Kauai. The Garden Isle. Beautiful and serene, Kauai is known for being laid back and full of beauty. I’m here and I want to take full advantage of something I’ve been wanting to do forever – kayaking the Wailua River. And there’s no better company to go with than Wailua Kayak Adventures.
Hawaiiβs largest navigable river, the Wailua River is one of the more popular activities on Kauai, attracting people for its beauty, generally calm conditions, and the hike to the beautiful Secret Falls. Naturally, I couldnβt resist.
There are several outfitters operating on the river offering kayaking, paddleboarding (SUP), or motorized boat tours and rentals, but I booked with Wailua Kayak Adventures, a small company with a long and positive reputation. Keep reading to learn more with A Day in the Life.
(To see a short video of my trip, follow this Instagram link)
At a Glance
Tour Guides Take: Transporting beauty and serenity among the trees, kayaking the Wailua River and hiking to Secret Falls are challenging enough to engage the more adventurous, yet gentle enough for a great trip for all. Strongly recommend for anyone who loves beautiful natural scenes with a little fun physical exertion
Strengths: Incredible beauty, physically challenging but not too intense, great outfitter with quality equipment, friendly and convenient service
Weaknesses: Lots of foot traffic at the waterfall, kayak and other vessel traffic on the river, hike is muddy with potential to flood and be cutoff
Who: Wailua Kayak Adventures
What: Hiking and kayaking on the Wailua River
Where: Kauai, Hawai’i, USA
Booking with Wailua Kayak Adventures
Price: $50 per person due on arrival.
I booked the self-guided all day kayak trip, aka a kayak rental. Booking was straight-forward and easy. Call, tell them what you want, and the reservation is made. Payment on arrival. For $50 a person for the whole day, you can’t beat that value.
As somebody with some mild anxiety about speaking with strangers on the phone, I wish there was a “book online” option, but this is a minor qualm.
(Visiting another Hawaiian Island? Check out one of the best things to do on Maui)
Check-in
Wailua Kayak Adventures begins self-guided rentals at 8:30, and finding the office is a breeze. Tucked under a mango tree, the shop is small but efficient, and employees point you inside to sign waivers and get a map before helping load all your equipment onto your car. You transport the kayaks yourself the short distance from the shop to the launch point at the Wailua River State Park, just a minute down the street.
Equipment
Equipment provided: kayaks with clip-in seats, paddles, PFD’s, straps, foam blocks (to protect your vehicle while transporting the kayaks), drybags (optional)
We were in “Zest Two EXP” kayaks by the manufacturer Ocean Kayak, two-seater plastic kayaks with clip-in fabric seats for comfort and support. Ocean Kayak is the brand I’m most familiar with, and these are my favorite two-seat kayaks they make because of their ample bungee storage space in the front and back and their ability to track in a wonderfully straight line on the water.
The seats had seen better days but were functional, and the paddles were sturdy but lightweight which is exactly what you want for a long day of paddling.
I was disappointed I couldnβt get a single-seat kayak, but Kauai tightly controls traffic on the river to prevent overstressing the ecosystem, so our group of four was required to go in two doubles. Canβt fault the company for that, but disappointing nonetheless.
A nice touch, Wailua Kayak Adventures also offer drybags to help keep your things safe, and even though I had my own, we still opted to grab another.
The Trip
After launching our kayaks, our trip was on. The Wailua River was flowing quite gently, and paddling upriver was a breeze. Several tour outfitters operate on the river, including motorized vessels, so kayaks are required to hug the north bank of the river (sometimes called “river left”) to keep traffic organized.
Everywhere along the riverbanks were impressive trees and I spotted several of the largest mango trees I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately it wasn’t mango season, so there was no fruit to pick, but that just means I have to come back! Papaya, coconut palms, and invasive albizia trees grow abundantly along the banks as well, as did countless other flowers, vines, grasses, shrubs, and other plants I couldn’t identify.
Sections of the river run past huge rocky escarpments, while others wind past open fields, and yet more areas creep back into the jungle. A leisurely thirty minutes of kayaking, we took a slight right down one of these jungle spots, up a small tributary, where we found the stopping point for the hike to Uluwehi Falls, aka “Secret Falls”. After pulling our kayaks sufficiently out of the water, we began the hike.
The hike winds through a variety of terrain and can be challenging for those with physical limitations. Some parts require climbing up or down embankments with the help of your hands, ducking under thick tree branches, avoiding mud, fording a small stream, and hopping over downed trees. A significant portion of the trail is on elevated walkways above the mud, and though relatively narrow and requiring a bit of a shimmy to pass oncoming traffic, the walkways are helpful at preserving the trail from overuse.
After roughly 45 minutes of hiking, climbing, and plenty of stops for pictures and admiration, we were finally close enough to the falls to hear the water crashing into the pool, and after bounding a few more fallen trees and large boulders, the falls open up in a clearing of bright sunlight. Though “breathtaking” may seem cliche, the falls truly command your attention, the roar of the water drumming in your ears, forcing you to speak up over the low rumble. The air was sweet and wet, and after quickly finding a spot to set down our things, we scrambled into the pool below the falls as quickly as we could. The pool was cool and crisp and was a welcome respite from the damp, sweaty fog that clung to me after the hike.
Being the primary stopping point for all Wailua River tours, the falls were crowded with people lounging on rocks, eating snacks, snapping photos, laughing, smiling, and letting the falls command its rightful attention.
The falls grab your attention and never let go. We took turns standing directly underneath, letting the falls massage our sweaty bodies, the water heavy and loud. I am officially advising that standing under the falls is at your own risk, but it was exhilarating feeling the intense force trying to knock you down.
We spent 20 minutes admiring the falls before packing up and heading back. The hike back flew by and we found our kayaks right where we left them. Backtracking off the stream to the main river, we continued upstream to the next location on the map, the Fern Grotto.
A beautiful though slightly underwhelming piece of natural history, the Fern Grotto is ten minutes upriver from the falls. A pleasant and worthwhile stop, the Fern Grotto offers restrooms, plenty of beautiful greenery to admire, and benches to rest and have a snack. Which we did.
The Fern Grotto has a small dock where you can tie up your kayak, but this does present a slight challenge trying to climb out of and back into your kayak, which is a foot or more below you, resting in the river. A short but funny mission to climb back into our kayaks over, we paddled further upriver until we physically couldn’t anymore. Roughly twenty minutes after leaving the Fern Grotto, and with gentle rapids and a much shallower river ahead of us, we had reached our turn around point. Turning back, we began our search for the secret cliff jump, our final stop on the map.
Not the worlds tallest cliff, jumping was still quite exhilarating and gave us a great thirty minute sendoff to our adventure. The water from the river drains off the rainiest place on earth, a mountain named Wai’ale’ale, and with an elevation of over a mile, the water was refreshingly cool. Though periodically shaded by trees throughout the trip, the Hawaiian sun is bright and warm and can heat up fast, but with the cool river water to refresh you, it was never unbearable. We each took turns jumping several times, both alone and together, and after being satisfied with our adrenaline rush we headed back.
Exhausted but happy, we paddled the thirty-ish minutes back to the launch point, our car waiting right where we left it. We packed our gear back on the car and drove to the Wailua Kayak Adventures office to drop it off.
(Interested in learning more about Kauai? Follow this link to read The Top Ten Worst Things to Do)
Post-Trip Thoughts: Wailua Kayak Adventures
Kauai is nicknamed the Garden Isle, and after spending the day with Wailua Kayak Adventures, paddling and hiking, swimming and sightseeing, I can see why. The lush tropical jungle did not disappoint.
The relative chill of the river water took the edge off the beautiful heat from the sun, and only once did I feel the pressure of a crowd. Though the waterfall is crowded, it’s beauty pushed the distractions into the background and allowed me to fully immerse myself in all its grandeur.
Though not a review of a guided tour as we rented kayaks on our own, this trip was absolutely worth the money and time. An unforgettable experience, kayaking with Wailua Kayak Adventures was everything I wanted it to be and more, and I happily recommend this trip for anyone of all ages and abilities.
You can find Wailua Kayak Adventures online here.
Or connect to their Instagram account here.
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