got a uniquely awesome chance to visit Manawaiopuna Falls on my honeymoon earlier this year. Of course, in going to Hawaii, the rental car of choice had to be a Jeep Wrangler. And of course, in renting a Jeep Wrangler on Hawaii, I had to supply it with it’s very own screen-accurate mirror tag!
The company we took the tour with is Island Helicopters Kauai, the only company that has a permit to land at the foot of the falls.
We piled in with 4 other people and took off to the south. One of the first things we flew over was this – the harbor breakwaters in Lihue.
Familiar?? Those are the breakwaters seen during the “storm” shots right before Nedry talks to his pal at the docks, asking for 15 minutes!
Beautiful fields, positively UNREAL! Our guide stated that a lot of these specific fields were used for filming in Jurassic Park: The Lost World.
As we curved to the southwest, towards the middle of the island, terrain became incredibly mountainous.
Approaching the landing site!
When you land, you descend into an incredible narrow valley to a small spot of grass next to the river.
Clearly there was a bridge here at some point. Everything is very washed-out and overgrown now, it would be nearly impossible to get a Jeep up here now, the trail is practically nonexistant!
The first thing you’ve gotta do is cross a little irrigation ditch bridge, pictured above.
Then a three-minute hike up to the falls. This is where the Jeeps were driven during filming, and where the first electrical gate was placed!
And suddenly…. the Falls!
The lagoon at the bottom still contains the jack-hammered pieces of concrete used to form the helicopter landing pad!
Incredible! If you’re ever on Kauai, you MUST do this!
I slid painters tape into the gap between the wheel and the tire, then used 3×4 notecards to shield the rest of the tire. I honestly thought I’d need more than this to protect the tire, but it worked great. Then, against better judgement, I painted my wheels without sanding them. I used Rustoleum Gloss Cherry, hoping to be a little brighter than the stripes so that when it darkened a little it would match better. I stuffed toilet paper between the spokes to prevent paint from getting on my brakes or any of the bits behind the wheel.
