Kauai waterfall tours: what is open after Hurricane Lowell
16 listings, from under 30 to more than 500 EUR. Six of them, with 52% of the reviews, are kayak hikes that appear to end at Secret Falls, which the state's notices page, updated 23 October 2026, still lists as closed.
Six of the 16 Kauai waterfall tours on this page are Wailua River kayak-and-hike trips whose hike, as far as we can tell from their descriptions, goes to Uluwehi, sold as Secret Falls, and together they hold 52% of its 11,856 reviews. None of them says whether the falls is open. The state parks notices page, updated 23 October 2026, still lists hiking beyond the trailhead and access to those falls as closed after Hurricane Lowell, which passed west of the island on 7 and 8 September. So this page has two jobs. It says what the state has reopened, what it has not and what we could not confirm as of 22 October 2026, with the source for each. Then it reads the 16 listings for what they cost and what they really are: kayak hikes, flights, road trips. For Kauai next to Maui or Oregon, the United States page has the comparison.
Most days start on the east side, in Kapaa and Wailua, or at Lihue airport, and most of this page is about that corner of the island. If the plan is a hike that ends in a swim and your date can move, the Maui page is the other island: a long road or a short rainforest hike, with no state trail in the middle of it that we know to be shut. If Kauai is one stop on a trip across the mainland, Oregon's Columbia River Gorge is the permit-and-van version of the same question.
Anahola Private Jungle Waterfall Hike with Charlie the Hawaiian Dundee, 4WD Jeep Transfer
One guide, one Jeep Gladiator and a secluded pool: a fully private jungle hike near Anahola, with the site chosen to match your activity level and the weather.
Duke's Kayak Adventures Wailua River Kayak and Secret Falls Hike with Guide, 5 Hours
Guide-led paddle and forest hike with Hawaiian myths and history, a swim at the falls and a snack stop. Ages 13 to 69, with check-in at a Kapaa plaza.
Huleia River Kayak and Hidden Valley Falls Hike from Nawiliwili, Motorized Canoe Return
Tandem kayaks down the Hule'ia, waterfalls and swimming holes on foot, then a twin-hulled motorized Hawaiian canoe home. Departs from Nawiliwili Harbor.
Kauai Airplane Tour in a GA-8 Airvan: Na Pali Coast, Wailua Falls, Window Seats
A GA-8 Airvan flight with window seats over the Na Pali Coast, Mount Waiale'ale and Wailua Falls. Check-in is 30 minutes before, at the Lihue commuter terminal.
Kauai Deluxe Waterfall Safari: Shared Helicopter Flight over Na Pali, Waimea and Waialeale
A shared 55-minute helicopter flight across more than 100 miles of central Kauai, from the Na Pali sea cliffs to Waimea Canyon. Up to 6 travelers per booking.
Kauai Eastside Waterfalls and Local Grinds Small-Group Tour: Wailua Falls and Fishpond
A mother-and-daughter company, 17 years of guiding, no hiking and a 1.5-hour Kapaa lunch stop with free chocolate and nut tastings. Pick-ups at 8:30 or 8:50.
Kauai Legends, Waterfalls and Spouting Horn Small-Group Tour from Kapaa, Koloa Lunch
A story-led day with a mother-and-daughter team: heiaus in Wailua, Wailua Falls, the Spouting Horn blowhole and a 1.5-hour lunch stop in the town of Koloa.
Kauai Private Doors-Off Helicopter Flight to Jurassic Falls, Waimea Canyon, Napali Coast
A private doors-off flight from Lihue Airport Commuter Terminal that ends at the Wall of Tears, after Waimea Canyon, the Napali Coast and Hanalei Valley.
Kauai Secret Falls Kayak and Hike: 4.5 Hours, 4-Mile Paddle, 120-Foot Uluwehi Falls
Guides rig the kayaks and gear at a riverside base, so there is no parking or rental stop. Four miles of paddling, two of hiking, check-in 30 minutes early.
Kauai Wailua Valley and Waterfalls Self-Drive Audio Tour with Shaka Guide App, Offline
Drive at your own pace with the Shaka Guide app: 3 ancient temples, 3 waterfalls, 3 hikes and lunch in Kapaa, with audio you can download for offline use.
Outfitters Kauai Wailua River Kayak and Uluwehi Falls Hike with Picnic Lunch, Small Group
Deluxe tandem kayaks with foot-controlled rudders, a muddy mile-long hike and a turkey sandwich picnic at the 100-foot falls. Groups are capped at 12 people.
Private Kauai Eastside Waterfalls and Local Grinds Tour: 5.5 Hours, Bakery and Kapaa Lunch
Private 5.5-hour east side day with no hiking: Wailua Falls, a bakery stop, Lydgate Beach Park, Opaekaa Falls and 1.5 hours in Kapaa for lunch. Meets at 9 am.
Private Property Hike to Bamboo Falls and Papakolea Falls in Lihue, 90-Minute Swim Tour
A quarter-mile walk each way to two private falls, one for photos and one to swim in and climb behind. Bring water shoes; minimum age 8, guided 1.5-2 hours.
Rainbow Kayak Tours Wailua River Kayak and Secret Falls Hike with Lunch at the Falls
A guide company with 20 years on the Wailua: 4 miles of paddling and 3 of hiking with 4 river crossings, then a swim and lunch at a 110-foot waterfall.
Wailua River Kayak and Secret Falls Hike: Morning Departure, Marina Shuttle, Snacks
Check in under the Coconut Marketplace water tower, ride a shuttle to the marina and paddle the Wailua in the calm morning, with snacks and drinks provided.
Wailua River Kayak and Waterfall Hike with Deli Lunch from the Kayak Kauai Marina Store
Pick a turkey, ham, salami, veggie or PBJ sandwich ahead of time; chips, cookie and pineapple come too. Five hours with a swim below a 120-foot waterfall.
Ratings collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
Kauai waterfall tours after Lowell: what is closed and what is open
Hurricane Lowell did not make landfall. It passed a few dozen miles west of Kauai and Niihau on 7 and 8 September 2026 and still brought gusts of 80 mph at Lihue, more than 16 inches of rain and a power cut that hit about 90% of the island's electric customers, according to Weather.com. On 17 September the state closed all its land on Kauai: Nāpali Coast, Waimea Canyon, Haʻena, Polihale, the Wailua River and Kōkeʻe. It has since reopened some of it, piece by piece. The table below is what the state's own notices said on 22 October 2026, and it will go out of date.
The state notice, not the tour page, is the source for what is open.
| Place | What the notices say | What it means for a tour |
|---|---|---|
| Wailua River State Park | The state lists limited access since 21 September. Hiking beyond the trailhead remains closed (notices page updated 23 October 2026). | The paddle may run. The hike beyond the trailhead cannot. |
| Uluwehi (Secret) Falls | Hiking beyond the trailhead and access to the falls remain closed (notices page updated 23 October 2026). | Six kayak listings appear to end here, and none confirms the falls is open. |
| Wailua Falls and ʻŌpaekaʻa Falls | Neither is named in the notices we read. | Status unconfirmed. Ask the operator, or the state, before you drive out. |
| Haʻena State Park | Listed as reopening on Thursday, 15 October 2026 (DLNR). Non-residents need entry and parking reservations. | No listing here goes there. Hanakāpīʻai Falls is an 8-mile round trip on foot. |
| Waimea Canyon, Kōkeʻe, Polihale | Waimea Canyon Lookout was set to reopen in part on 24 October 2026, and the other lookouts stay closed. Kōkeʻe Road remains closed until further notice. | Flights pass over the canyon. We saw no ground listing that goes there. |
| Huleia River (Outfitters Kauai) | Not covered by the state park notices as far as we can tell: the listing's own photo captions mention a National Wildlife Refuge. The listing presents the trip as open, which is the operator's word. | Ask what the operator reopened, and when. |
| Flights from Lihue | Not a state park matter. We did not check each operator's schedule. | Phone before you pay. |
The six Secret Falls listings are Alii Kayaks, Duke's Kayak Adventures, Kayak Adventures Inc., Rainbow Kayak Tours, Kayak Kauai and Outfitters Kauai, all priced at roughly 120 to 250 EUR. Their descriptions mention a paddle of about 4 miles round trip on the Wailua River and a rainforest hike to a waterfall that the listings put at 100, 110 or 120 feet depending on who wrote the page. Two of them add a fee that is easy to miss: since February 2026 the state charges non-residents a per-person entry fee, plus a fee per vehicle, to enter Wailua River State Park, by card only, and kayak listings say the fee is paid at the marina. Check the state's current tariff. That fee still applies when the hike is closed and only the paddle runs. Ask what the operator will do in place of the falls, and whether the price drops.
Road-trip waterfalls: Wailua Falls, ʻŌpaekaʻa and the Eastside days
ʻŌpaekaʻa from the lookout
Six listings stay on land. Two small-group Eastside days from Kauai Soul Travel cost roughly 120 to 250 EUR, for 5.5 hours or for 6 hours with Spouting Horn, and a private version of the shorter day costs more. Their route takes in the Wailua River lookouts, ʻŌpaekaʻa Falls, Wailua Falls, Spouting Horn and lunch in Koloa. Two private hikes, one under 120 EUR for 90 minutes near Lihue and one above 500 EUR for four hours in the jungle, do not say which falls they visit, so ask. The cheapest line on the page, under 30 EUR, is an audio app for driving yourself around Wailua Valley, with 48 hours of access. It is not a tour in the usual sense, and we count it among the 16 anyway.
The photo shows ʻŌpaekaʻa the way most visitors see it, from the road, with the twin falls far below. A fence went up on the unofficial trail to the base in 2006, after two women died there.
Wailua Falls is a good test for any guide's numbers. The state figure quoted by Hawaii Magazine is 80 feet. Wikipedia's infobox says 84 and its text says 173. Two listings here say 173. ʻŌpaekaʻa is given as 151 feet. Whichever number a page offers, it is one source's number.
What the price buys on Kauai
Read the chart in three bands. The first is the kayak band, a cluster between 4.5 and 6 hours and roughly 120 to 250 EUR. It is the cheapest full day on the island, and it is the band with the closure problem. The second is the flights, all about an hour: the airplane (65 minutes, a window seat for everyone), the shared helicopter and the private doors-off helicopter, which together run from roughly 120 to 500 EUR. The third is the private listings, which run from under 120 to more than 500 EUR. All but the most expensive hike are priced per person like the rest; that hike is priced for the whole party, so it is not comparable with a kayak seat.
A flight on the airplane and a kayak day cost about the same. Only one of them depends on a state trail.
Flying over the waterfalls Kauai keeps out of reach
What a flight sees that a car cannot
Wailua and ʻŌpaekaʻa are roadside falls. Manawaiopuna, the 400-foot (122 m) fall in Hanapepe Valley that appears in the 1993 film Jurassic Park, and the falls on the walls of Waiʻaleʻale, are not. The flight listings we opened name them in their itineraries and fly past. None says it lands. Landings at Manawaiopuna were banned until 2009 and are limited since, according to Wikipedia.
Weight is the fine print. The airplane listing caps a passenger at 300 lb and a plane at 1,100 lb; the private helicopter caps a passenger at 275 lb, and everyone is weighed at check-in. The helicopter listing also reserves the right to change or cancel up to 30 minutes before departure. The photo shows the Nāpali Coast in haze, the stretch the flights follow after the interior.
Where a tour leaves from shapes the day more than the waterfall does. The kayak days meet at the Wailua Marina or at a shop in Kapaa. The Soul Travel days meet at the Coconut Marketplace in Kapaa. The two flights we opened leave from the Lihue airport commuter terminal, and the Huleia River trip leaves from Nawiliwili small boat harbor. Hotel pickup is rare: about one listing in eight has it, and none of the shared kayak listings we opened does. Measured off the map's 20 km bar, the east-side falls sit within about 10 km of Lihue and Manawaiopuna lies about 20 km to the west.
Kauai's waterfalls and the rules around them
Dates from the state, Wikipedia and Weather.com. The 2026 entries are the ones that changed this page.
The origins
-
1993
Jurassic Park
Manawaiopuna Falls appears in the film, which is why most visitors have heard of it.
The growth
-
2006
A fence at ʻŌpaekaʻa
A fence goes up on the unofficial trail to the base after two women die.
-
2009
First authorized landings
Helicopter landings at Manawaiopuna, banned until then, begin in limited numbers.
-
2018-19
Haʻena and Nāpali closed
A north shore flood in April 2018 shuts the area until June 2019.
Today
-
8 Sept 2026
Hurricane Lowell
It passes west of Kauai without landfall and still cuts power to about nine customers in ten.
-
17 and 21 Sept 2026
Parks closed, then Wailua at limited access
The state closes all its land on 17 September and lists the Wailua River park under limited access from the 21st.
-
15 Oct 2026
Haʻena
The state lists Haʻena State Park as reopening, with reservations.
How to choose a Kauai waterfall tour in October 2026
If your date can move, wait. The swim at the end of the Wailua hike is what those six listings sell, and they carry 6,198 reviews; a hike without its last stretch is a wet walk in the mud. If your date cannot move, take a flight or an Eastside road day. Both cost roughly 120 to 250 EUR and neither needs the closed trail, and the free cancellation up to 24 hours before is your protection if the operator's plan changes. Ask three things in writing: which waterfall, whether the park fee is in the price, and what happens if the state closes something the week you arrive.
We left out a month chart. On Kauai the thing that rearranged 2026 was a storm, not a season, and none of our sources dates the rains by month. Where months do matter, the United States page has the chart.
Questions about Kauai waterfall tours
Is Secret Falls open?
Not according to the state notices page, updated 23 October 2026, which lists hiking beyond the trailhead and access to Uluwehi (Secret) Falls as closed. The state has listed Wailua River State Park under limited access since 21 September, so the paddle may run and the hike does not. Check the state's park notices page the day you book, because the notices change.
Can you visit Jurassic Park Falls?
Only from the air, for a visitor with a ticket. Manawaiopuna Falls is 400 feet (122 m) tall, in Hanapepe Valley. Landings were banned until 2009 and have been limited since. The flight listings we opened fly past it and none says it lands. Expect a weight check at the airport and a weather call as late as 30 minutes before departure.
Are Kauai waterfall tours running after Lowell?
Some are. The state lists the Wailua River park under limited access since 21 September and Haʻena as reopening on 15 October, and flights are not state park business. We did not check each operator's calendar, so call before you pay, and use the free cancellation up to 24 hours before that the listings we opened allow.
Do I need a reservation for Haʻena?
Yes, if you are not a resident. The state's page lists a per-person entry fee and a per-vehicle parking fee, booked up to 30 days ahead at gohaena.com, with winter hours of 7:00 to 18:45. Confirm before you go, because the rules change.
Choosing between two islands?
Maui swaps the closed trail for a long road: a Road to Hana drive or a short hike, with the fees and closures laid out.
Data verified on . Listings and prices read 22 Oct 2026. Closures from Hawaii DLNR park notices page updated 23 Oct 2026; storm facts from Weather.com; heights from Wikipedia and the listings.