The Nawiliwili Deep Draft Harbor (DDH) is located on the southeastern coast of the island of Kauai. The Nawiliwili DDH 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 (Corps) 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 (crest elevation of 10-16 feet), a 3,050-foot long and 40-foot-deep entrance channel and a harbor basin 2,067-feet long and 35-feet depth.

Nawiliwili DDH is the island of Kauai’s principal commercial harbor. The latest waterborne commerce statistics reports 832,000 short tons of cargo were shipped through Nawiliwili Harbor in 2024.  

The Corps is responsible for maintaining the breakwater structure and project depths in the entrance channel and turning basin and local sponsor is responsible for maintaining depths in berthing and mooring areas. Maintenance dredging was conducted in 2016 and 2019.