Napali Kayak Tours

What an awesome trip! We were very fortunate to have Annie and Luan as our guides for the day. It was such and awesome experience… great paddling, dolphins, double rainbows, sea turtles, sea caves and a fun crew! Not for the fain of heart or casual tourist but a great adventure for those that are up for it. We will definitely come back out and do this trip again on our next trip to Kauai!

This trip was on my bucket list. I convinced my wife to go without giving her adequate warning of the challenges — 18.2 miles, 7 hours of ocean kayaking, and it gets hot. She got a little sea sick during the last leg, but really proud that she made the trip. As for me, I would have gone another 7 miles. The scenery and experience was more than I expected. My wife and I are both 66 years old, and very fit. Josh (the owner) is doing a great job organizing these tours, and offered us top notch crew. His model is «safety first», and we love that.

I did this back in 2011. I was very apprehensive after reading all the reviews online, but I had a great time. I highly, highly recommend this experience — I look back on it as one of the coolest things I have ever done. If you are a relatively fit person, you can handle this. My Dad did it with me and he was in his mid 50s (but in decent shape — he doesn’t work out, but he is relatively active).

This is a tough trip. Napali Kayak gives you ample information about how strenuous this kayaking tour can be, but I really didn’t know until I was out on the water. It’s not easy kayaking out in the open water, but it was such an amazing experience. We got to see so much – rainbows, caves, a monk seal, sea turtles, and of course, the beautiful Napali Coast. There is no other way to see and experience the coast than through this kayaking trip. You can get in the water (and are encouraged to by the tour guides to cool off). Our tour guides, Casey and Ciro were a great duo. Casey was funny while Ciro was relaxed. Both were patient and knowledgable.
We took a long lunch break twelve miles into the trip. The food was absolutely amazing and was perfect refuel for the rest of the trip. We ended the trip at Polihale Beach, which is the longest beach in the state of Hawaii. The beach is accessible by kayak or driving over 5 miles of unpaved, red dirt road. In essence, it’s not easy to get to, so it’s pretty cool that we got to end there. Overall, this trip was strenuous and tough, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The beauty and wonders of the coast that we got to see made every paddle worth it.

Day 2 out 3 in Kauai
OMG i am a survivor ! Most Epic Kayak trip ever
So while i was planning this trip to Kauai everyone recommends me to at least visit this «Napali Coast «. So i while i was searching there was the easy route of taking big boat cruise, small boat cruise, helicopter rides and the manual Labor Kayak. I was like YESSSSSSSS it would be one of the most memorable trip. So i told my GF yes we are going for a 17 mile kayak.
Our Physcial Fitness say not the best in shape people… haha
This is what will/​probably happen
1. Got up from our Hotel around 5am
2. Met up around 6am at there site where you will fit ur life jackets, talk to the guides and deal with the payment (KAMAAINA RATES if you are local here just show them some kind of ID) i think you get like 15% off not sure (Highly recommend mosquito repellent around there location or it might just be me trying to repopulate the mosquito population with my O+ blood)
3.Head out to the beach where we unload our kayaks and do a few stretches while the sun is rising. Our guide teaches a quick 5−10mins How to kayak/​entering, leaving from the beach so non of us would flip since its an open ocean kayak.
4.Here we go setting out and of course the first kayak to go off the beach flip… YOLOOO haha
5.First Mile is so far so good but that is what i call the last point of no return. If you dont feel comfortable you can get back to the shore there. Oh by the way i forgot to tell you all i have motion sickness…
6.As we keep paddling Oh gosh my motion sickness got me so bad like real bad… but i just keep paddling just like dory «just keep swimming just keep swimming»
7. After throwing up several times and taking several breaks and seeing several caves. To be honest it wasnt so bad until you see those boats with motors speeding away like a rabbit and you see yourself paddling like a turtle…
8. Half way point LUNCH BREAKKKK OMGGGG a much needed break at this beach where we go a shore and i was like omg lannnnnnnnd. Our tour company provided us with the best ever lunch which comprise of Sandwiches, fruits, Baked goods and even cold refreshments.
9.The battle continues but the waves was much better and in towards our favor which is going to the direction we were going YESSS.
10. Saw several turtles, whale, dolphins and even a goat like on this cliff… lol
11. BAM we were done. It only took us like ⁷⁄₈ hours of kayaking hahahahaha. Good thing is that once we were ashore there was a shuttle bus waiting for us so we simply load the kayak, take a rise and hopped on.
12. On our journey back we took a brief stop to get some amazing poke :)
13. Arrived back at the tour site a few brief congrats and thanks (dont forget to tip!)
14.Left and arrived at our hotel and passed out…
Overall i really enjoy this trip except throwing up. I took those pills too but i guess the motion was a lot worst. If you have a whole day and lets say know how to Kayak and have the energy to do it the whole day. Go for it and be sure to call and reserve because if the waves are too rough they might cancel and i believed certain month they are closed.

What a fantastic trip! Casey and Ciro were awesome — knowledgeable, helpful, good humored, and all around good guys. They obviously love the Na Pali coast and Kauai as a whole, and shared lots of great history along the way. I was traveling solo, so got paired with Casey, who was very supportive when I got a bout of seasickness. I’m in pretty good shape and thought this was more than doable, however we had a more overcast day so that helped! The coast is just magnificent. Honu (sea turtles), dolphins, epic cliffs, and just amazing ocean blues.

The trip is amazing! When we booked the trip I looked at the website and I think it said no kayaking experience necessary, lie. You need to be in great shape to do the 17 mile trip and have kayaking experience also ocean kayak is a plus. One of the other reviewers said that there was silence when you stopped for lunch, absolutely true. I didn’t want to talk to anybody because I was so tired from paddling for 12 miles. The trip was great. I’m glad I did it. Our guides, Casey and Nick kept us safe and provided good history of the island. My wife gets motion sickness which is not a good thing for this adventure and to watch her puking over the side for about 11 miles yeah good times! You get a 1 mile trial and if you don’t think you can complete the other 16 you can stop although I don’t know if you get a refund.

Amazing! Loved our guides, Casey and Ciro. They made sure everyone was comfortable the entire time. We had a wonderful time!

I regret to say that we were unable to join the kayak tour. After much excitement, my wife finally called to book the trip earlier today. Ivan took her call and they got everything setup. He asked if she had any questions. She responded, «I don’t think so,» continued to elaborate saying we’d reviewed the FAQs, etc., before being cutoff: «Did you hear me, I asked if you had any questions.»
My wife isn’t one to be put off easily but she said that she wanted to cancel because Ivan was rude and she just didn’t get a good vibe from him regarding the trip. We decided to think about it a few hours, but ultimately decided to pick a competing trip. She called to cancel and it was unfortunate that Ivan answered once again. After explaining that we wanted to cancel, she asked if he could confirm our card would not be charged, at which time he hung up on her.
I immediately called back, introduced myself, and inquired as to the nature of the problem and got a much rosier version of what transpired. Admittedly, I put him in a position of defense and he responded as you’d expect, but the tone certainly wasn’t warm or apologetic.
I’m sure living in paradise and being stuck on the phone answering calls from tourists/​customers all day gets old. I’m sure at this time of year the phones are busier than you’d like. Look, if you’ve ever been in a customer support position, you know that you’re going to have bad moments or even bad days. I’ve had them, but I’ve also had the sense to understand when I’ve been given the opportunity to make it right and always seized that opportunity. Ivan chose not to. All that means is he gets a bad Unilocal review and we saved some money by booking another trip with a company that wants to deliver a great customer experience from the get go. Unfortunately, this is the start to the vacation we’ve invested a lot of money in, the start of our ten year anniversary celebration, and the start of our first experience in Hawaii.
By all means take the trip if it’s what you want to do, but if Ivan bullies you on the phone, call him out on it.

Amazing experience, saw spinner Dolphins, turtles, monk seals, and beautiful landscape. Josh got us a great deal. I recommend them highly!

Great tour, the guys were nuts, informative and nice to be around, I would go again the kayak we got wasn’t the greatest but the views and rest of it was worth it!

We (46M and?? F) did the 17-​mile Napali coast kayak tour on 9÷16÷14 with guides Tyler and Lars. These two guides provided good instructions, encouragement and a nice smooth day for us. We had a really nice calm day with slight headwind but there was still a bit of chop in sections. A couple people got seasick very near the start but seemed to be in pretty good shape after lunch. My tips for anyone taking this tour: Read the FAQ and follow it — then consider a long sleeve swim shirt, some super waterproof sunscreen or waters socks for your feet and ankles (my only burn), take the swim breaks to loosen up and consider an electrolyte replacement drink in addition to water. I don’t think there is a better way to see this entire coastline if you are up to it. –Oh and the price is a bargain when you remember that this is an all day tour.

Are you olympic speed kayaker? Then this is for you… My friend and I were more than excited to spend my birthday on the beautiful coast of NaPali but we didn’t know we needed fingerless gloves and a training program. We are in shape and only flipped once but the tone we got when we flipped over treacherous coral reefs was one I wanted to forget. Nick, your body was banging your tone was terrifying. Communication? Direction? Instructions? History? What did we pay 250 bones for? Only if you are good at reading facial expressions most of the trip involved no communication except for that sticky situation of that coral reef. Eeek.
Lunch is provided at a beautiful secluded beach– but it was radio silence as we walked the plank to search for our delicious sammies due to the attitude of the crew. We finished the trip ²⁄₃ hours before normal and that made us mad. For about an hour no one looked back at us trailing alone in the back taking in the scenery as everyone else pulled their fingerless glove straps and put their paddles to the metal. We went so fast and hard the other guide actually got chest pain and we dropped him at the hospital at the end. And we never got his name as there was no name game — so sorry you won’t get your get well card.
Over all… We would recommend this amazing trip but bring a cool crew and ask for Ivan, one of the managers, to be the guide– he was hilarious. And if you are looking for encouragement from the crew– look he other way.

We rented equipment from Napali Kayak — we didn’t do a tour with them.
We had an excellent experience and definitely recommend this business for rentals.
The guy who assisted us was very friendly and knowledgeable.

Great trip and crazy workout. We did this trip as a group of four. It was a gorgeous day and the caves were incredible. Getting the chance to take a dip every so often helped relieve the inevitable shoulder ache that goes along with paddling 17 miles in the ocean! My husband and I enjoyed a nap on the secluded beach where we took a break for lunch.
If you’re planning on doing this trip, make sure you have some experience with boats on the ocean or are an excellent kayaker-​it really is not an easy thing to complete-​even the guides only work 1 to 3 times a week. The bad reviews I read about this group seem like they are from people who didn’t realize this would be an adventure and don’t understand the cost (aka liability insurance) of operating such a business. We enjoyed our guides and had a great day!

This experience was amazing, and the views of the coast by kayak are like nothing I’ve seen before. The 17 miles was a great workout and well broken up by beach breaks. The people were great, although having a guide seemed a bit unnecessary. My problem with the whole thig was that it seemed expensive given what is provided — would be nice if they paid the camping permit for you. We also had some safety issues in that our guide really didn’t help us at all and forgot to tell us the one thing we needed to learn — how to launch into surf in the morning. We flipped the kayak multiple times and almost died and I blame them because I’m an awesome kayaker.

Beautiful beautiful trip down the Napali coast. The 17 mile kayak trip was amazing and not to be missed. I personally think the guided tour is not necessary especially with a guide like Ivan who brings a date on the trip and forgets to give you proper instruction on how to launch the kayak off the shore the next morning. The trip is over priced. They make you get your own camping permit. They also only «guide» you for the first morning and they don’t give you a map or any food /​water. Thumbs down.

My wife and I decided to kayak the Na Pali coast as opposed to the other ways of seeing its amazing beauty (helicopter or motor boat). Both of us being inexperienced kayakers, I was a little intimidated by information out there repeatedly calling it strenuous and dangerous. When I couldn’t find the car keys at 5:30am I thought it was a sign, but luckily we found them just in time for the 6am meet up. This trip was absolutely the highlight of our time in Kauai and I would definitely do it again –next time stopping to camp along the way.
We had fantastic guides, Casey and Siro, who were very communicative, knowledgeable, and aware. Another key factor was that we were very fortunate to have AMAZING conditions: partly cloudy, calm seas, and a great group of fellow paddlers. We explored 3 sea caves, 2 of which had refreshing waterfalls and one open top cave. The water was a gorgeous azure blue the whole way and we saw a bunch of turtles and of course the Napali coast itself is breathtakingly beautiful. We took breaks from paddling often which reduced the strenuous factor (note: we did hit the gym in preparation since no matter how you shake it, it is full day of paddling) and used prescription strength scopolamine patches to prevent motion sickness (essential!). We got a fully waterproof case for our camera which was critical since the kayaks can flip. We also wore a rash guard since it’s nearly impossible to keep sunscreen on when you are in and out of the water all day long. We often went for a swim to cool off. Lunch was ono too!

Kayaking the Napali coast is one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and Napali Kayak made it extremely enjoyable.
Arranging our tour with one of the owners was easy and straightforward. He did a great job explaining the risks and expectations on us for the trip.
We showed up at the shop on time and set off not too soon later. One thing I wish was stressed slightly more was the importance of using motion sickness pills. I have never had problems with motion sickness on boats or kayaks, but everyone really should take some pills (preferably the evening before your trip). Luckily there were some nice people on our trip with us that had extra that they were willing to share.
We had two great guides for our trip (Todd and I forgot the woman guide’s name (she owns a burrito shop up north of Hanelei)). They were super friendly and did a great job making it a fun, safe time for everyone. My wife and I were on our honeymoon, and were initially dissapointed that nobody else volunteered to split up and paddle with the guides. So my wife and I split up and went with each of the guides. Probably the best decision of the day. One of the pluses of splitting up is that you can take pictures of each other that don’t involve one person spinning around on the kayak. Also, the guides are great paddlers and make the trip more efficient.
We saw some incredible sights during our 17 mile paddle:
–Incredible scenery along the Napali coast. I have done the catamaran trip before, but kayaking is the best way to see it. It allows you to go into caves that are not accessible to larger boats. You also get to go onto a beach for lunch (more on that later)
– We also had multiple dolphin sitings and sea turtle sightings. There was an elephant seal taking a nap on the beach at lunch. I also had a run-​in with some tendrils from a Man’o’war, which was not so fun. Its part of the trip, and something that I’ll never forgot, but I’m just glad nobody had to pee on me.
–A bit over half way through the paddle we stopped for lunch. Surprisingly, this was the best «tour lunch» I have ever had. They bring sandwiches from a local caterer that makes his own cold cuts, bread, and sauces. It was awesome and totally hit the spot after 11 miles of kayaking. We got to chill on the beach a little bit, take a short nap, and then head out to finish our kayak.
It took us (only) 7.5 hours to kayak the coast… which the guides said was pretty quick given we had a light current working against us. We set in around 7am and put out around 3pm. The guides and Napali Kayak employees did a great job us brining us in on the beach. I’ve done ocean kayaking before, and the beaching is always tricky. Previous guides have always just said «paddle like hell» and I wind up flipping over. Despite pretty decent waves on the day we paddled, the guides that were on the beach waiting for us got everyone in without any flipped boats… pretty impressive.
Even after the paddle we had a fun time. All of the Napali Kayak employees seem like really awesome people that simply like to enjoy the beauty of Kuaui and meet new people. On our way back up to Hanelei (its a long trip), we stopped at a grocery store, picked up some Ahi poke and a few beers, went to a nearby park, and re-​energized.
Hands down an incredible experience. I would definitely do this again and would recommend to anyone that has the physical capacity to handle this. We are in decent shape (work out multiple times per week), but we were exhausted for days after this (probably 3 – 4 days). Its extremely physically taxing, there are points of the trip where you just have to go on auto-​drive to keep going, but this is truly the best way to see Kuaui.
We made our reservation after our catamaran tour was canceled, and I’m glad it was. I’d gladly pay the extra $$ for this over a catamaran tour. Hands down this trip MADE our honeymoon and is something we will never forget.

Not for the faint of heart. Their website says you should be «in good physical condition.» This is a tremendous understatement.
If you’re going to attempt this tour I suggest either 1) marathon level endurance, 2) significant kayaking experience or 3) an understanding that by the time you reach the lunch beach you will feel like you are dying.
All the staff were very friendly and our guides (both named Casey) were really great. They didn’t give us any grief about being the slowest kayak, and they were good about keeping an eye on us when we were struggling right before lunch. They pointed out dolphins and sea turtles along the way, which was much appreciated because at points I was probably too tired to have noticed on my own.
We had great conditions, just sunny enough to be pretty but not bake us. We got to go into all the sea caves, which was awesome. I’m thanking my lucky stars that the conditions weren’t rougher, because I think I would have had a serious problem.
The guides said the pineapple at lunch has bromine in it which helps with lactic acid buildup in your muscles. I’m not sure if it’s true or not but I ate an impolite amount of pineapple and laid on the beach for the 1.5 hour break and felt MUCH better afterwards. The final five miles of the trip were quite pleasant.
I thought the trip could have used more frequent breaks, though I was clearly on the «what is this person even doing here» end of the group, so maybe it doesn’t. Just don’t expect to be taking a break every half hour, which probably would have been my preference. :p
My butt was the most angry part of me at the end of this trip, and that’s saying something. It did not appreciate being ground into a kayak seat for 7 hours. I’m not sure what can be done to mitigate this problem, but fair warning. I was sore for a couple days after, but nothing unmanageable. The guys I went with did a surfing lesson the next day, so they weren’t incapacitated. I probably could’ve managed a bit of surfing myself, but it wasn’t for me.
In the end, I’m glad I went. It was a blast, the views were beautiful, and now I have bragging rights that I survived the adventure.
Other general tips:
— If you have your heart set on this tour, schedule it for the beginning of your trip. Even if you’ll be sore after, you take a gamble with the weather if you schedule it later. They will not take you out if the conditions are unsafe, so scheduling it for the beginning gives you a couple of chances. There was a couple with us who had been cancelled on once because of weather.
— At the beginning you separate your stuff into things you’ll need on the kayak (sunscreen, snacks, water, camera) and stuff you’ll need at the end (cellphone, clothes, towel, wallet, etc.). Your «end» stuff gets put in the office and brought to the end beach and your «kayak» sfuff gets put in a dry bag, so there is really no point in getting waterproof bags or anything.
–Wear a ton of sunscreen. I did a first coat of SPF 50 in the morning and had a spray can for reapplication while kayaking. Highly recommend the spray can so you don’t have to stop for very long to add some more. I didn’t burn at all but my friend who didn’t reapply with the spray sunscreen burnt his feet to a crisp.
–Wear a hat that fits snugly. You may lose it anyway, but that at least will give you a fighting chance. My friend lost his hat to the wind, and I nearly lost mine to the kayak tipping over. Same goes for sunglasses.
–You WILL get wet. The kayak WILL tip over, especially if you get too tired to bother balancing it when it starts to go. So dress to get wet. I wore swimsuit bottoms and a sports bra with tank top and soccer shorts over. It worked very well. I saw some women in bikinis. I would NOT have wanted to be kayaking for 7 hours in a bikini, even if it was just the top under a shirt. Ugh.
–I had a lot of trouble keeping a grip on the paddle. I would consider gloves if I did it again.