Inside Niihau, Hawaii’s ‘Forbidden Island’ That Tourists Can Finally Visit

In 1864, a Scottish plantation owner purchased Ni’ihau Island from Kamehameha V for $10,000 in gold – which, in today’s economy, equates to roughly $2 million.

Since then, the island was home to only Hawaiian natives, and by 1916, Aubrey Robinson, a descendent of the original buyer, closed the land off entirely to visitors.

For over 100 years, Ni’ihau – which is only 17 miles off the coast of Kauai – has been a hermetic member of the Hawaiian chain. That is, until now.

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