Kapena Falls

Polluted and surrounded by invasive plants. You folks want something unique while visiting Hawai`i? I've lived here my whole life and so has my family for many generations (part native, we've been here over 1000 yrs if you don't know your anthropology) and I'll tell you that neither me nor any of my living relatives would swim here. If you don't know about Leptospirosis, Shigellosis, Yersiniosis, Cryptosporidiosis, Giardiasis, and other illnesses then why experience it first hand? Pig/rat/human feces, chemical fertilizers/herbicides/pesticides, and other contaminants abound in the surface water here (look how much is used on all the properties upstream and the pig and rat population that live in the valley). If you want to roll the dice on getting sick on your vacay, go right ahead. If you want to enjoy a better waterfall then go to literally any other one deeper in nearly any valley. Don't say an actual longtime native didn't warn you. I went in the past and will not go back in the water. The only reasons you may think it is clean is because Department of Health rarely, if ever, tests there anymore and most people who get sick don't report or can't trace the pathogen to the locale. Aloha