Staying Connected

Telephones

Generally, hotel surcharges on long-distance and local calls are astronomical, so you're better off using your cellphone or a public pay telephone. Many convenience groceries and packaging services sell prepaid calling cards in denominations up to $50; for international visitors these can be the least expensive way to call home. Many public pay phones at airports now accept American Express, MasterCard, and Visa credit cards. Local calls made from pay phones in most locales cost 50¢ (no pennies, please).

Most long-distance and international calls can be dialed directly from any phone. For calls within the United States and to Canada, dial 1 followed by the area code and the seven-digit number. For other international calls, dial 011 followed by the country code, city code, and the number you are calling.

Calls to area codes 800, 888, 877, and 866 are toll-free. However, calls to area codes 700 and 900 (chat lines, bulletin boards, "dating" services, and so on) can be very expensive -- usually a charge of 95¢ to $3 or more per minute, and they sometimes have minimum charges that can run as high as $15 or more.

For reversed-charge or collect calls, and for person-to-person calls, dial the number 0 then the area code and number; an operator will come on the line, and you should specify whether you are calling collect, person-to-person, or both. If your operator-assisted call is international, ask for the overseas operator.

For local directory assistance ("information"), dial 411; for long-distance information, dial 1, then the appropriate area code and 555-1212.

Cellphones

Just because your cellphone works at home doesn't mean it'll work in Kauai (thanks to our nation's fragmented cellphone system). Take a look at your wireless company's coverage map on its website before heading out -- T-Mobile, Sprint, and Nextel are particularly weak in Kauai's rural areas. If you need to stay in touch at a destination where you know your phone won't work, rent a phone that does from InTouch USA (tel. 800/872-7626; www.intouchglobal.com) or a rental car location, but be aware that you'll pay $1 a minute or more for airtime.

If you're not from the U.S., you'll be appalled at the poor reach of our GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) wireless network, which is used by much of the rest of the world. Your phone will probably work in most major U.S. cities; it definitely won't work in many rural areas. To see where GSM phones work in the U.S., check out www.t-mobile.com/coverage/national_popup.asp. And you may or may not be able to send SMS (text messaging) home.

Voice-Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)

If you have Web access while traveling, you might consider a broadband-based telephone service (in technical terms, Voice-over Internet protocol, or VoIP) such as Skype (www.skype.com) or Vonage (www.vonage.com), which allows you to make free international calls if you use their services from your laptop or in a cybercafe. The people you're calling must also use the service for it to work; check the sites for details.

Internet Access Away From Home

Travelers have any number of ways to check e-mail and access the Internet on the road. Of course, using your own laptop -- or a PDA (personal digital assistant) or electronic organizer with a modem -- gives you the most flexibility. But even if you don't have a computer, you can still access your e-mail and your office computer from cybercafes.

Without Your Own Computer -- It's hard nowadays to find a city that doesn't have a few cybercafes, and Kauai is no exception. Although there's no definitive directory for cybercafes -- these are independent businesses, after all -- a good place to start is www.cybercaptive.com.

You can get Web access at the following places, prices range from a low of $2.50 for 15 minutes to a high of $7.50 for 15 minutes.

In Poipu, the Business Center at the Grand Hyatt Kauai (tel. 808/742-1234) charges $7.50 for 15 minutes; in Waimea, Na Pali Explorer, 9935 Kaumualii Hwy. (tel. 808/338-9999), charges 25¢ a minute or $6 an hour.

In Kapaa, try Business Support Services, 4-1191 Kuhio Hwy. (tel. 808/822-5504), which charges $2.50 every 15 minutes.

In Hanalei, try Bali Hai Photo, 5-5190 Kuhio Hwy. (tel. 808/826-9181), $3 for 20 minutes.

Aside from formal cybercafes, all public libraries on Kauai offer free access if you have a library card, which you can purchase for a $10 fee. For the location of the nearest library, call the Lihue library at tel. 808/241-3222. All hotels on Kauai have in-room dataports and business centers, but the charges can be exorbitant.

To retrieve your e-mail, ask your Internet Service Provider (ISP) if it has a Web-based interface tied to your existing e-mail account. If your ISP doesn't have such an interface, you can use the free mail2web service (www.mail2web.com) to view (but not reply to) your home e-mail. For more flexibility, you may want to open a free, Web-based e-mail account with Yahoo! Mail (mail.yahoo.com). (Microsoft's Hotmail is another popular option, but Hotmail has severe spam problems.) Your home ISP may be able to forward your e-mail to the Web-based account automatically.

With Your Own Computer -- Major ISPs have local access numbers allowing you to go online by simply placing a local call in Kauai. Check your ISP's website or call its toll-free number and ask how you can use your current account away from home, and how much it will cost.

Wherever you go, bring a connection kit of the right power, as well as phone adapters, a spare phone cord, and a spare Ethernet network cable.

All hotels on Kauai (and even some of the B&Bs) offer dataports for laptop modems, and a few have high-speed Internet access using an Ethernet network cable. You'll have to bring your own cables either way, so call your hotel in advance to find out what the options are.