On a bluff overlooking Hanalei Bay, Hawaii’s northernmost town is named after a two- year-old keiki (child). In 1860 King Kamehameha IV, Queen Emma and their son, Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Lei O Papa a Kamehameha, visited the area, then a plantation owned by Robert Crichton Wyllie, a Scottish physician and businessman. In honor of the young prince, Wyllie named his estate, Barony de Princeville (the city of the prince).
Before Princeville’s plantation days, it was home to a cattle ranch from land leased in 1831 from King Kamehameha II to Richard Charlton, an advisor to the Hawaiian king. Grazing the land between Hanalei and Kalihiwai, long-horn cattle, transported from northern California, provided salted beef to whalers and butter to Honolulu markets.
From the sugar plantation to cattle ranching days, the region known as Princeville changed owners several times. Finally, in 1968 it sold for development and the resort of Princeville at Hanalei, the first master-planned community on Kauai, was established.
It is the only area on the north shore of the island deemed a Visitor Destination Area (VDA) by the County of Kauai where vacation rentals are allowed without permits. This residential neighborhood boasts two parks, a walk/jog path, shopping center, library, several sandy beaches with crystal waters, and a world-renowned golf course.
The first ever solo design by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., the Princeville Makai Golf Course has been a fixture at this resort town since 1971. An extensive renovation completed in 2010 by the architect himself has garnered the course accolades from notable publications. With holes that canvas the picturesque and rugged Pacific coastline and cooling trade winds to keep you comfortable, the course is a must play for any golf enthusiast.
Although Princeville is known as a resort town with shopping, dining, and recreational amenities, it’s also a community where you know your neighbors by name, a place with big appeal and where aloha is a way of life.