Where did the name come from?

Some insist they heard it in the Peter Paul and Mary song, "Puff the Magic Dragon froliced in the ocean air in the land of Hanalei."

But Hanalei is a beautiful little city on the island of Kauai.

Hanalei

Hanalei a community rich in history.

Timeless Hanalei Town is home to taro farms, art galleries and the Hanalei Pier overlooking beautiful Hanalei Bay. To look at Hanalei today is to look back in history over 100 years ago. The small town still has elements of buildings that rose up during the area’s long plantation era. Hanalei means "lei making."  Hanalei is located at 22°12′24″N 159°30′3″W (22.206653, -159.500713),[2] near the mouth of the Hanalei River on the north shore of the island of Kauai. But Hanalei’s story starts before that. It begins with the native Hawaiians who lived in this area for centuries living off the fish they caught in the ocean and the taro (the green leafy plant used to make poi) they grew in fields.