Café, Verizon store, gas station, and Domino's. Its grounds are fresher and more inviting than some of Kauai’s older malls.
Any town with paniolo (cowboy) culture, where folks still ride the back roads at sunset, needs an old-style general store. Offering a quaint mix of both practical goods and finery, this westernmost Western shop has boots for mucking out stables, shirts too fine to wear roping, saddles, gifts for all ages, farm decor, and shelves stocked with hard-to-find soda pop varieties.
At this shop near Lihue, five minutes away from the airport, you can buy tropical fruit smoothies, sugarcane, ginger, Kauai Coffee, coconuts, and an assortment of fresh fruits from Kauai, as well as boxes of tropical flowers that can be shipped elsewhere. Note that some of the fruit sold here cannot be shipped out of state.
The buildings of this Kapaa shopping village are in the style of a 19th-century plantation town. ABC Discount Store sells sundries; Safeway carries groceries and alcoholic beverages; Papaya's has health foods. Also here are a T-Mobile phone store, Ross Dress for Less, a UPS store, a Chinese restaurant, and Starbucks.
This simple friendly shop is a good place to pick up quality clothing for women, jewelry, art, housewares, and gifts with an island theme, including books about Hawaiian culture, that you won’t find elsewhere.
At this tiny center on Kuhio Highway, Korean BBQ Restaurant fronts the highway, as does Goldsmiths Kauai, a gallery selling handcrafted Hawaiian-style gold jewelry. A bakery, a surf shop, and a real estate company round out the businesses here.
With plantation-style architecture designed to blend with historic buildings down the block, this new multiuse complex is becoming well-populated with restaurants, retail, services, and offices that attract both residents and visitors. Most retail tenants are local small businesses, not mainland franchises, and there's a wellness vibe thanks to Hoku Foods, Kauai Juice Co., a yoga studio, and e-bike rentals.
Sometimes called the Gump's of Kauai, this store sells elegant clothing, glassware, books, gifts, and artwork—all very lovely and expensive. The shop is housed in a beautiful 1892 stone building in the heart of Kilauea. It's the showpiece of the pretty little Kong Lung Center, where everything from handmade soaps to hammocks can be found. A great bakery and pizza joint (Kilauea Bakery & Pizzeria) rounds out the center's offerings, along with an exhibit of historical photos.
This is Kauai's only true mall. Anchor tenants are Target, Longs Drugs, Macy's, Ross, and Times Supermarket. The mall's stores offer women's clothing, sunglasses, surf wear, art, toys, athletic shoes, jewelry, a hair salon, and locally made crafts. Restaurants range from fast food and sandwiches to sushi and Korean, with a popular Starbucks and Jamba Juice. The center stage has Hawaiian music on Friday nights and a farmers' market on Monday afternoons.
The original Lawai General Store got a facelift and now offers grab-and-go breakfast and lunch, groceries, sundries, a good selection of beer and wine, and a coffee/smoothie bar. At the gateway between the South Shore and the West Side, it's a fine spot to provision for adventures in the mountains or at the shore. Locals and condo renters alike stop by for farm produce, local beef, and house-baked bread, or to refuel with an acai bowl on the porch. Call or check Instagram for Sunday and holiday dinners to go.
On display at this quirky boutique is expensive but unique clothing created by husband-and-wife team Ambrose and Marta Curry. He creates silk-screen art with nontoxic paint on fabric in his studio next door, then she cuts and sews the fabric into bags, hats, and clothing for men, women, and children.
Besides the grocery store in Waimea Town 2 miles away, this locally owned minimart in Kekaha is your last stop for snacks, beverages, ice, sunscreen, and limited grocery items before heading up to Waimea Canyon or out to Polihale Beach.
This shop is tiny, but it's big on exceptional antiques, Hawaiiana, and gifts. The owner, Liane, has been collecting rare finds most of her life and now has a place to showcase them. Her inventory changes regularly, with a mix of new and vintage items.
Convenient to hotels and condos along the shore, the two dozen shops at Poipu Shopping Village sell resort wear, gifts, souvenirs, jewelry, and art. This complex also has a number of food choices, from casual Indian, Thai, and pizza restaurants to a gelato stand and Starbucks. Hula shows and farmers' markets in the open-air courtyard add to the ambience.
