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If the Kalalau Trail is on your bucket list then you were probably disappointed to find out you now need entry tickets to hike this amazing trail. Here is how I managed to secure 4 entry tickets for one day and parking and 4 entries for another day, for our one-week trip to Kauai.

I originally tried to get the tickets 30 days ahead of time when they were released at midnight Hawaii time on this website. Following the timing of ticket releases on their website, I tried to get a camping permit, entry tickets, or parking tickets. In my case, I was up a 3 am my time trying to secure these tickets. My brother was trying at 5 am his time as well. We were unsuccessful. Every time we had the tickets in our cart, they would be sold out by the time we tried to pay for them. I decided to give up and not lose sleep another night. We had done the hike before and so I decided it wasn’t worth it.

Randomly one day a couple of weeks later I pulled up the website and there were a few days showing availability. I then found out that people who cannot use the tickets, give them back, and then they are released to others. I decided to start checking every day around 8 am Hawaii time and various times during the day. A few days later I found entry tickets on our dates and was able to buy them! We were not able to get the parking space but just the entry tickets. It is not a big deal to not have parking as you can have someone drop you off at the entrance or park at the next closest beach and walk in. The walk is pretty short and easy.

Of course, I continued looking for more tickets because I preferred a different day, and I was lucky enough to find more tickets available during my stay with parking. I booked these tickets for other people in my family and they were very glad that I did. I hope that you are able to successfully reserve tickets this way! I did notice a lot of people on the Alltrails website were getting desperate because they could not get reservations. They were offering almost anything for people to give up their tickets!

We hiked to Hanakapi’ai Beach and the Hanakapi’ai Falls. It is ranked as one of the most beautiful hikes in Hawaii. The hike to the beach is rated as moderate but the hike to the Falls is rated as hard. Although difficult, it is definitely worth it. The views are spectacular.

Affiliate Disclosure: Melissa's Travel Addiction has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Melissa's Travel Addiction and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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