Kayak Kauai

Probably one of my favorite things I did in Kauai during my honeymoon last month. I think I realized how much I actually like to kayak. It was a really beautiful and sunny day when my wife and I did this kayak tour which made it much more enjoyable than raining all day. Our tour guide was Jesse and he was a really cool dude and we got to know him and he shared some stories about the Kauai life and some local things to do. The swimming hole was really fun, we got to jump off a cliff which was super intimidating at first but my wife and I ended up jumping off the cliff another time because it was a lot of fun. I also really liked how it was only a 3 hour kayak tour, which I thought was the perfect timing. Would definitely recommend this company if you are looking to kayak in Kauai.

Great tour from start to finish. Our tour guide, Cole, was awesome! He was very friendly and very helpful. The lunch provided was impressive as well as the beverages. Next time we book this we will for sure request Cole again.

Our first time to Kauai. Its our honeymoon and we are taking all the best tours on the island. We booked the kayak/​hike tour up to Secret falls through Viator a month early. Once we got here, we were nervous about going due to all the rain Kauai has had in the past several days. We went anyway when we found out there may be a fee to change the reservation. The tour was full, which meant 12 people plus the guide. We began with a short lesson on kayaking. My husband and I had never kayaked before. We were a little unsure of how we would do. We are both in our 50’s and in about average shape. We stayed up with everyone else with absolutely no problem at all. Once we got to the spot where we drop our kayaks and began to hike, the trail was slippery and muddy. Luckily, we were all given walking sticks before the tour began. If you are offered one, you should use it! The falls were beautiful, the lunch served was great. Our guide was willing to stay and let us swim and explore as long or as short as the group wanted. Our guide Brian was the best part of the trip. He was interesting, knowledgeable and a native of kauai. He had so many interesting facts about the island, plants, animals, people and he is fluent in the Hawaiian language which he continued to share with us. The tour was supposed to start at 12:15 but we didn’t get going until almost 1. We got back around 6:20. Our guide Brian gave us great suggestions about where to eat in Kauai, local farmers markets, activities in town, and more things for us to see before we leave. The excitement he had for this island made everyone else excited too. I will definitely recommend this tour and prompt people to ask for Brian.

This review concern only the camping gear rentals.
We’ve rented a tent and pads for a few nights from Kayak Kauai Store. We didn’t have big expectations, but the gear were really bad! Tent was crap and very bad quality. It wasn’t waterproof and too small for 2 adults… The pad was useless. You can find exactly the same at wallmark for 15 $!!! It was so thin and pre used that we had to buy a new one…
What about the fuel for the stove? We’ve asked the saleswoman if it was easy to find gaz on the island. She answered that Kayak Kauai Store was the only place to find some. So we bought 3 fuel to be sure. What a lie ! You can find the same fuel for half the price (!) at any Ace hardware Store on the island (Princeville, Lihue, etc).
After Kauai, we flew to Big Island. When we arrived there, we bought our own camping gear at Sport Authority. It was much better quality and less expensive than the rental in Kauai… When we left Hawaï, we gave the camping gear at the Salvation Army.
One advice: if you need camping gear in Kauai, check the gear at Wallmark and at Ace. It’s cheaper and better.

My husband and I chose to do the kayak trip to Hideaways Beach from Hanalei. We were lucky in that we were the only 2 with reservations, so we got Jesse all to ourselves (that typically does not happen, we picked a slower time to visit). Jesse made us feel comfortable since neither of us ever kayaked in the ocean-​I was a little nervous that one of the waves would knock us over. He gave great ocean kayaking instructions and made sure we were always safe. First we kayaked about 2 miles on the river, then made our way to the ocean to kayak to Hideaways beach. Jesse let us stay at the beach as long as we wanted to snorkel and relax. It was definitely my favorite day of our vacation. Kayak Kauai is safe, professional, and fun. Looking forward to our next kayak trip!

If you are thinking about kayaking the Napali coast — look for further for the best guides on the island. this is a VERY strenuous trip and seasickness, I saw first hand, should not be underestimated. If you do this trip — take medication just to be safe. 7 hours of paddling while sick is no joke. Having said that, Webb and Amos, were the perfect guides for this amazing adventure. They were very organized, fun, polite and and strict when they needed to hustle us into or out of situations on the ocean. They had great folk stories an information on the geography. Loved this trip and will absolutely do it again!

We did the kayak and hike to the waterfall which was just lovely. We had Kelly as our guide and we absolutely loved him. He was very laid back while also making me feel like he had everything under control. He gave us a brief kayaking primer and told us where to wait if we got too far ahead and then he let everyone go at their own pace while he stayed in the middle of the group and kept an eye on everyone. The water was calm and the kayaking was easy and pleasant.
The hike was just as fun as the kayaking and Kelly pointed out all kinds of amazing plants along the way. My favorite part of the hike was when he showed us how the Hawaiians would make rope from the bark of a certain tree — he made several strands of this rope as we were hiking and gave them away to people in our group. My husband and I hike often and we found the trail fairly easy, but I can see how it would be difficult for those who are normally more sedentary.
The waterfall at the end of the hike was truly beautiful and swimming in it’s pool was one of the highlights of our honeymoon. We’ll remember that for a long time. I do wish there had not been so many people at the waterfall, but there’s not much you can do about that. I know that the various kayak companies try to stagger their arrival times, but it’s a small place and a lot of people want to see it.
One surprisingly great thing about this company was the lunch they provided. Usually when I order the «vegetarian» option on this kind of trip it ends up being something terrible, but this sandwich was delicious! Tofu with grilled veggies?! Yum!
If we are lucky enough to come back to Kauai, we would definitely do another tour with this company — and we would absolutely try to get Kelly as our guide again!

Amazing experience! We were the only people who scheduled that morning and they let us have our own private tour, instead of most places that usually will just cancel on you! Cole was an amazing guide and went above and beyond to make things fun. Definitely request him! Me and my husband had such a blast and loved learning things about the island from a local.

My fiancé and I enjoy kayaking and doing more of the «adventurous» type activities while on vacation, so the kayak trip down the Wailua river and hike to Sacred Falls was right up our alley.
Our guide was Jamie, I enjoyed his candor and sarcastic sense of humor, though I could imagine how it might not be for everyone. My favorite was his joke about tips at the end of our trip. The paddle to the hike was really mellow and easy. The hike was also pretty easy, but I can see how it might be a challenge for older guests or those who aren’t very active. We forgot our hiking shoes for the trip and ended up wearing our converse sneakers which were fine. Be sure to bring some type of shoes– sandals likely won’t cut it with the mud, water and roots along the trail. There are some moderate uphills and climbing over rocks, but none of this proved difficult for our group who moved quickly and graciously through the whole hike. The paddle back against wind was a little difficult and I did end up with some blisters on my hands from the paddles (not that it could be prevented– but something to be aware of).
Swimming in the pool under the waterfall was just amazing. The water was cold but so worth the experience. Jamie warned us not to spend too much time under the waterfall itself due to the possibility of falling rocks, which I appreciated.
Lunch was pretty good, unfortunately my fiancé and I didn’t get the roast beef sandwiches we ordered (ended up with turkey) since someone snagged ours. That’s ok though! I would definitely recommend this type of trip!

We took the Secret Falls tour with Webb and it was excellent! Webb is a very experienced guide as you could tell by his lack of footwear. If you can hike this trail barefooted, you have got to be good! Webb is also an excellent pineapple cutter. At the falls, he prepared for us the most delicious and perfectly sliced pineapple we had on this trip. Probably the only minus I could think of is that the kayak oars are not feathered, meaning the pedals at both ends are angled the same. It is hard to get used to as I am used to canoeing with pedals that are 90 degrees to each other and twist my wrist when I switch sides.

My wife and I did the kayak and hike to Secret Falls. It was excellent and we lucked out by having Jesse as our guide. Just make sure to have good shoes for the hike as it is a little tricky at times, but I am over 70 and did fine so that should give you a hint about the difficulty of the hike. :)

Came here on our Honeymoon and did the Blue Lagoon Kayak/​snorkeling tour. Cole was our tour guide and he did an awesome job. Very knowledgable and a lifetime local that we had a great time with. Kayaking the ocean was fun and the snorkeling was fun as well. Me and my wife couldn’t find any turtles so Cole hopped in with us and snorkeled with us until we found one. Overall great experience and would recommend any day.

Not for anyone with any type of mobility issues. The hike was quite strenuous over uneven rocky and muddy terrain. Lot’s of tree roots makes it difficult to hike. Have to traverse a river with a strong current holding onto a unstable rope. Once you get the the waterfall you have to climb down a steep rock covered incline… then you have to do it all over again to go back to the kayaks. ANYONE WITH ANY MOBILITY OR HEALTH ISSUES SHOULD AVIOD THIS. On the website they will mention that the hike is «easy to moderate». This hike is beyond moderate.
(I am speaking for my Aunt who has knee issues)

I loved every minute of this kayaking/​hiking adventure! We kayaked up the Wailua River and hiked to Secret Falls. It was a gorgeous day, perfect weather and no rain. Cole was our guide and he was super knowledgeable about points of interest along the way. I would do this excursion again in a heartbeat; it’s a unique and special way to get out and experience an adventure on Kauai!

Two friends and I had permits to backpack the Na Pali Coast Trail. Weeks before, we made arrangements with Kayak Kauai to handle the travel from our hotel to the trailhead and back. We called to confirm a few days before and arranged for a 6AM shuttle and a 3PM pickup three days later. The shuttle to the trailhead was fine. We confirmed with our shuttle driver, Sage, our return date and time for pickup at the picnic table by the restrooms.
On the last day, we finished our trip at about 2pm and spent the hour washing our gear and cleaning up. 3:30pm came and still no shuttle. There was zero cell service, but there was a pay phone. We managed to scrounge some change from some strangers and called Kayak Kauai to see what was going on. Turns out they had comply forgotten about us. There was no apology and no offer to come get us. Just a cold response to call a cab.
Horrible service in every way. We did call a cab, waited another 30 minutes. The cab cost $ 100 back to our hotel. Kayak Kauai charged us $ 90 each person (3 of us) for the shuttle. You do the math. Skip the overpriced, unreliable Kayak Kauai shuttle and use a cab. After a grueling and amazing few days on the trail, this was the last thing we needed to deal with. I would give them zero stars if I could.

My wife and I came to Kauai for our honeymoon and decided to go Kayaking. We booked the ‘Blue Lagoon’ tour which was a Kayaking/​Snorkeling tour. It was amazing! It was my first time both kayaking and snorkeling, and it was one of the best experiences of the whole honeymoon. Our tour guide was Web. He was super friendly and very knowledgeable about the activities of the tour in regards to safety and how to properly sit and paddle a kayak as well as the best way to snorkel. Not only that, but on the shuttle ride up there, he gave us alot of info on the island and pointed out all the scenic locations. He’s has a great sense of humor and is easy to converse with. As far as the tour, we kayaked through a beautiful river with an AMAZING view. It was a good workout with all that paddling, but well worth it. From the river we paddled a bit I to the ocean near a coral reef where we proceeded to snorkel. What a fantastic experience that was as well. Never would I have thought that I’d be swimming surrounded by beautiful fish and ocean life. Also, the lunch they packed was good too.
All in all, if you ever visit Kauai, I DEFINITELY recommend Kayak Kauai for a great Kayak adventure.

Our experience was amazing! We came to Kauai for our honeymoon and decided to kayak and snorkel here. We stayed at the Marriott and many people recommended this company to us. Our instructor Web was great! He gave a lot of info about every where we went and was really engaged the whole time! We loved snorkeling and really enjoyed it since it was our fort time. We will definitely come back! I would give it more than 5 stars if I could! Btw the lunch provided was delicious and very filling after all that kayaking. Great job!

We took our two kids ages 6 and 10 on the waterfall hike/​kayak. We all loved it. Our tour guide was super nice and very mellow. My 6 year old son hiked the whole way with the tour guide and he was so good natured with our son. The whole experience was great. It is a pretty river and the hike is gentle but so super slippery. Kids fell a few times and I fell once but it was good fun. Swimming in the waterfall pool was really fab!!!
I would not suggest this for people over 55 not in great health. I can’t see my parents in their early 60s enjoying the slipper path. The risk of falling is big. It is like ice.

This was our 2^nd trip to Kauai, and our 1^st true excursion on the island. Our tour guide was Jesse… Needless to say it was the best match for our group of 6. The group ranged in ages and athleticism, and this truly being our second time truly kayaking … Needless to say I was slightly worried.
Jesse gave us a brief chat regarding how to paddle, and where to stay while we were on the river.
Few tips:
1. Wear proper shoes… NO flip flops
2. Dress appropriately … It’s Kauai and it rains and creates muddy situations.
3. Be prepared it’s a voyage of hiking and kayaking .
My hubby was a little skeptical at first, yet we had a blast. Jesse was informative, humorous and honest. He gave us a history lesson of the island and various plants along the journey. It was muddy, and narley, but Jesse was great with keeping an eye out for us.
You are going hiking in Kauai… It’s a rainy place… Be prepared to get dirty and wet… You are going off the grid a bit to experience a little piece of heaven!
Would do it all over again and would want Jesse to be our guide again… Way to go Jesse you earned those 5 stars! Cheers!

The experience was worth the money but I would not go with this company. Our guide wasn’t helpful towards a couple who had never been on a kayak before, they struggled getting in and he said «this is an example of what you don’t do.» And proceeded to make several comments on how the company should test people before letting anyone sign up. We also completed our whole tour 2 hours early. It was an aggressive paddle, single file line trying to keep up, which says a lot since we have kayaked before and consider ourselves athletic. We watched other company’s float by, in groups, casual chatting and paddling, all ages and experience levels, clearly not over exerting themselves and using the whole time they paid for. This was supposed to be a fun vacation experience and it was stressful and not relaxed.
In response to micco, we went Saturday October 17^th, at the 7:45 time. We finished by 11:00 and to be honest he never introduced himself, was too caught up about being «behind schedule because they were locked out that morning».