Wailuku River State Park — Attraction in Hawaii

HEY TOURIST! YEAH YOU! PLEASE READ THIS! I know, you just got to rainbow falls. It's beautiful. The water is flowing over the cliff and pouring into the beautiful basin below. You feel a little brave. You walk to the top where the overlook allows you to see the whole stream. Then you see some local kids smoking and chilling in the water a couple hundred feet behind the falls. There's a lot to see up here! It's beautiful! Rock pools and rivers flowing between and even a second waterfall! So let me be clear. When you see this, and you start climbing around on these rocks, jumping from place to place, and bringing your children out with you, you should really read the signs. It says no access beyond the walkways for a reason. You tourists climbing on the rocks closest to the water fall, or even within 25 feet of it, are in HUGE danger. The rocks are slippery and you are LIKELY to fall. Mix this with the current in the rivers that pull not only feet out from under you, but bodies off the edge, and you'll be a bloody splatter on the rocks below in no time! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! DO NOT CLIMB ON THE ROCKS! PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THE LEDGES! PLEASE STAY SAFE! Nature is a beautiful, perfect force, but it's still a force to be reckoned with. Don't be naturally selected as the stupidest person around. If you won't be safe for yourself, then do it for the other tourists around, who just came for a view in Hawaii and not to watch you...

I read extensively about this being the best freshwater cliff jumping location on the island. I saw numerous reviews raving about how good it was for that and drove all the way from Kailua-Kona with the express purpose of cliff jumping, only to find that the park bans cliff jumping and swimming in general. The pretext for this ban is that the water is too shallow, but the thing is that the water is very clear and I can plainly see that it is more than deep enough in most places, so those claims are not remotely believable. The most charitable interpretation for the ban that comes to mind is that perhaps the water is much shallower at a different time of year.

I am not impressed by this false advertising and feel that I wasted the trip. I would never have driven all the way out hear just to gawk at an otherwise typical waterfall. The only point of going is for cliff jumping, which would have been very refreshing on such a hot day.

Please post accurate information online about what is allowed so that people know whether or not to...

Both the Boiling Pots and the Rainbow Falls can be found in this park. Each stop has its own parking area which makes it easy access to the two overlooks. Both of these areas are quick and easy spots to visit.

We made it first to the Pe'epe'e Falls then to the Rainbow Falls. The Boiling Pots was uneventful since the water level was low... not much "boiling" going on on those pots LoL! Pe'epe'e Falls can be viewed from a distance... like waaaay distant.

Rainbow Falls was pretty but we were not able to see any rainbows. At a certain time on a sunny morning a rainbow can be seen by the waterfall, hence the name. Remember, Hilo in the Big Island is the rainy side. Seeing a rainbow provides a rare treat for photographers. We arrived at high noon LoL

Wailuku River State Park is worth some of your time if you're in the Hilo area. In Hawaiian "wai" means fresh water and "luku" means destruction so Wailuku means river of destruction. There have been drowning deaths on the Wailuku...