Diving Deep into Kauai's Lush Waterfalls and Hikes

 

Beautiful view from above of Wailua Falls. Almost no one gets to see from this angle unless they fly over in a helicopter.

There are amazing hikes and waterfalls on all of the Hawaiian Islands. But there is something special about how easy it is on Kauai to experience some of the best that the island has to offer. Many of these waterfalls in this post, you can drive right up and check out from an easy overlook. We did a easy/moderate hike to another waterfall called Ho'opi'i falls, which was well worth it. All of this post was done in one day, and all are relatively close together. We saw three waterfalls and did three hikes.

Waterfalls: Wailua Falls, Opaeka'a Falls, and Ho'opi'i Falls

Hikes: Hoopii Falls Trail, Sleeping Giant, Tree Swing

This island is just filled with adventure. If you have never been, definitely check it out. Rent a car, drive for two days, and you will see so much of the same stuff.

Wailua Falls, tumbling down into a swimming hole that is only accessible by a steep, slippery hike.

Hikers high atop the Sleeping Giant, above Wailua town in Kauai.

on the hike

Hiking up sleeping giant.

near the top

Our wonderful group here on Kauai.

The views up here are amazing, from near the top of Sleeping Giant hike.

On the sleeping giant hike, you go through this monoculture of Norfolk Pine trees that were obviously planted at some point.

I thought this orange hibiscus was a very unusual color, so I had to grab a photo.

Dirk and Denee sit atop a rock wall, overlooking the beautiful Wailua River far below.

Its not Big Bend, its actually the Wailua River on Kauai.

Opaeka'a Falls on Kauai is another waterfall that is very easy to drive up and see. There is an overlook pull off, just off the road. It is a state park, so a $5 fee will be needed to park if you are a non-resident. But that ticket is good for all the other state parks for that day.

Opa'ake'e Falls in Kauai.

The view zoomed out. Check out how lush this part of Kauai is. They don't call it the garden isle for nothing.

Just driving around the island is an adventure in itself. There is just one beautiful view after another. Does it look like Ryan is having a good time soaking in the view?

We found several species of orchid during our hikes today. These were all brought to the island from elsewhere, however they have naturalized and are now growing out in the wild.

One of our hikes took us out to this tree swing. The view from here looked like a Jurassic Landscape with dinosaurs ready to jump out at any moment.

A muddy hike through the rainforest took us to these beautiful falls. This is Ho'opi'i Falls. Luckily we got there before the crowds.

Here are the falls in all of their glory. There was also a fun swimming hole just to the right of this photo. The rope swing sent you into pretty shallow water though.

Selfie by the falls.

Long exposure of the smaller falls above Hoopii Falls. Did you know you can do this with your iphone camera now? Just shoot in 'live' mode and find the secret menu with 'long exposure' on it.

Jesse's Banyan tree. He really liked this one.