Play at Lydgate Park

Lydgate Park, south of the Wailua River, is an ideal place for a family outing. A wide sand beach with a lifeguard and restrooms slopes into the ocean where a pair of rock-rimmed pools — one perfect for young children and toddlers, the other good for swimming and snorkeling — invite. The walled pools provide a barrier from high surf and dangerous currents and harbor schools of colorful, relatively tame fish that may expect to be fed.

Lydgate is a large, well-maintained park with a playground and shoreline bridge built by hundreds of community volunteers. It's a good walking beach, there are covered pavilions for picnics and ample parking space. The park has become a pet community project.

In 1994, 7,000 Kauaians combined forces to build the park's Kamalani Playground. The result? A 16,000-square-foot paradise for kids of all ages, decked out with mirror mazes, a suspension bridge, lava tubes and circular slides. Later, thousands turned out again to build the whimsical Kamalani Kai recreational bridge on the south side of the park. The bridge, designed by kids, is less a structural link than a flight of fantasy.

Future plans include a bike path that will eventually reach from Lihu'e to Anahola. Lydgate Park is located off Rt. 56 between Kapa'a and Lihu'e, near the Wailua River Bridge.