Lawai Hawaii Map

About Lawai, Hawaii

Lawai is a locality in Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. It has a population of approximately 2,578. The population density is 245.4 people per km². Lawai is located at 21.9201°N, 159.5010°W. It observes the Hawaii Standard Time — no DST (Pacific/Honolulu) timezone. ZIP codes: 96741, 96765.

Lawai occupies a verdant basin where the cool, rhythmic pulse of the Lāwaʻi Stream carves a path through the earth toward the distant Pacific Ocean. It lies 16.5 miles southwest of Kapaa, HI (from Kapaa, HI: bearing 225°T), and is situated 9.6 miles west-southwest of Lihue. Hanini Reservoir holds the stillness of the morning, its surface reflecting the heavy, humid clouds that gather before drifting toward the distant, jagged silhouette of Ka Lae o Kahonu. The land here possesses a raw, volcanic texture, tempered by the persistent trade winds that carry the scent of damp soil and blooming plumeria across the landscape. Three miles toward the coast, the sharp outline of Kalanipuao Rock breaks the horizon, marking the boundary where the island’s firmament yields to the salt-heavy air of the deep water.

Lawai serves as a quiet custodian of a landscape once defined by the labor of sugarcane and pineapple, a heritage still visible in the orderly sprawl of fields that give way to the wilder, protected growth of the State Department of Land State Resource Management Area. The economy has shifted from the broad-scale agriculture of the past to a more fragmented, localized rhythm, where the management of natural resources and the stewardship of the watershed define the daily kuleana of those who reside here. Beyond the immediate reach of the valley, the sudden, vertical drop of Waiolue Falls provides a constant, distant murmur of moving water, an echo of the hidden vitality that fuels the growth in Kalāheo Gulch. Life in Lawai persists with an unforced focus, moving in alignment with the seasons and the slow, deliberate work of maintaining the land against the encroaching thickets of the tropics.

About This Lawai Map Page

This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Lawai, Hawaii. Coordinates: 21.920117, -159.500957. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service. Real-time local and world news feeds keep the page current.

Detailed location data for Lawai includes the ZIP code (96741, 96765), telephone area code (808), county seat of Kauai County (Līhuʻe), and school district assignment (Hawaii Department of Education).

Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.