Waipi'o Valley & Hi'ilawe Falls

The second day on Hawaii started with a trip to the Waipi'o Valley on the northeast coast of the windward (wet) side on the island. Since we had a Jeep and Jonny's knowledge, we waved and went past the guard and headed down the steep road to the valley's floor. It drops about 900 feet in one mile and is not for the faint at heart. I liked that I was driving.... Once we made it to the bottom, we parked along a dirt road and entered an unmarked trail, destination...Hi'ilawe Falls. The 1200' falls are Hawaii's largest and there's a large pool where u can swim under and climb the rocks behind the falls. Super cool. The hike up was not easy and Nick wished he had on more than flip flops for sure. But we made it and the reward was well worth it. There is very little chances of finding the falls if you didn't know where to go and I am so thankful we had Jonny to show us the way.

After the swim and hike back down we headed to the relatively empty beach at the mouth of valley and Jonny cooked an excellent seared tuna lunch with papaya for us. A hungry horse lumbered over looking for scraps, loved that. The beach and surrounding cliffs, valleys and waterfalls are all beyond scenic and I would say this ranks as the most beautiful beach I have ever been to. What an amazing place this is, definitely one not to miss when you go to the Big Island. The day was like out of a dream...