Kauai Day Trip: Waimea Canyon, Wailua River from Oahu
Oahu, United States of America
Fly from Oahu to Kauai to explore the lush island's natural beauty, including Kauai’s famously scenic Waimea Canyon, nicknamed ‘Grand Canyon of the Pacific.’ Along the way, see Old Koloa Town and Waimea, the town where Captain Cook landed in 1778. Ride by Poipu Beach to visit the blowhole at Spouting Horn then take a scenic cruise on Wailu River to see Opaekaa Falls and Fern Grotto. Round-trip flights, transportation with a professional driver-guide on Kauai and the Wailu River cruise are included.
Optional early morning pickup in Oahu takes you to the airport for your 45-minute flight to Kauai. Upon landing, your guide meets you in an air-conditioned van and you set off on your island adventure.
Visit majestic Waimea Canyon, the biggest canyon in the Pacific, measuring more than 3,600 feet (1,097 meters) deep, 14 miles long (22.5 kilometers) and one mile wide (1.6 kilometers). From the lookout, get breathtaking views of the canyon’s deep green valleys and rugged cliffs.
Continue by van to the coast where you see the 19th-century Russian Fort Elizabeth, the last remaining Russian fort in Hawaii. Nearby you find Waimea town, the spot where Captain Cook first landed in the Hawaiian Islands in 1778.
Driving past Poipu Beach, stop at Spouting Horn Park, an ocean blowhole where the sea surges through a hole in the rock shelf, blasting water up to 50 feet (15 meters) into the air. Stop near Poipu Beach at a friendly local restaurant where you can purchase lunch, then follow the road through Old Koloa Town, where Hawaii’s first large sugarcane plantation started in 1834.
Further along the highway, Mount Ha’upu is said to sport a likeness of Queen Victoria’s profile on the mountainside. Whether you see the queen or not, you can be assured that the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley, was spotted in nearby Nawiliwili Harbor when filming his 1961 hit movie Blue Hawaii.
Your Kauai adventure wraps up on the east side of Kauai with a cruise along the Wailua River. As you glide down the 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) river to Fern Grotto, your guide points out gorgeous Opaekaa Falls and Wailua Falls. Disembark at the Fern Grotto landing where musicians perform songs of ancient Hawaii, accompanied by hula dancers. A short walk through lush rain forest takes you to the fern-covered grotto.
Throughout the day, your guide shares informative and entertaining commentary about the sights and history of Kauai. At the end of the tour, you are returned to the airport for your flight back to Oahu.
We loved this trip. We were staying in Waikiki and had been to Maui and the Big Island before, but never Kauai. It was a debate about doing an overnight trip, but after reading the reviews of trips, decided on this one 36 great reviews, guess it's 37 now. We are very glad we did! Great tour guide Jonna, as least that's how she said to pronounce it , the trip to the Canyon was most spectacular, but loved stopping in the coffee plantation, stopping for lunch, the river tour trip to the Fern Grotto, the overlooks, historical insights as we went by everywhere. We usually had extra time to squeeze in another sight. I am not sure why some folks complained about getting to the airport early, we thought it was perfect timing and on the way back had an hour to eat dinner at the airport instead of eating at 930 pm on Oahu. Highly recommended, and we are actually glad we did not stay the night. I would do a tour with this group again, to another island we have not seen.
Review by: Laurie, July 2016
Loved the trip, the guide/driver was the best!
Review by: Donald E M, June 2016
This was a very memorable tour with an ethnic Hawaiian guide who informed us about flora and fauna, Hawaiian history and native traditions. I had learned when I was 12 the motto of Hawaii and recalled it because of his running narrative.
Review by: Lori T, June 2016
Kauai was beautiful. Tour was excellent. Only regret was would have liked more than one day there.
Review by: Triss, March 2016
What we saw was nice, but I had expected more for the Garden Isle. It was a little disappointing after a beautiful, 5-star trip along the Road to Hana in Maui a couple of days earlier. However, kudos to the driver who safely managed to bring the bus to a gentle stop on the roadside after a rear tire blowout.
Review by: Cathy R, October 2015
The bus driver was hilarious and brought us all together. Wondered if we really had to be at the airport 2 hours ahead of time for a 7:30 a.m. flight.
Review by: Edward G, October 2015
Great tour well worth the travel. Excellent way to see Kauai. The Island was beautiful! I highly recommend the tour. Our tour guide Vinnie was fantastic and very knowledgeable.
Review by: Julie G, August 2015
Enjoyed this trip, it wasn't as full on as some of the other day trips we've done, great guide who was full of information about the Island.
Review by: JUDITH H, June 2015
The tour was good, but things got off to a rough start with a driver that took us to the airport who seemed very unprepared for the task. Once we got to Kauai, our driver guide Kamu was exceptional. We made all our stops and the scenery was breath-taking.
Review by: Douglas C, April 2015
Trip was everything that it was advertised as. Every tour guide we had was friendly and helpful in every respect. I highly recommend Viator and will use them again.
Review by: Michelle E M, March 2015
The tour is fine if you are already ON Kauai, but spending the money to fly from Oahu and back. The canyon is beautiful, one of the most beautiful things that I saw in Hawaii, but there wasn't a whole lot to the tour other than that and our tour guide continually blanked on information and referenced her age as the resason. She was a sweet lady but maybe shouldn't be giving tours anymore...
Review by: Wandarlou, March 2015
This trip was pretty good especially compared to the Maui Day trip from Oahu. We liked this much better. More to see and didn`t feel quite as long a day. We went with Island Air and another couple went with Hawaiian Air which their flight times seemed to be better. Lunch was at a golf course which there is a variety to choose from. Our guide was great and made a couple of extra stops for the group (to see turtles and the coffee plantation) which was difficult with a larger group. This is a nice way to see the island of Kauai.
Review by: marsha b, February 2015
Totally enjoyed this adventure!!! A number 1 tour guide Lias Cate....beautiful island...
Review by: Stan, December 2014
A very good tour, the Waimea canyon was spectactular, the river cruise interesting and the drivers commentary extremly good. Only complaint possible was the length of the day, 5 AM pick up in Oahu and returned approx 7:00 PM that evening. Probably will not book and similar tours expoloring other islands from the one we're staying on.
Review by: eva, July 2014
It was an outstanding trip. A perfect way to see Kauai. We will go back to Kauai and stay longer next time. The Island was beautiful! I highly recommend the tour.
Review by: Hollie, July 2014
The Kauai Day Trip was a nice way to escape the crowds of tourists in Oahu although I found that their was not much to see on the island. The day was very drawn out with quite a few monotonous stops throughout the beginning of the day. The Wailua River was beautiful but I don't think the tour is good value for money considering the affordability of flights between each island as well as car rental. My tour guide Lisa was amazing, very knowledgeable and hilarious - she kept the bus entertained for 8 hours straight.
Review by: Alan H, June 2014
An excellent day out which would have been even better if we had not had to wait over 2 hours each way for our flights. To be dropped at the airport at 5pm for a 7.26pm flight was such a waste of time. The tour guide was excellent and our group size (9 people) made it very personal. Not sure how good it would have been with a very large tour group. All in all a good day.
Review by: MLS, June 2014
I had a great guide and a lovely time. It's a beautiful island and I got to see a lot.
Review by: Andrew G, January 2014
Trip was great and guide was awesome._br/_
Shame about the fog in the canyon, but weather cant be helped
Review by: brian g, December 2013
the canyons are amazing
Review by: Wolfgang R, December 2013
Long Day Trip :-) But very, very nice. We received a lot of information and really nice expressions of Kauai. Thanks to the guide who brought a lot of fun to this trip. I would to again
Review by: Raymond B, March 2013
It was worth the early (5.00am) start the tour was well organzied from Pick-up to the meeting of our tour/bus driver who was well informed and intersting _br/_
On the island the waterfall,canyon and the fern grotto was great to see, would recommend this day trip to all sue Bellamy.
Review by: jgil501, January 2013
Positive-visited some beautiful sites.Negative-tour guide did not greet us at the airport/didn't leave his bus - we had to find him. He did not provide an itinerary or map-we never knew where we were going next.
Review by: Ruben B, December 2012
Juan our guide was good,but the river boat ride at the end was a waste of time. To be brought up to where they used to allow us to see the cave and then tell us that as of 2006 that it was no longer open to the public. We could have done without the 30-45 min of this portion .
Review by: Dale, September 2012
everything about the trip was wonderful including our tour buus driver.
Review by: Thurman, August 2012
Kauai is an ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL island that deserves more than just a day; however, if you're like me and have limited time, a day trip can be just enough to wet the appetite.
Review by: Rosalba Z, July 2012
The organisation of the tour was excellent. We were taken to see some of the beautiful sights on Kauai and the tour guide was very informative. The only thing that I was a little disappointed with is that at times we just drove past some of the sights and didn't get to stop. One in particular was the green sand beach. I would like to have stopped and taken some photos on the actual beach.
Review by: Christeen A, May 2012
there is a lot of wasted time on this trip._br/_
The places visited were lovely, but it was an unnecessarily long day - lots of backtracking picking people up from hotels on Kauai and dropping them off . This could have been done before getting us from the airport and after dropping us back at the airport - making the day at least 2 hours shorter _br/_
(picked up at 5am and back in Oahu around 8pm)_br/_
Lots of "comfort breaks"_br/_
The lunch stop was good
Review by: William P, November 2011
Unbelievable views, fantastic guide and commentary
Review by: Pearly M, September 2011
this guide is more interested in the the Joe's green golf club than tour.. past by russian fort twice but didnt stop all saying nothing to see... quickly drove past...some place also not taken us according to our itinenary.
Review by: Allen S, August 2011
Great day. Lots of great views. Excellent guide. Lots of history and stories.
Review by: Pearly M, January 2011
this guide is more interested in the the Joe's green golf club than tour.. past by russian fort twice but didnt stop all saying nothing to see... quickly drove past...some place also not taken us according to our itinenary.
Review by: JennyC, January 2011
This was a great day trip. Early start, but very professionally operated. Everything was great, from the driver to the flights and the incredible things we saw on Kauai. Highly recommend.
Review by: Frederick J, August 2010
The day trip to Kauai went very well. We were picked up from our hotel in Waikiki, met at the airport. The flight was good, we were picked up at the airport in Kauai by the guide whose name was Marvin. Marvin was an excellent guide, very knowledgeable. We had a lovely day and a very good lunch at a golf club, which was not expensive. We saw all the sights. We thorougly enjoyed our day trip to Kauai.
Review by: Gerald S, United States of America, May 2010
From the time our driver picked us up from the airport to when he dropped us off, he took very good care of us. Very knowledgeable. We had plenty of time at Waimea Canyon.
Review by: Anonymous, Australia, December 2009
This tour had a lot of driving for little to see. In hindsight I would have been better off spending the money doing something else, perhaps seeing another island instead.
Review by: Natalee G, December 2009
This tour had a lot of driving for little to see. In hindsight I would have been better off spending the money doing something else, perhaps seeing another island instead.
Review by: Anonymous, United States of America, July 2007
The scenery was beautiful, but the tour was simply was not worth the cost after all the stops we made before we could get started.
Review by: Michael A, July 2007
The scenery was beautiful, but the tour was simply was not worth the cost after all the stops we made before we could get started.
Review by: Elmer F, United States of America, May 2007
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