Places on Kauai: Wai’ehu Falls (Wailua Falls)

Basic Information

• Name: Wai’ehu Falls
• Where: Wailua River, Kauai
• Cost: Free
• More Information: Ancient Sites of Kauai

Directions

Wei’ehu Falls which is more commonly called Wailua Falls is located at the end of Maalo Road which begins in the city Lihue on Kauai’s east side:

The road is paved the whole way, but can be narrow at some points with a few sharp corners so please obey the speed limits.

Parking

Due to how popular Wai’ehu Falls is the parking can be extremely challenging.  The parking lot is just too small to handle the amount of cars that visit the falls.  Just be patient and wait for someone to pull out and hopefully you grab the spot before someone else does.

Hawaiian Meaning

The word Hawaiian word “Wai’ehu” means “water spray” which there is a lot of at this waterfall.   The word “Wailua” is believed to be the name of a “ali’i” or Hawaiian chief that lived in the 14th century.

Narrative

It will likely take more time to find parking than it takes to view the falls.  After finding parking it is a short walk over to the viewpoint:

According to legend a mo’o or lizard lived here and guarded a river crossing on the top of the falls.  The mo’o only allowed people to pass if they paid a toll.  However, the mo’o was known to push people it didn’t like off of the falls even if they paid.  One day the sister of the fire goddess Pele, Hi’iaka tried to cross the river when the mo’o tried to push her off of the ledge.  A fight ensured and Hi’iaka killed the mo’o by smashing it with boulders that can be seen at the top of the falls.  This wasn’t the first time Hi’iaka had a run in with mo’o because she also had an incident with two of them on Oahu as well.

The day I visited Wai’ehu Falls it was raining and thus the falls were absolutely roaring with water:

Here is how the falls typically look during good weather:

Conclusion

Wai’ehu Falls (Wailua Falls) is one of the most popular locations to visit on Kauai and thus makes it frustrating to finding a place to park.  After parking though the falls provide some nice photo opportunities for visitors even though the angle looking down into the Wailua River gorge is partially obscured by vegetation.