Dinosaur fantasies came to life when the first "Jurassic Park" movie came out in 1993. The Steven Spielberg-phenomenal dinosaur sci-fi craze captured the imagination of adults and youngsters worldwide. Despite the grand feature of dinosaurs, the backdrop of these set pieces have truly played an immense role to preserve the cinematic ancient authenticity of the era -- that being Kauai Island in Hawaii.
Kauai Island is truly as peaceful as it appears in the film. According to Go Hawaii, from native fishponds to extreme kayaking towards a waterfall, Kauai's charm is in its simplicity and warmth as nature meets travelers with the sweetest, freshest air of the island and the welcoming people of its small towns in Hanapepe and Old Koloa Town.
Travelers could be familiar with the shoreline scene as an unknown attacker had consumed a staff member along the shorelines. According to The Worldwide Guide To Movie Locations, this scene was filmed in Limahuli Garden in Hanalei in the northern coasts of Kauai Island. The natural garden is in a tropical valley where in the middle is a natural preserve for species in the island -- which sadly does not include the dinosaurs in the film.
Whichever location travelers choose to spend sunset watching by the night, beach fronts in the Polihale State Park or Poipu Beach Park are excellent with gazebos staring straight outward the ocean against a backdrop of mountain ranges. Aside from these two parks is the Tunnels Beach, which is near the Hanalei shorelines and the Haena Beach Park and the beautiful Mahaulepu Beach, which might take two miles to travel.
The backdrop for the scene where visitors arriving in the park are introduced to a gigantic dinosaur is actually the Jurassic Kahili Ranch, which actually is a cattle ranch that has 2,500 acres, perfect to illustrate herbivore dinosaurs grazing the massive lands. The ranch is located in Kilauea near the north of the island. Another ranch, the Kualoa Ranch in Kamehameha Highway is where the protagonist and the children were observing the passing herd of dinosaurs fleeing the predatory Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Aside from Jurassic Park, Kauai Island became the backdrop for the first few scenes of "Raiders of The Lost Ark." Allerton Garden in Koloa also served as the Fountain of Youth scene garden in "Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides." Similar to Gorlitz, which became Hollywood's favorite shooting location for Eastern European scenes, Kauai is a destination that is picturesque in every angle.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
