Encounter Kauai is dedicated to supporting local farmers, artisans, artists, healers and educators. One of the many ways we seek to represent the people of Kauai is through the Encounter Kauai Marketplace, a virtual bazaar filled with culturally diverse and exotic merchandise, goods, gifts, and services.

For the art aficionado, there are a myriad of artists on the Garden Island. The shell jewelry from the islands are truly works of art. Craftspeople create unique pieces and designs with rare Sunrise shells, or delicate multi-strand leis made from the tiny Kahelelani shells. Puka shells and Job’s Tears seeds may be strung with crystal and semi-precious stones, created just for you.

Kahelelani shell jewelry is born in a labor of love and devotion. It is an offering from the sea. A small beautiful creature offered it's shell home, and the artisans who painstakingly collect, sort, pierce and string the shells leis, offer them with spirit of aloha.

The Kahelelani shells are so extremely rare and beautiful; they are the only shells in the world insurable as gem jewelry.

These shell offerings come with a sence of purpose and mana. One malihini (newcomer) says that after wearing her new kahelelani lei to a fancy party, she felt that she had finally "arrived" in Hawaii.