The Untold Story of Waimea Valley on Oahu: More Than a Waterfall

Are you missing the real reason locals consider Waimea Valley one of Oahu's most sacred places?

For many visitors, Waimea Valley seems like just another waterfall stop—a quick swim and photo opportunity before moving on to the next attraction. But beneath the surface lies a thousand years of Hawaiian history, sacred sites, and living cultural traditions that most tourists completely overlook.

If you're planning a trip to Oahu and want your visit to create lasting memories while respecting Hawaiian culture, this episode is for you. Learn how a simple shift in your approach can transform what might seem like a typical tourist stop into a meaningful cultural experience that locals truly appreciate.

In this episode of Hawaii's Best, we explore the untold story of Waimea Valley's sacred sites with Executive Director Richard Pezzullo, who shares insider knowledge about the valley's rich history, unique cultural programs, and why 60% of visitors are now choosing not to swim in the waterfall.

👉 In this episode, you will:

• Find out why most visitors miss the sacred sites that locals consider the true heart of Waimea Valley—and how to avoid making the same mistake
• Discover the cultural programs, hands-on activities, and volunteering opportunities that give you authentic access to Hawaiian traditions
• Learn the insider recommendations for how long to spend at the valley and what experiences will make your visit truly meaningful

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 Scroll up ⬆️ and hit play now to experience Waimea Valley like a local and make your Hawaii trip unforgettable.

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🎧Related episodes:

• Ways to Show Respect for the Island's Culture and People
• Mistakes When Planning a Trip to Hawaii

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🤓Chapters:

• 1:43 - Cultural Significance and Sacred Sites
• 6:10 - Programs and Activities at Waimea Valley
• 11:28 - Balancing Tourism and Preservation
• 14:02 - Visitor Experience and Recommendations
• 18:33 - Personal Insights and Final Thoughts

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This podcast is for travelers looking to plan a trip to Hawaii. Discover travel tips, itineraries, and traveling tips & hacks with guides to help you explore Hawaii. Whether you’re planning a vacation to the Hawaiian islands, dreaming of a Hawaiian getaway, or visiting Honolulu, Maui, Kauai, Oahu, or Big Island we’ll help you travel with aloha.

Edge of the Ocean, Stick Figure (w/ permission)

Ukulele and Chill, Coby G (w/ permission)

Chapters

• 1:43 Cultural Significance and Sacred Sites
• 6:10 Programs and Activities at Waimea Valley
• 11:28 Balancing Tourism and Preservation
• 14:31 Visitor Experience and Recommendations
• 19:02 Personal Insights and Final Thoughts

Transcript

165_The Untold Story of Waimea Valley on Oahu: More Than a Waterfall

[00:00:00] Introduction to Waimea Valley

[00:00:00] Bryan Murphy: In this episode, you'll discover the biggest mistake most travelers make at Waimea Valley and the secret experiences most visitors completely miss. If you think it's just about swimming under a waterfall, you're about to unlock the real untold story of Waimea Valley that locals wish. Every visitor knew.

[00:00:24] Bryan Murphy: Aloha.

[00:00:24] Meet the Host and Overview of Waimea Valley

[00:00:24] Bryan Murphy: Welcome to Hawaii's Best, the podcast helping Travelers Plan an unforgettable Hawaii vacation with insider tips in featuring local voices. I'm Bryan Murphy, a husband dad of three, and certified Hawaii destination expert. Each week I share local insights, travel tips, and up-to-date news, sometimes with guests across Hawaii and sometimes solo, all to help you plan your next trip to Hawaii.

[00:00:52] Bryan Murphy: Most visitors to wa MEA Valley, which is on the North shore of Oahu. They often overlook the sacred sites that locals considered the true heart of the valley. So changing your perspective can turn what might seem like a typical tourist stop maybe as you're going about your day and maybe stopping off before lunch.

[00:01:12] Bryan Murphy: But this can be a meaningful cultural experience for you and those you're traveling with. There's also a growing trend. Now 60% of visitors are choosing not to swim in the waterfall, and the reason behind that might actually surprise you. Welcome to episode 1 65 of Hawaii's Best on the show. We love learning from local businesses and voices and helping to travel with aloha.

[00:01:37] Bryan Murphy: And today I'm thrilled to be talking with Richard Pazzo, the executive director of Waimea Valley.

[00:01:43] Cultural Significance and Sacred Sites

[00:01:43] Bryan Murphy: I. Waimea Valley is deeply rooted in Hawaiian history and continues to be a place for Hawaiian spirituality and traditions. As stewards and employee of Hii pka, LLC, they strive in their daily responsibilities to Waimea Valley and its host culture to celebrate and share a vibrant and living Hawaiian culture with the world giving us insider access to the valley.

[00:02:07] Bryan Murphy: Today you're gonna discover the untold story of white maned valley's sacred sites, and why there's so much more than just a waterfall. By the end of this episode, you'll know if you're making the common mistake of treating Waimea as just another Instagram spot to check off your list. And if you are, it's okay.

[00:02:23] Bryan Murphy: You have time to maybe shift your focus to the cultural programs and the sacred sites here at the Valley. You'll walk away with a deeper connection to Hawaii and help protect a place that means so much to the people who call it home. Let's go ahead and let's talk story with Richard Polo from Waimea Valley.

[00:02:50] Bryan Murphy: So Y May Valley, we were actually just there probably a couple months ago. Mm-hmm. It's such a popular destination for a lot of visitors because when you're there, you can just feel the history. Right. You can just feel as you're walking the grounds. I thought it'd be great to get a little bit more. Behind the scenes of Waimea Valley.

[00:03:07] Bryan Murphy: A lot of people have this on their list of must-dos, but it's such a special place, more so than just mm-hmm. Something to cross off your list. And that's kind of what I wanted to dive into

[00:03:19] Richard Pezzullo: today. Unfortunately, most people come here because they can swim under the waterfall.

[00:03:24] Bryan Murphy: Right.

[00:03:25] Richard Pezzullo: And that's not what we're about.

[00:03:26] Bryan Murphy: Exactly. So maybe you can give us an overview of. Maya Valley specifically, its significance for Hawaiian culture and, and history.

[00:03:38] Richard Pezzullo: Sure. Well, we believe the Valley was first settled around a thousand years ago, and we know that the Hall Lno site, this is a AU or a Temple, dates back to the 14 hundreds. It was actually carbon dated the site.

[00:03:55] Richard Pezzullo: To the 14 hundreds and we restored what, you know, we rebuilt or restored what we think it would've looked like using a lot of the original rock work. We know that the Valley was occupied hundreds of years ago, maybe a thousand, and it's one of the few intact Ahuja, a land division that the Hawaiians would manage in a sustainable way.

[00:04:19] Richard Pezzullo: Its pie shape goes from the ocean all the way to the tip of the mountain. And we also know that at some point in the history on Oahu, the valley was set aside to be ruled by high priest or kahuna nui and the last high priest. Who ruled the valley was Eva, and Eva was the spiritual advisor to King Kame, the first or the great who unified the Hawaiian Islands.

[00:04:47] Richard Pezzullo: He's actually believed to be buried here. We have many of his descendants, somewhere around 10,000. Come in to visit the burial site, which of course we do not publicize. It's not something we really want visitors to visit. So, you know, very, very deep cultural significance. History. There were thousands of people in the valley.

[00:05:10] Richard Pezzullo: We have remnants of agricultural terrace walls, which were used to grow crops. And our Khale site, which we restored. We know that some of the hale we rebuilt are on original sites, and this is where one of the high priests in his family would've lived. It's like a small village. Seven Hale on the site. We know there's some ancient rock walls there, and we just so happen to be opening a new exhibit.

[00:05:42] Richard Pezzullo: We actually received funding from Hawaii Tourism Authority. Oh, cool. We're going to be exhibiting a number of artifacts that have been found in the valley. They're gonna be on display in this site, Khale site, the village site. They include everything from poi pounders to octopus lores to, I think there's even a wooden canoe prow.

[00:06:03] Richard Pezzullo: But these are all artifacts that were founders. So a lot of deep cultural significance history here in the valley.

[00:06:10] Bryan Murphy: Great.

[00:06:10] Programs and Activities at Waimea Valley

[00:06:10] Bryan Murphy: I gave a little bit of your bio, but for listeners, if you can maybe expand upon what your role is and what does that look like day in and day out for you?

[00:06:19] Richard Pezzullo: Yeah, so I'm the executive director.

[00:06:21] Richard Pezzullo: I've been here since 2012. I work with all my department managers, my directors, and we basically manage Yme Valley. We make sure that we present it in the most culturally significant way. It's really important for us, for our visitors to know that. This is not just a place where you can go swim under the waterfall.

[00:06:45] Richard Pezzullo: This is a place where you can learn about Hawaiian history, about the history of the valley, about the history and culture of Hawaii. That's our main role, myself and my team, I.

[00:06:57] Bryan Murphy: Your mission Waimea Valley is to preserve and perpetuate the human culture and natural resources of Waimea for generations through education and stewardship.

[00:07:07] Bryan Murphy: That's a big role. I wanna give you an opportunity to expand on that.

[00:07:10] Richard Pezzullo: We have several programs here for our visitors that also educate. One of 'em is our Ca Puni AYA program. This is where our visitors get to visit three cultural sites. We have staff there who teach them about Hawaiian values that are associated with each site, and if they retain what we've taught them, they actually get to earn a Ho Kippah Ambassador pin, souvenir pin, and a certificate.

[00:07:39] Richard Pezzullo: That's one of our new programs. We also have our. Exhibit. This is separate from the exhibit of the artifacts. This is the actual Khale site where we again have staff and we do have some artisans there demonstrating, but it's a museum style exhibit. We actually have audio in each of the hale. That talk about the holly, the purpose of the Holly and some of the sounds you might hear in each Holly.

[00:08:07] Richard Pezzullo: And we also have a display of items that would normally be found. And again, we have staff there that can talk, you know, the different Holly in the site. Then we also have the um, artisan program where we have 15 artisans. They do everything from weapon making to valhalla weaving, to feather making, to lay making, and they're stationed throughout the valley.

[00:08:30] Richard Pezzullo: We actually have a program through the Department of Interior. That provides us with supplies and materials that the artisans can use to have the visitor create a takeaway based on whatever their art form is. We actually have a Kapa maker as well, which normally she stationed in the Khale area. We also have an education program.

[00:08:51] Richard Pezzullo: This is a program where we offer different sessions for schools K to 12. We see about 200 schools a year, so lots of opportunities and it's education in a way that we try and make it interesting and fun, exciting. Like I say, there's takeaways. People can actually learn how to do some of the art forms that our artisans were demonstrating.

[00:09:15] Bryan Murphy: Yeah. When we were there, my family and I, we have three girls and they got through all their spots and got their stamps. Mm-hmm. What was cool with that, obviously they got to interact and talk to. You know the people at these exhibits as we're going through the grounds, but I noticed there's so much activity happening as you're walking through, someone's getting ready for a wedding, and then you walk down a little bit further and people are diving underneath the waterfall.

[00:09:41] Bryan Murphy: It's such a vast value, but is there a spot for you that just kind of resonates more with you personally?

[00:09:47] Richard Pezzullo: I find. The area just passed Khale, and I don't know why, but I always feel a really strong presence there. I don't know if it's the ancestors or what, but it's kind of interesting because you would think I would feel that more in Khale, but I don't know why.

[00:10:06] Richard Pezzullo: And it's where our ethno botanical gardens are now. And it's actually maybe because it's close to Hale Evie, house of Bones. This is a cultural site that is a little bit off the main path, so what we call our upper road. It's probably closer to that and I just feel a really strong presence there. I like to spend a little bit of time there when I can.

[00:10:28] Richard Pezzullo: I usually stop there for a while. I. But also the other place, of course, is the waterfall. I've never gone into the water. I've never swam in the waterfall because I respect what the waterfall is about. It was there for our warriors, the warriors who were wounded, and it's actually considered sacred. But I usually, early morning, I'll go up and I'll spend some time there and I just find real peace and, and serenity there that, you know, prepare myself for the day.

[00:10:57] Richard Pezzullo: Those are probably the two favorite places that I have when it comes to gardens. My favorite garden is the uh, torch ginger alley, which is in bloom right now. We have spring just like everywhere else in the world, and we see a lot of our flowers coming in, and that's when Torch ginger alley is in full bloom, and it's just beautiful.

[00:11:19] Bryan Murphy: You mentioned something. I wonder if we can get into a little bit outta respect. You don't swim in the waterfall. I haven't either.

[00:11:28] Balancing Tourism and Preservation

[00:11:28] Bryan Murphy: How does Yme Valley balance tourism while preserving Hawaiian culture and, and the environment and that layer of respect?

[00:11:38] Richard Pezzullo: Yeah. We really are careful about what we allow here.

[00:11:41] Richard Pezzullo: When we were doing our strategic planning, everybody in the organization had input into the plan. We asked the question, should we stop swimming? And 99% said we shouldn't because it generates the revenue we need to sustain the valley and to take care of it. But we should work towards that goal, and that's why we're putting a much stronger emphasis on all the cultural programming.

[00:12:08] Richard Pezzullo: The Valley has been branded as a place to go swimming under a waterfall for 50 years. So we're working really hard to change that by offering all the cultural program and really presenting the valley through its history, its cultural significance and you know, we're gonna just continue to try and educate our visitors so that, you know, go look at the waterfall.

[00:12:31] Richard Pezzullo: You don't need to swim in it. I've had people approach me, they wanna put in a zip line, oh, you'll make lots of money. Sorry, no zip line. I had somebody come and say they wanted to put a train track up to the waterfall. Oh, wow. So people could ride a train up to the waterfall. And I said, no, that's not appropriate.

[00:12:49] Richard Pezzullo: I had somebody who wanted to take pictures up a photo, set up a little photo operation at the waterfall, and you know, the coconut bra thing and the whole, you know, the costumes. And I said, no, that's not appropriate. You know, so we really are careful about what we allow here. We honor the valley and the culture and history of the valley, but until we can shift.

[00:13:12] Richard Pezzullo: The focus away from the waterfall, it generates a lot of revenue for us. So we monitor, we do, um, in-person surveys. We've been doing more and more. We are seeing that the last survey I looked at, only about 40% of the visitors we're swimming. We're hoping that, you know, that trend continues and we're gonna monitor it, and at some point, hopefully we can stop.

[00:13:35] Bryan Murphy: And I wonder, you know, releasing new exhibits and stuff like that will help the valley itself. I mean, it's such a beautiful walk. It's mostly all paved, it's shaded. It's great for, like, we were there with my in-laws, so it's great for those with multiple generations as you're visiting. It's an activity that, yeah, you can walk to a waterfall, which isn't unlike a lot of hikes in Hawaii where you have to.

[00:14:00] Bryan Murphy: Do a real trek sometimes.

[00:14:02] Visitor Experience and Recommendations

[00:14:02] Bryan Murphy: If someone's maybe planning the very first visit to Yme Valley, how much time would you recommend someone playing for a visit?

[00:14:09] Richard Pezzullo: I would say at least an hour and a half. Okay. Yeah. One of the things I didn't talk about is we started a hula program. These are like top performing halal and some actually had danced or are currently dancing in Mary Monarch.

[00:14:23] Richard Pezzullo: So these are the top, top halal. They're here on Wednesdays, Sundays, Saturday, I would say at least an hour and a half. To experience all of our programming, and even if you're not swimming, this is just experiencing all our programs, all of our gardens, we have about, we say, 300 acre botanical garden that has plants from all over the world, including a lot of native Hawaiian plants.

[00:14:48] Richard Pezzullo: We have a lot of rare and endangered plants here. We have some plants that can't be found anywhere else in the world. We actually have seven cultural sites in the, in the area that our visitors get to experience. So lots to see, lots to do. We also have a tour that we just started a couple years ago. It's called our KI Tour, and this is where you get a behind the scenes botanical and cultural tour on an electric shuttle.

[00:15:16] Richard Pezzullo: Really in depth information on the valley, on the history, on the gardens, so you know, that's becoming more and more popular. So yeah, hour and a half at least if you're a real botanical enthusiast. These two hours 'cause there's lots of gardens. We have really a lot of very interesting, unique plants here in in YM Valley.

[00:15:37] Bryan Murphy: We got to luau there. It's one of the most, yeah.

[00:15:40] Richard Pezzullo: Yep. We got the luau.

[00:15:41] Bryan Murphy: Highly rated Luaus in Hawaii.

[00:15:44] Richard Pezzullo: Yep. They do a good job.

[00:15:45] Bryan Murphy: There's a link on your website about volunteering now. Is that something that is available? For visitors or more Ina

[00:15:53] Richard Pezzullo: Yes. Visitors and Ina. Okay. If they just check in. If they want to come in and visit volunteer, they just check in at the visitor center if they happen to be here and they, we have a sign in the uh, visitor center about volunteering for our visitors.

[00:16:08] Richard Pezzullo: So we actually have 1500 acres above the waterfall. You know, we're doing reforestation work. We fenced in about a hundred acres just to keep the pigs out of the new plantings. But we've planted a lot of koa, a lot of sandalwood. I think we're somewhere up around 60,000 plants and trees that have gone in up on our Maka forest area.

[00:16:31] Richard Pezzullo: We do take, uh, volunteers up there a couple times a month. And it's open for, uh, visitors as well. They just have to check our website to see when we, uh, when we have our next volunteer day in our Malka area.

[00:16:45] Bryan Murphy: That's great. A lot of people who listen to this and who I've talked to have expressed interest in, you know, volunteering opportunities.

[00:16:52] Bryan Murphy: Just working with the land is, the exhibits are great and the education is great, but getting out into the land and actually, whether it be removing invasive species or planting native, you know, that's, it's just something special about that is just, you can't describe unless you actually do it. So I'm.

[00:17:10] Bryan Murphy: That's cool that you guys offer that. Just curious, you know, we talked a little bit about tourism and what would you love to see make better in regards to tourism to Hawaii? Like what is, like if you had a magic wand, this would be like kind of an ideal balance, if you will. Yeah,

[00:17:27] Richard Pezzullo: and again, I think it's having people come here.

[00:17:30] Richard Pezzullo: Because of the culture and the history. You know, most people come because it's beautiful. There's swing palm trees and beautiful beaches. But I would like to see more people come here to appreciate the culture, the history, and, and I know there's, there's a lot who do come here for that, but there's a lot who don't.

[00:17:50] Bryan Murphy: Yeah.

[00:17:51] Richard Pezzullo: We see all types of visitors here. If I stand by the, our ticket booth exit coming out of the valley and. Usually Mahalo people and I can tell the ones who really, really appreciated being in the valley. And like you said, there's a special feel to the valley. They don't know why they feel the way they do.

[00:18:10] Richard Pezzullo: They think it's because it's so beautiful and they so waterfall and lots of garden. But it's the, it's the place that's making them feel that way. And it's just really, really makes me feel really good to see those people come out. You know, sometimes the people in line buying their tickets, they'll say, what was it like?

[00:18:28] Richard Pezzullo: And they'll go, oh my gosh, you gotta go in there. That really makes me happy.

[00:18:32] Bryan Murphy: That's cool.

[00:18:33] Personal Insights and Final Thoughts

[00:18:33] Bryan Murphy: On a personal note, if you had a, a week off, where do you like to go to a vacation?

[00:18:39] Richard Pezzullo: Well, I just went to Fiji in New Zealand. Oh,

[00:18:42] Bryan Murphy: all right.

[00:18:44] Richard Pezzullo: Nice. You know, I love Fiji. I spend a lot of time in the South Pacific. Okay.

[00:18:48] Richard Pezzullo: Solomon Islands, pap New Guinea. Fiji and uh, I just love that part of the world. It's just so different. People don't realize how a lot of people live, so. Fiji's one of my favorite places, but I love New Zealand, was just incredible. And of course, we all love Vegas. It is a ninth island. Yes. If I had my preference, I'd go to Fiji or, okay, back to the Solomons one of these days.

[00:19:13] Richard Pezzullo: Tahiti planning on getting there. Beautiful places with really nice people, really genuine people. So

[00:19:20] Bryan Murphy: yeah. One of the things I love to ask everyone who comes on, either it's about food or like what else to do, but we're talking about one of the best, I think, things someone ought to put on their itinerary is definitely why Maya Valley.

[00:19:32] Bryan Murphy: But say someone's leaving the valley and it's around lunchtime, where are we gonna go eat? What are your, your top spots? Yeah.

[00:19:39] Richard Pezzullo: Well, I like Mayers, which is in, um, in Hava. You know, a lot of people ask, where's Giovanni's shirt, shrimp? Yeah,

[00:19:48] Bryan Murphy: yeah.

[00:19:48] Richard Pezzullo: You know, because they read about it, right? Yeah. But I'll usually send them to Maya's.

[00:19:52] Richard Pezzullo: It's one of my favorite restaurants in Hava Small, and they do these nice tapas and, and you know, they usually have a fish special there and nice little restaurant. Where it's going to.

[00:20:03] Bryan Murphy: Awesome. Is there anything else that you want someone to know? One, visiting the Valley, but even more general of someone visiting Hawaii for the first time?

[00:20:12] Bryan Murphy: What would you want them to know?

[00:20:14] Richard Pezzullo: Yeah. They should know that Hawaii is a special place. It's not just a place, you know, everybody associates Waikiki with Hawaii and there's a lot more to the Waikiki experience. Sure. And that's what we consider ourselves, the anti Waikiki. And you know, that's what they should be looking for.

[00:20:35] Richard Pezzullo: They should be looking at, first of all, trying to experience the real culture. The real Hawaii and the only way they're gonna do it is by coming to places like Waimea Valley. What makes us a little bit different from a lot of the other places visitors might go is that we're authentic. This is a real cultural site and this is what they should be looking for.

[00:20:57] Richard Pezzullo: They should be looking for experiencing the real Hawaii, and it's, you know, everybody wants to do the Waikiki thing and, and go to the nice beaches, but they should also be looking at experiencing the real Hawaii.

[00:21:10] Bryan Murphy: Love that. Well, again, thank you for your time. And how can people find Waimea Valley? What's the easiest way?

[00:21:17] Richard Pezzullo: Our website Waimea valley.net. Okay. And of course we're also on Facebook, Instagram, and that's the easiest way to find us. Awesome.

[00:21:28] Bryan Murphy: And we will link all that below. So for those listening, we'll be sure we'll link the website and all the social media accounts below in the episode description of this podcast.

[00:21:39] Bryan Murphy: Great. Thank you so much for your time and, and, uh, for what you do. I appreciate it. Thank you. Aloha. Aloha.

[00:21:46] Conclusion and Next Episode Teaser

[00:21:46] Bryan Murphy: Mahalo to Richard and the team at Waimea Valley for their time, and what a great eye-opening conversation about one of Oahu's most culturally significant sites. I think one of the big takeaways, aside from all the amazing things that you can experience in the Valley is give yourself at least 90 minutes to truly experience what makes this place.

[00:22:08] Bryan Murphy: Incredibly special. It's not just about crossing another waterfall off the list. It's about connecting with authentic Hawaiian culture and history that you simply can't find anywhere else. So if you found this episode helpful for your Hawaii trip planning, hit that follow button on Apple Podcast or Spotify so you don't miss our next episode, which is about surprising facts about Hawaii.

[00:22:31] Bryan Murphy: You might not know. And until next time, as always, live with Aloha

[00:22:41] Bryan Murphy: Mala for listening to this episode of Hawaii's. Best to stay up to date on future episodes. Hit follow on your podcast app. Hawaii's Best is a production of shore break media group with editing by easy podcast solutions and music courtesy of our friends stick figure.