Nawiliwili Deep Draft Harbor is located on the southeastern coast of the island of Kauai. The Nawiliwili Deep Draft Harbor was authorized by the Rivers and Harbors Acts of 1919 and 1954. The project’s non-Federal sponsor is the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation Harbors Division (DOT). The project is in the operations and maintenance phase.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the initial Federal improvement of Nawiliwili Deep Draft Harbor in 1930, followed by additional work completed in 1956 and 1960. The harbor consists of a 2,045-foot long breakwater, a 2,400-foot long and 40-foot deep S-shaped entrance channel with a minimum width of 600 feet and a harbor basin 2,300-foot long, 1800-foot width and 35-foot depth.

Nawiliwili Deep Draft Harbor is the island of Kauai’s principal commercial harbor. According to the latest waterborne commerce statistics, 2.3 million short tons of cargo were shipped through Nawiliwili Harbor in 2007.  

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for maintaining the breakwater structure and project depths in the entrance channel and turning basin and DOT is responsible for maintaining depths in berthing and mooring areas.   Maintenance dredging was conducted in 2016 and 2019.