Kualoa takes its name from the ridge above the ranch: it means "long back." The tallest peak is Kāneohoalani, "Royal Companion of the God Kāne." Ancient Hawaiians considered this valley so sacred that passing canoes lowered their sails in respect. Kualoa is also where the Hōkūleʻa, the voyaging canoe that proved Polynesian navigation was no accident, was launched for her first voyage to Tahiti in 1975.

Today, the ranch is better known to most visitors as the backdrop to Jurassic Park, Lost, Godzilla, and over 200 other films and television productions. The Makai Research Pier on its coastline appeared in both the original Jurassic Park and Magnum P.I.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours connect Kualoa's Hollywood cameos to its deeper history, tracing the valley's sacred status in Hawaiian tradition, its role in the Polynesian voyaging revival, and its place as one of the first settled areas on Oʻahu.