Paddle Board to Secret Falls

This is a really cool must-do trip in Kauai. Second only to a helicopter tour of the island.

The Wailua river on the East side of Kauai and at 20mi is the longest navigable river in Kauai.

The trip to Secret (Uluwehi Falls) starts with a beautiful 2mi paddle board voyage up Wailua. You can rent boards from a handful of local shops for about $50 a day. The shops will help you strap the boards to your car and direct you to the boat ramp where you can park and put in.

After taking the right fork you can't miss the beach where you can land and begin the hike to the falls. The hike itself is about a mile and a half over very mixed terrain. Slippery mud, rocky sections, three river crossings and the boardwalk seen below.

The path more or less continues to follow the path of the Wailua right fork toward the falls. I assume the "landing zone" in the picture above is for emergencies, but I have no idea how they would actually get a helicopter in there.

It was really hard to get a good picture of the falls given all the mist. But the dip in the pool at the bottom was not only exhilerating but felt magical, restorative and cleansing. Not surprising given this is water that has flowed from the mountains in the center of the island through essentially undeveloped wilderness to drop in to this pool.

Getting back is simply a matter of doing everything in reverse. Something I opted to make more challenging by blowing apart my flip-flop (sliiper as they call them in Kauai) at the falls forcing me to walk the 1.5 mi back barefoot. I was even more in touch with the water and land by the time we reclaimed our paddle boards.

Truly an amazing must-do 7mi water and land journey. especially if you can do it early before a bunch of Kayak tour groups hit the water.