It is the landing place of the Kahiki voyagers, who came ashore at Kauaʻi in about 500 AD,[6][7] and the location of Hawaiian legends like the prophet Naula-a-Maihea and the origins of the Naha stone.

[9] After Kaumualii was kidnapped, Kekaihaʻakūlou (now known as Deborah Kapule) owned a home on the banks of the river where travelers knew they were always welcome, long before any hotel existed on the island.

The couple had a son, Josiah Kaumualii, and in 1837,[10] in order that to be closer to their own estates, they moved an entire retinue of people to Wailuā.

[14] George Washington Bates found the residence in complete disrepair, with the canoes, which had previously transported guests up the river, rotting in a shed.

[16] On January 25, 1855, Levi Haʻalelea petitioned the Hawaiian Supreme Court as a beneficial representative of the estate of Kekauʻōnohi, for whom he was the sole heir as her widower.

of June 17, 1890, involving the amended petition of Junius Kaae, Haʻalelea's widow Amoe Ululani Kapukalakala Ena (1842–1904), represented by F. M. Hatch, made a plea in bar stating that the court had already delivered a judgement dismissing the case in 1866.

Bickerton's decision stated: "After careful examination of this case, and of the authorities, I consider that the petitioner is estopped from what would amount to a re-hearing of the original petition....

Junius Kaae was the petitioner who had filed a similar petition in 1890, along with Kapiolani, Kalakaua, and others, which was given a judgment dismissing it, pleaded in bar, and sustained upon appeal of the full court.

[10] By the early 1950s, the site was home to a small businessmen's lodge, owned and operated by an elderly widow named Veda Warner Hills.

[21][23] Hawaiians dressed in a traditional malo would blow a conch shell and beat a drum, as the call was answered by one man running across the coconut grove, lighting torches on his way until the entire lagoon was lit.

Postcards from the time depict a number of local Hawaiian residents performing the ceremony, including Sebastian Alalem blowing the conch shell, Willie Carrillo beating the drum, and John Keleohi lighting the torch.

Along with Hayworth were actors Jose Ferrer and Aldo Ray, director Curtis Bernhardt, and the entire crew of the production also staying at the hotel.

[32][33] In 1926 Charles E. King wrote the song "Ke Kali Nei Au" (Waiting There for Thee) for the musical production The Prince of Hawaii.

Now called "Hawaiian Wedding Song", it was featured prominently in the film Blue Hawaii, starring Elvis Presley, whose character is married at the lagoon at the Coco Palms in the finale.

Others who have had trees planted in their name include Duke Kahanamoku, Gene Autry, Liberace, James A. Michener, ʻIolani Luahine (Kumu hula), and the Kawānanakoa ohana (family).

[47] The company is run by Chad Waters and Tyler Greene, who hired Agor Architects as their design firm and Unlimited Construction as their general contractor.

[48] Coco Palms Ventures, based in Maryland, had purchased the property in 2005, and it transferred the 20 acres (8 ha) for $11.2 million to Prudential Insurance as the lender.

Mau-Espirito and his cousin Kamuela Kapule O Kamehameha believed a royal patent, called a Palapala Sila Nui, gave their family land rights in perpetuity.

[50][51] An attempt was made by Coco Palms Hui to evict the group and ban them from the property, calling them "squatters" and filing trespass complaints with the Kauaʻi Police Department on February 11 and March 11, 2017.

[52] However, on May 17, Judge Michael Soong of the Fifth Circuit Court denied Coco Palms Hui's ex parte motion to remove the families, ruling that property ownership had not yet been fully determined.

[55][56][57] In 2016, GreeneWaters LLC, operating as the Coco Palms Hui, in conjunction with Hyatt Development's Unbound program, began demolition of the old structures in preparation for construction of a new resort.

[60][61][62] The two Utah based companies, Stillwater Equity Partners and the lender Reef PCG who are financing the sale of the Coco Palms, stated that the property had gone into default.

Tyler Greene, managing partner of GreeneWaters LLC stated that they; “decided to put the property on the market in order to give a willing and able buyer or a joint venture partner an opportunity to step in and move faster than the project is currently going.” Stillwater stated that they were looking both nationally and internally for buyers with hotel experience but that they were also exploring other options to; “maximize the value for existing shareholders.”[62] On June 4, 2019 the Utah-based company Private Capitol Group filed a civil foreclosure lawsuit in the Fifth Circuit Court of Hawaii naming Coco Palms Hui LLC and its managers, Chad Waters and Tyler Greene, as defendants.

A letter attached to the foreclosure complaint sent to the pair explained that loan went into default in October 2016 with the failure to deposit 5 million dollars into an escrow account as agreed.

The letter accused Waters and Greene of; “false representations” to the financier and that the full debt remained unpaid; “despite repeated attempts to work with you on a solution,” which included a lengthy period before foreclosure proceeding were initiated.

[63] On July 26, 2021 at the Fifth Circuit Courthouse in Lihu‘e, the property was auctioned off and sold to a single bid of twenty-two million dollars by the Private Capital Group.

[65] When asked about the auction of the Coco Palms site, Governor David Ige stated; "I’m supportive of whoever acquires the property in working with them to really look at what the needs of Kaua‘i are.

[66]The State land board ordered Coco Palms Ventures LLC in April 2023 to immediately stop the unpermitted clearing of trees.

[67] The company responded that the lease allows and requires them to maintain the grove according to modern nursery practices, including removing any diseased trees.

[citation needed] In 2009 Waldeen K. Palmeira and the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation attempted to seek a preliminary injunction and summary judgment against the Department of Transportation for a widening project that involved a portion of the Coco Palms property.