East Side (Līhuʻe & Kapaʻa) · Kauaʻi

Activities from Līhuʻe & Wailua

◦ ─ ● ─ ◦

Wailua River Kayak & Secret Falls

Paddle Hawaiʻi's only navigable river, then hike to a 100-foot jungle waterfall.

Guided trips paddle two flat miles up the Wailua, then walk a muddy rainforest mile to Uluwehi ('Secret') Falls. Easy enough for most fitness levels; rivers close after heavy rain, so mornings and flexible plans win.

Price: $$
Time: Half day

◦ ─ ● ─ ◦

Kauaʻi Helicopter Tour

The only way to see it all: Nā Pali, Waimea Canyon, and the wettest spot on Earth.

Seventy percent of Kauaʻi is unreachable by road, which is why helicopter flightseeing was practically invented here. Hour-long flights from Līhuʻe circle Waimea Canyon, the Nā Pali cliffs and — weather allowing — the waterfall-walled crater of Mount Waiʻaleʻale. Doors-off flights exist for the brave; book early and morning for the calmest air.

Price: $$$$
Time: 1-1.5 hours plus check-in

◦ ─ ● ─ ◦

Backcountry Mountain Tubing

Float the hand-dug irrigation ditches and tunnels of an 1870s sugar plantation.

Price: $$$
Time: 3 hours

Beaches on the East Side

Full list →

◦ ─ ● ─ ◦

Lydgate Beach Park

Boulder-ringed ocean pools that make the east side's rough water kid-safe.

Two protected rock-walled pools at the Wailua River mouth give guaranteed calm swimming and easy fish-spotting whatever the open ocean is doing. Lifeguards, lawns, and the huge Kamalani playground.

Hikes on the East Side

Full list →

◦ ─ ● ─ ◦

Sleeping Giant (Nounou) Trail

Switchback up the reclining giant's chest for a coast-to-canyon panorama.

About 3.5 miles round trip from the east trailhead to the picnic shelter on the giant's 'chest,' with the whole Coconut Coast below. The scramble beyond to the 'chin' is exposed — the shelter view is the sensible summit.

Time: 2-3 hours

Where to Stay on the East Side

Full list →

◦ ─ ● ─ ◦

Royal Sonesta Kauaʻi Resort (Kalapakī Beach)

Mega-pool resort on Līhuʻe's swimmable bay — minutes from the airport, central to everything.

On Kalapakī Beach with one of Hawaiʻi's largest pools, this resort (a Marriott for decades before reflagging) trades north-shore drama for location: no part of the island is more than about an hour away.

Class: 4★
Price: $$$

Eating in Līhuʻe & Kapaʻa

Full list →

◦ ─ ● ─ ◦

Hamura Saimin Stand

Slurp saimin at the winding lunch counter that hasn't changed since 1952 — then liliko'i chiffon pie.

Cuisine: Saimin / Local
Price: $

◦ ─ ● ─ ◦

Pono Market

Kapaʻa's family-run counter for poke, laulau and plate-lunch classics.

Cuisine: Hawaiian / Plate Lunch
Price: $

Sights on the East Side

Full list →

◦ ─ ● ─ ◦

Wailua Falls

The double cascade from the opening credits of Fantasy Island — visible from the parking lot.

An 80-plus-foot twin plunge at the end of Maʻalo Road above Līhuʻe, best in morning light or after rain when it thunders. View from the overlook; the informal trails down are dangerous and closed.

Time: 30 minutes

◦ ─ ● ─ ◦

ʻŌpaekaʻa Falls & Wailua River Lookouts

A roadside waterfall with the sacred Wailua River valley across the street.

Time: 30 minutes