Smith's Kauai Wailua River Cruise to Fern Grotto with Live Entertainment reviews, Kauai tours & activities, fun things to do in Kauai | HawaiiActivities.com

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Smith's Kauai Wailua River Cruise to Fern Grotto with Live Entertainment

Overall Rating

4.46 4.46 / 5

Reviews

327 reviews
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River cruise

Reviewed by: Tina B, 2024/03/03

The cruise was very relaxing and informative about the hawaiian culture as you make your way to the fern grotto thru some of the most beautiful views, you also will enjoy some beautiful singing and dancing as you cruise to a beautiful waterfalls.

Rating:
Attended as:Families
Activity Date:2024/02/27
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Interesting

Reviewed by: Mary, 2024/02/17

I enjoyed the cruise and found it informative. The grotto was beautiful and there were a lot of interesting plants along the jungle like walk.
My husband didn't care for it because of the amount of people on board. A bus from a cruise ship let ofF their tour people which made it pretty crowded but that is to be expected. My husband just doesn't like to be in crowds.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2024/01/22
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Very nice for mobility challenged.

Reviewed by: Rodriguez111, 2024/01/29

Fun interesting tour. Very beautiful river. The chicken were funny.

  • Cute show beautiful scenery

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2024/01/04
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Outstanding!

Reviewed by: HG, 2023/12/23

We loved everything about this united family! They were hospitable, funny, and very entertaining. The hula dancing, singing , and history of the area was very interesting to us. We had fun from start to finish and that’s why we voted OUTSTANDING! We will definitely visit again. Mahalo!

Rating:
Attended as:Families with Young Children
Activity Date:2023/12/21
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Beautiful views, relaxing.

Reviewed by: Bette lou, 2023/12/21

The riverboat cruise was a great experience. The riverboat ride was gentle and relaxing. The views were exceptional. Our host gave us a background of the area, which was interesting, and also let us enjoy the peaceful silence as well. Seeing the kayakers on the river was enjoyable. My only advice would be to wear good shoes with traction. The walk up to the grotto can be a little slippery due to moisture and moss. The entertainment that took place at the destination of the grotto, was really entertaining. Enjoy the ride!

Rating:
Attended as:Friends
Activity Date:2023/12/11
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Wailua River Cruise package

Reviewed by: MNielson, 2023/12/02

The Wailua River cruise to the fern grotto was perfect. It was a little wet the day we went, but the boat was covered and we were kept dry. The entertainment was amazing and we learned a lot about the fern grotto. The short hike was easy and we saw lots of ginger blossoms. This was a great family activity!

Rating:
Attended as:Families
Activity Date:2023/11/07
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Try to find good seats

Reviewed by: Csaba, 2023/10/21

Ordered tickets online, showed up early at the location and waited in the line to get in the boat. I was lucky to get good seats in the boat where the view is better than seating in the middle. If you take this trip you will see what I mean.
Some of the people ended up seating in the middle and they didn’t look happy about that…

Rating:
Attended as:Families with Young Children
Activity Date:2023/09/29
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Smiths River boat cruise.

Reviewed by: Matt, 2023/10/21

Such a great experience. It’s an adventure that anyone can do. Very relaxing and a lot to see.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2023/09/29
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Relaxing and Informative

Reviewed by: Denise, 2023/10/20

This was a great way to spend some time seeing the beauty of the island and learning some of its history. Our tour guides were very knowledgeable and entertaining. I had a great time.

Rating:
Attended as:Friends
Activity Date:2023/10/18
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October 2023

Reviewed by: Fran, 2023/10/19

The "entertainment" on the way up the river was great. The fern grotto is absolutely beautiful; although a little disappointing that you can't go inside the cave these days, its still a worthwhile trip. Commentary on the way back was very informative and gave everyone some insight into Hawaiian culture.
Acoustics could have been better as it was hard to hear some of what was being said.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2023/10/17
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Fun and Leisurely

Reviewed by: L Davis, 2023/10/18

The experience was nice and very low key - exactly what we were looking for. The hosts were so awesome. We enjoyed their stories and the music. And the Fern Grotto was as beautiful as described.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2023/10/05
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Good time!

Reviewed by: Giggly , 2023/10/11

The weather was beautiful and our guide on the.boat was fun. The ladies who sang and did the hula were a nice touch. I learned things about the hula that I did not know. They made the excursion memorable. The fern grotto was pretty it it looks like it needs to recover a lot of its growth. Glad we went, though. An interesting adventure.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2023/10/09
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Fun Quick Part of the Day

Reviewed by: Kara, 2023/10/01

Beautiful tour! Our family was happy we found time to visit the Grotto!

Rating:
Attended as:Families
Activity Date:2023/09/22
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Way too crowded

Reviewed by: TravelerT, 2023/09/13

I was expecting to "be at one with nature" but there were so many people. We took a short walk up the path, which was beautiful but no time to stop & appreciate it or take photos. Then, when reaching to grotto, it was so crowded, there are other people in all the photos. You don't actually go into the fern grotto, you see it from a short distance. We were told we could take photos on the way down, but the path is narrow and there's the huge line of people behind you so you can't stop. The river ride was nice, but the entertainment took away from the peacefulness of the ride.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2023/09/11
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A nice family outing.

Reviewed by: TTD, 2023/09/09

My husband and I did this trip with our 20 and 14 year olds. We all enjoyed it. The boat scenery is beautiful the grotto is an amazing site and the music and entertainment on the way home was nice. We all even participated in the hula lesson.

Rating:
Attended as:Families
Activity Date:2023/08/15
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Fern Grotto boat tour

Reviewed by: Debbie, 2023/09/05

Beautiful river excursion; would have loved more time and not so rushed at the Grotto. One song seemed lame. Wanted time to take pictures of foliage on way down. Definitely would not recommend for wheelchair guests. It was steep and pavement unfriendly to wheelchair wheels and very steep and slippery incline uphill.
Entertainment on way back was very fun and good.

  • Gorgeous plants

Rating:
Attended as:Families
Activity Date:2023/09/01
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Wonderful River Cruise

Reviewed by: Pat, 2023/09/02

We took this River Cruise on our 20th wedding anniversary. it was to remind us of the beauty of the Fern Grotto that we visit many years ago. The boat ride was fun. We loved the narration, the music and hula dancing. I highly recommend this cruise.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2023/08/11
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A bit of history

Reviewed by: Michelle B, 2023/08/30

The crew was very interactive with guests. They told the story of the grotto and about Hawaiian history. The fern grotto isn’t what it used to be but still a beautiful spot.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2023/08/28
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Beautiful, but boring.

Reviewed by: Traveler, 2023/08/23

The overall cost was reasonable, the grotto beautiful, but the cruise and experience was pretty dull overall.

Rating:
Attended as:Families
Activity Date:2023/08/21
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Family friendly fun!

Reviewed by: Jenna H, 2023/08/18

The whole family had a blast. The river boat ride in total took about 2hrs. I appreciate that this is family owned and ran. Good people and great stories. It is worth going to for the experience.

Rating:
Attended as:Families with Young Children
Activity Date:2023/08/16
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Fern Grotto River Cruise

Reviewed by: Lisa G., 2023/07/28

Our family of 8 ranging from ages 16-91 really enjoyed this excursion. Relaxing ride on the boat with beautiful live Hawaiian music and dancers was an extra treat. The Fern Grotto was beautiful. I would highly recommend this excursion.

Rating:
Attended as:Families
Activity Date:2023/07/26
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Great tour very informative and funny!

Reviewed by: Annamarie , 2023/07/25

Great tour very informative. The people were so funny I would definitely do it again and recommend my friends and family.

Rating:
Attended as:Families
Activity Date:2023/07/20
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Decent boat ride, Hawaiian music & Hula dance

Reviewed by: Kar, 2023/07/20

Decent boat ride, Hawaiian music & Hula dance. Walk to Fern grotto the best part of ride

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2023/07/18
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Where was wonderful

Reviewed by: Kathleen Oliva, 2023/07/19

Show was wonderful people were funny smart and very informative

Enjoy the boat trip in the drawer to that

Would definitely recommend it to others

Nice family run business

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2023/07/17
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Amazing experience!

Reviewed by: Matt Olsen, 2023/07/13

This is our second time going to the Fern Grotto and it was just as beautiful and amazing as the first time we went 9 years ago. We booked online and it was very easy. We got to the check in site and they handed us a ticket with our name already on it and asked us to turn it in when we boarded. Right on time, they asked us to head down to the dock and board our river boat. Everyone that we encountered had a big smile and a kind word for us. They gave us a brief safety talk and we were off! Our guide going out there was very knowledgeable and talked to us about the history of the island. When we reached the Fern Grotto, they sang for us some beautiful songs and then we hiked a little way up to the grotto. We took lots of pictures and then made our way back! We were treated to some songs and beautiful hula dancing on the way back. The young lady on the microphone was so much fun! She was a jokester, and she had a beautiful singing voice. The ladies doing the hula dancing were just so beautiful to watch and you can tell they love what they do. Overall, it was a lot of fun and I highly recommend. I do recommend booking online as it will save you some time when you get there. Thank you for a wonderful experience!

Rating:
Attended as:Families
Activity Date:2023/07/11
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River cruise

Reviewed by: Linda, 2023/07/11

Highly recommended, we really enjoyed the river cruise the view was beautiful and loved the walk to the cave

Rating:
Attended as:Families
Activity Date:2023/07/06
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Awesome Day

Reviewed by: Kara, 2023/07/01

Great Experience getting to see the gorgeous river

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2023/05/10
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Great family activity

Reviewed by: cassandra15, 2023/07/01

Our family was a pretty big group with a mix of some older folks and young children so we chose to do this activity based on all the good reviews and it did not disappoint. We really enjoyed the hula dancing and singing along the ride. The time spent on the boat and walking to was not too long so it was perfect for our group.

Rating:
Attended as:Families with Young Children
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Fun and Beautiful

Reviewed by: Pam Hurst, 2023/07/01

We really enjoyed the Fern Grotto your. The boat ride was entertaining then walking into the grotto was breathtaking. It rained before we got there so it was fresh and a little humid all at the same time. Would recommend this tour.

Rating:
Attended as:Families
Activity Date:2023/06/08
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Fun river cruise!

Reviewed by: Warren Mitchell , 2023/06/30

This was a really nice time. The cruise was just long enough to relax, enjoy some Hawaiian culture and see the beautiful Fern Grotto. We never felt rushed and enjoyed everything at our own speed.
We didn’t realize how big the Kauai River is. We had always pictured it as being much, much smaller.
It was also very affordable and definitely worth the time and money.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2023/06/28
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