I visited the Wailua Falls in Līhuʻe, Kauaʻi, Hawaii [Maalo Rd; Hwy 583] on Saturday, 01/24/26,…read morearound 3:30 PM. Wailua Falls offered an incredibly close view, which made the experience feel special. I was able to truly appreciate the waterfall's beauty up close. One fun highlight was spotting a rooster sitting right near the edge, which was such a classic Kauaʻi island moment because roosters are everywhere on the island. I also noticed a touching memorial sign dedicated to Kavika Luna, "Mr. Aloha" - The Flying Hawaiian (May 1960 - September 2024). The message spoke about rainbows appearing as he chanted and the magic of Wailua Falls coming alive. It felt meaningful because I actually caught a mini rainbow during my visit, which made the moment even more breathtaking and memorable. Overall, I was very pleased with this stop. Wailua Falls is absolutely worth checking out for its natural beauty and history.

First stop when we got to Kauai as it was 10-mins away from the airport…read more First impressions, parking is difficult as the road is narrow because of the cars parked on the side allowing a car to pass at a time. Smelly as I'm sure kids at night are drinking in this area and peeing wherever they like. However, the view of the falls is worth it. I do wish they would cut down some of the weeds as it was a bit tall. Luckily, a fellow tourist that took our family photo was tall and so he was able to capture a photo of us and the fall. I do recommend visiting but just know that the parking is chaotic. Oh, and it is free.

Beautiful trail along the hike that is fairly easy to moderate. A few bumpy parts, but no major…read moreelevation. Easy parking by Shipwreck Beach at the starting point. Took us a little over 2 hours with some photo opps.

While beautiful and at times stunning,this trail is located on the more arid and less accessible…read moreside of Kauai. I prefer the east northeast and northern trails as they are more tropical. I do recommend exploring everything and this trail is interesting.

What a magnificent journey and place! Nicknamed Secret Falls...I don't think it's much of a secret…read moreanymore. However, our afternoon tour kicked back and took our time and we ended up being the only group at the waterfall when we got there! Two mile kayak trip down the river, then about a mile hike to the falls. The hike isn't too bad. Some places you're crossing in knee-high water (it changes depending on conditions), mud, some bouldering, and some slick spots. The wooden planks for most of the trail are nice and make it way easier. My daughter and I both hiked in our water shoes and it wasn't too bad. The waterfall is secluded and gorgeous! The water is cold but so refreshing after that journey to get to it! Great spot to hang out, relax, have a snack, swim and just enjoy! Rest up for the mile hike and two mile kayak journey back home!

This is great. Took the Paddleboard on a trip down the river to see the falls. It's a bit of a…read morewalk from the area that you "park" your kayak or paddleboards, but it is also an easy well prepared hike. It was great for 2 kids that were 8 and 10 years old. The waterfall was nice, and you can def go swimming in it. Be prepared that the water in cold. We did the hike with water shoes, that wasn't ideal. I think I would have probably just worn sandals for the walk. You do need to cross through a couple small rivers, but it was nothing crazy. Glad we did this little excursion in Kauai on Father's day. It was great exercise, and being outside in paradise. It makes it even more special that you need some sort of water vessel to get there, or I guess you an take a helicopter. Good times!

I visited ʻŌpaekaʻa Falls in Kapaʻa, Kaua'i, Hawaii [Hwy 580] on Saturday, 01/24/26, around 2:45…read morePM. This waterfall offered a truly beautiful and scenic view. Right off Highway 580, there was a convenient parking area where visitors could park and take a short walk to the overlook. Although the falls were viewed from a distance, the sight was still absolutely breathtaking and well worth the stop. I also appreciated seeing the Wailua Heritage Trail sign, which shared meaningful history and cultural background about ʻŌpaekaʻa Falls and the Wailua River Valley. It added a thoughtful and educational element to the visit. Overall, this was a quick stop with gorgeous scenery. I highly recommend pulling over to take in a piece of Kauaʻi's natural beauty.

Although paths to Opaeka Falls are officially blocked off for safety reasons, you can view the…read morefalls from a distance from the safety and comfort of Opaeka Falls Lookout located along Kuamoo Road. The Lookout is easily accessible by car and offers free parking and restrooms. This is a good stopping point before heading off to the much more well known and impressive Wailua Falls.

The Alakoko or Menehune Fishpond is a short drive from Lihue proper on a mainly deserted road above…read moreNawiliwili Harbor. Legend has it, that it was built in one night by the menuhene of ancient Hawaiian times. It's been under a restorative project so that it can be brought back to its former glory. We were able to see it twice, luckily. The 1st time was from the overlook and that's cool because we got to see it from above and how its proximity to the river/stream made it a vital area to keep the fish that supplied the royals. The 2nd time we were able to take a catamaran from Nawiliwili harbor manned by the Kauai Beach Boys and that was awesome. We got to take a tour up the Huleia River and went right next to the Menehune Fishpond. Seeing it up close really shows you the scale of the pond. It's overrun with a lot of invasive plants & weeds at the moment so you can see the rock wall at certain points. I love Hawaiian history and legend. This may seem like a boring stop for some but I liked it and made sure I saw it when I was on Kauai. It's so peaceful there... At the Fishpond overlook and especially upriver. I hope to see it again when the revitalization project is more in its advanced stages.

Worth a quick stop if you are in the area for beautiful views! There is a small spot to pull off,…read morebut no restrooms or anything like that.

We spent the day exploring Lihue and then headed up to meet Shizuo & Renan our guides for the…read morewaterfall rappelling. They were extremely knowledgeable and patient with all of the guests and made the experience fun and memorable. The views are amazing and the hiking up to each site was a bonus workout. I highly recommend you try this adventure with your family and friends of any age!

My husband is somewhat of an adventure junkie, so we added waterfall rappelling to our honeymoon…read moreactivities list. We had both rappelled one other time, so it wasn't very new, but we still appreciated the refresher at the beginning of the session. Our guides, Renan and Matt were awesome! During the short hike to the waterfall we got tons of information about the vegetation and folklore of the island from the guides. We felt safe under their direction and had an absolute blast. We also spent some time after our adventure chatting with the guides about the best spots to eat on the island, they had tons of great recommendations. Thanks for making our honeymoon thrilling!

To get the right directions look for the beach parking lot on Google maps. When you get to the…read morestables keep left at the fork. Pretty rough road. Don't suggest if you have a low riding car. You park up top and walk down the trail to get to the beach. Didn't find the trail rough or slippery as others had mentioned. Interesting caves along the way. Long strip of beach good for walking and there are tide pools at the other end which have some interesting stuff to look at. This beach was listed online as good for body surfing and boogie boarding. Absolutely not! It's very very rocky. You would be thrown into rocks and very scraped up. Shipwreck beach nearby is a bit rocky but not this much... And much more suitable for boogie boarding.

I hesitate to give 5-stars (to hide it away from other) but this it fabulous. No showers and the…read morescenery is spectacular...

My wife and I did a napali coast tour a few years ago on a bigger boat with a different company and…read morehuge crowd of passengers so my expectations were set at 7/10 Today blew the previous out of the water to a 10/10 via a few different factors but the team was def the best part -- had a crew of 3 with Capt Dom, RJ, Jake & these guys were great. Banter among them kept it light but they remained professional all while providing the best service and including all guests in convo. To top it off their "tour guiding" / related facts about the coast were great Aside from the team -- loved the smaller boat that could go into the caves, which also made the guest pool smaller around 15. Highly recommend this experience and if we decide to do it again wed only go with this company

This was by far the best tour experience I have ever had. Captain Manu and Rocky were amazing…read moreguides and were very hospitable. My mom had the hots for Captain Manu lol. Back to the tour. It had a bit of everything snorkeling, snacks, excitement, beautiful scenery and history about this part of the island. If you're in Kauai do yourself a favor and book a tour with Na Pali Experience but hands off Captain Manu, my mom calls dibs P.S. Hit me up Captain Manu if you want my mom's digits

Initially coming here to kill a little time before a reserved tour, my wife and I really admired…read morethe planning and execution of the building/landscaping of this family park. Named after a pillar in the community who came to Kauai in the late 19th century, Lydgate Beach Park is 62 acres, with the Lydgate Park pathway encompassing 2.5 miles, a small part of the much larger Ke Ala Hele Makālae costal trail. There is plenty of parking, with both dedicated surface lots and street parking on the paved road. We immediately noticed surfers on electric surfboards out pretty far, even on this windy day. At the northern part of the park is where most people gather, close to modern facilities and a manned lifeguard station and a large covered event area with plenty of parking. Closer to the shore, we saw a seal just lying on the land, bathing in the sun, completely ignoring the people milling by. The very large safe man-made swimming/tide pools are great for the kekei and others, with constant refreshing of sea water over the lava rocks. There are picnic tables nearby as well with a lot of green space. My favorite feature are the man-made protected swimming pools, What I loved about it was how spread out everything was, with so many amenities. It just never felt crowded, even if a lot more people came. As we were leaving, my wife mentioned that Lydgate Beach is one of those rare parks where an ocean-loving family would intentionally live close by, just to be near this park.

Hands down probably the best Beach park and kids playground in the world with both combinations…read more Has a very large covered area for groups and events. Smaller covered area for public rental and reservations. 2 playgrounds next to each other. One very extensive and large playground mostly wooden and older. The other one is more modern, "smaller". Recently they added more shaded areas over parts of that playground. Lots of parking, great beach area.

If you want to enjoy a water activity that doesn't involve the ocean, then Wailua River is your…read morejam. Next time we visit, we plan to rent kayaks and navigate this river either in a tour or on our own. There's so much to see and explore along this river. It's so lush and beautiful! We took the Smith's guided tour this time up to Fern Grotto and it was awesome!

If you're vacationing in Kauai, Wailua River is the place to visit. My best friend booked an…read moreexcursion for us ladies here to do some kayaking and hiking for the afternoon. It was about 5 and half hours long but so worth it. First you check in, listen to the tour guides instructions and then head out to the river. There was us 3 and several other groups that did this tour. We didn't know what to expect but that's what made this tour so fun! As soon as we unloaded the bus we parked our kayaks, packed up our belongings in water proof bags and set sail. Haha! If you're not a swimmer, they do provide life jackets. We kayaked along the River for about 45 minutes and then parked next to the hiking trail. Hiking sandals are a must need for this excursion by the way. I made the mistake of wearing hiking shoes which got all messed up in the mud. Yes, folks! When I say there is mud, be prepared to get your clothes wet and muddy. There is a part during the rocky hike where you will need to walk in the river waist deep to get to the other side. If you're not a strong hiker, a walking stick will help you keep your balance. I've seen a few people fall from the slippery rocks so make sure to keep a steady pace. With that in mind, you'll make your way to the beautiful waterfall that awaits you at the end. Picture worthy! For those who've never been here before, keep in mind of the time you'll spend here. As I mentioned earlier, it was about 5 and half hours long from start to finish. Kayaking there takes almost an hour. Hiking takes just as long. With all the slippery rocks and the mud, please don't wear your Sundays best. You will get dirty! Bring lots of water to stay hydrated and some snacks and a light lunch to keep your energy up. You will get tired hiking and kayaking back to base camp. Overall, this experience was pretty awesome! Definitely made some memories here that my friends and I will share forever.