Page 10) Things to Do in Kauai in 2026 – Tours & Activities | HawaiiActivities.com

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Kauai

All Reviews for Wailua River Adventures

Overall rating

4.57

615 Reviews
Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Fern Grotto
Activity Date: 2022/03/15 | Posted on: 2022/03/17

Wonderful and beautiful experience. We had a great time. Friendly and informative staff.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Couples
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Awesome beyond words!
Activity Date: 2022/03/14 | Posted on: 2022/03/16

We could not have imagined how beautiful the scenery would be. The singing and dancing was an added bonus. The Smith family really did an amazing job providing a fun filled adventure.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Families
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Entertaining and Informative
Activity Date: 2022/02/25 | Posted on: 2022/03/01

We enjoyed the Wailua river boat cruise. It was very efficiently run. The entertainment was delightful; entertaining and informative. Enjoyed the walk to the fern grotto and the history there. Loved the scenery.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Couples
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Friendly staff.
Activity Date: 2022/02/21 | Posted on: 2022/02/23

The staff was very friendly and they try really hard to be sure you have fun even if the cruise itself can be a little bit boring.
I didn’t appreciate that they don’t say anything to people who don’t wear a mask even if it’s still mandatory. That part was really annoying.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Families with Young Children
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
A lovely, peaceful boat trip along a beautiful river
Activity Date: 2022/02/11 | Posted on: 2022/02/13

The Smith's Wailua River Cruise was very good. The open windows were fantastic for taking pictures. We cruised at a relaxing speed. It was fun to watch the people in Kayaks and on paddle boards along the way. There is a roof on the boat so it's very shady & the padded bench seats are comfortable. We were entertained with interesting history about the river and area.
It was easy to get in & out of the boat. The Fern Grotto was a very lush & beautiful area. There were no mosquitoes or flying insects when we were there between 11 A. M & 12:30 P. M.
At the Grotto & on the boat, we were entertained with singing and dancing. It was a very enjoyable time for all.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Couples
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Wailua River Kayak & Secret Falls Hike - Guided Kauai Adventure
Excellent tour
Activity Date: 2022/02/04 | Posted on: 2022/02/06

Excellent tour! Our guide Lizzie was super informative and helpful. We paddled our hearts out
and then loved the hike through the lush landscape. Lizzie pointed out all the native plants and birds. The waterfall was spectacular and worth the work.

Packages: Sacred Falls Paddle & Hike Tour
Attended as: Couples
Reply from activity provider

Aloha Connie, Thanks for letting us know that Lizzy continues to excel. Lizzy brings a real love and professionalism to our tours and has raised the bar a wee bit. Thanks again and keep paying attention to our friends the, birds, bees and plants. A hui hou, Micco /Head Guide

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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Good Trip!
Activity Date: 2022/02/04 | Posted on: 2022/02/06

This was a good trip. The boat was clean and well-kept-up, and everyone was very friendly. Fern Grotto is pretty, and the local entertainment makes the event fun. It's a relaxing, quiet trip and a good way to see some of the beauty of Kauai.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Couples
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Always my favorite!
Activity Date: 2022/01/06 | Posted on: 2022/01/31

Every time I come to Kauai, I do this River Cruise and it never gets old. It is entertaining, educational, beautiful and just plain fun for all ages. I especially appreciate that the staff and crew always seen to be enjoying themselves as well!

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Families
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
beautiful peaceful and entertaining
Activity Date: 2022/01/06 | Posted on: 2022/01/09

i whole experience was amazing. The employees greeted guests with enthusiasm and personality, very happy and entertaining. the boat ride took us giding down the river providing beautiful sites and emotions. the fern grotto and short walk were great as well. all around a+ adventure.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Families
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Ultimate Kauai Private Guided Island Tour - Waimea Canyon & South Shore
Orlando was awesome
Activity Date: 2021/12/30 | Posted on: 2022/01/01
Lee

First, our driver/guide Orlando was simply amazing. He was quite knowledgeable and helpful. Orlando’s sense of humor kept us relaxed and laughing. Orlando picked us up right on time. We mentioned to him we would need frequent restroom stops. Not only was he accommodating but he was very picky about where he stopped being conscious of cleanliness. Speaking of cleanliness, our vehicle was spotless and very comfortable. We loved his guidance and took him to lunch. I cannot recommend this tour more highly. When you book, be sure to ask for Orlando!

Packages: Kauai Private North & East Tour: See Hanalei Bay & Wailua and Opaekaa Falls
Attended as: Couples
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Rich in culture, beauty, and Aloha! Everyone should do this when visiting Kauai. Worth it!
Activity Date: 2021/12/03 | Posted on: 2021/12/30

The Smith’s Wailua River Cruise was a beautiful way to spend our morning. Start off by learning some island history and geography by a native guide from the Smith Family. Ours was Wade.

Once you arrive at the Fern Grotto, you’ll walk a beautiful path to get there and learn about its natural history and cultural significance as well as anything you’d like to know about it. We learned so many fascination facts and it was so beautiful and peaceful.

On our way back, we were treated with professional musicians and a top notch dancer. Everything about the small group of performers was beautiful from the sweet sounds of the musicians to the graceful display of cultural dance. You couldn’t get better quality and for the price!

It was an honor and gift to ride with the Smith Family. Looking forward to coming back with the kids.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Couples
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Awesome experience.
Activity Date: 2021/12/22 | Posted on: 2021/12/24

Wish it didn’t rain the whole time but they can’t control that obviously. I recommend it.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Families
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Great family fun time.
Activity Date: 2021/12/10 | Posted on: 2021/12/13

It's a nice way to spend an hour on the water with some fun Hawaiian music. It's relaxing and a calm way to just chill. The actual fern grotto was an incredible sight to see and enjoy. That was the best part. Just a couple of minutes of walk from the dock to the main area where you see and appreciate the phenomenon.

Fun!

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Couples
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Tired
Activity Date: 2021/11/17 | Posted on: 2021/12/11

The building where we pay and gather is very depressing. The boat ride was uneventful, the grotto was a beauty of nature. We music was okay, we could tell the performers were tired because it was the last trip of the day, but they were nice and accommodating.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Couples
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
River Excursion
Activity Date: 2021/11/24 | Posted on: 2021/11/28

Good way to spend a couple of hours meandering down a river.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Couples
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Wailua River Kayak & Secret Falls Hike - Guided Kauai Adventure
Amazing trip!
Activity Date: 2021/11/02 | Posted on: 2021/11/27

Our guide was informative and friendly. The waterfalls were beautiful and my partner and I had a great time. There were sandwiches, chips and soda that was provided so bring water. They supply dry bags which is a must have. Our host cut up a pineapple at the end and gave us tips on some local areas and food spots to check out.

Packages: Sacred Falls Paddle & Hike Tour
Attended as: Couples
Reply from activity provider

Aloha Cooper,

I guess we can't do better than amazing. Thanks for a very nice reviews. I believe we are the only company that offers lunches on the river.

Stay paddling, active and Happy Holidays.

Thanks for sharing.

A hui hou,

Micco
Head Guide

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Wailua River Kayak & Secret Falls Hike - Guided Kauai Adventure
Secret Falls tour was great!
Activity Date: 2021/11/22 | Posted on: 2021/11/24

We loved our tour to the secret falls. The kayak was sturdy and we never felt like there was a risk of flipping. G was a great guide and the sandwich lunch was filling and tasty. We would recommend it to anyone.

Packages: Sacred Falls Paddle & Hike Tour
Attended as: Couples
Reply from activity provider

Aloha Andre,

"G" must be our guide Garrick. Garrick brings a true love of the outdoors of Kaua'i, Alaska, etc. We are very fortunate, all of us, sharing his particular brand of Aloha and grasp of the cultural and natural history of the Wailua River complex.

Thanks for the 5 stars.

Happy Holidays,

Micco
Head Guide

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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Great family tour
Activity Date: 2021/10/18 | Posted on: 2021/11/14
:-)

We have two toddlers so this was a nice adventure to take with little ones. The fern grotto is beautiful.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Families with Young Children
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Fun. Sort of hokey!
Activity Date: 2021/11/08 | Posted on: 2021/11/10

Nice boat ride and walk to the fern grotto. The customers on board got into the group songs and their hand movements. A good family outing.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Couples
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Great Value nice trip with the kids and grandkids.
Activity Date: 2021/10/06 | Posted on: 2021/10/30

Nice cruise, lots of fun info and entertainment and a great trip for the value.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Families with Young Children
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Excellent crew and talent, Fern Grotto not truly accessible
Activity Date: 2021/10/13 | Posted on: 2021/10/17

Our group of 4, aged 50s to 70s, very much enjoyed the entertainment and river history. One of our group was in a wheelchair. Bathrooms were accessible but the ramp to see Fern Grotto was so steep that 2 of us chose bathrooms over seeing that trip endpoint. This excursion is the best value on the island. Book it!

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Friends
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Wailua River Kayak & Secret Falls Hike - Guided Kauai Adventure
Kauai Kayak was a great adventure!
Activity Date: 2021/10/11 | Posted on: 2021/10/13

We had an awesome time. The adventure was a little strenuous at times but we got through it and the end rewards was well worth the effort! Our guide Devan was great and encouraged everyone along the way and was very knowledgeable of the area. The waterfall was amazing but the water cold! We really enjoyed the experience. We’ll worth it!

Packages: Sacred Falls Paddle & Hike Tour
Attended as: Couples
Reply from activity provider


Aloha Dave,
Glad that our guide enriched the experience and that you made it to the falls.
Reviews like yours helps match the tour to the right people and let them know what is in store.
Thanks for taking the time to share.
Keep chasing rainbows and waterfalls.

A hui hou,

Micco
Head Guide

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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Relaxing with good humor
Activity Date: 2021/09/29 | Posted on: 2021/10/03

Captain on cruise was very informative and relaxed. He made the cruise more enjoyable. The young man who sang had excellent humor and a great voice for the songs he sang. The ladies were doing their job. Hula was beautiful and graceful

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Families
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
So worth it!
Activity Date: 2021/09/22 | Posted on: 2021/09/27

Great short cruise for the money, even includes entertainment. We loved it! We would do it again.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Couples
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Wailua River Kayak & Secret Falls Hike - Guided Kauai Adventure
Awesome experience
Activity Date: 2021/09/23 | Posted on: 2021/09/25

The kayak Kauai company was awesome. We missed our original appointment and they were still able to accommodate us. Garrett was an awesome guide. Very informative

Packages: Sacred Falls Paddle & Hike Tour
Attended as: Couples
Reply from activity provider

Aloha Anthony,
Thanks for taking the time to compliment our awesome staff. We do rock and really try to hard to make everybody happy and go the extra yard.
Thanks for sharing.
Micco
Head Guide.

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Wailua River Kayak & Secret Falls Hike - Guided Kauai Adventure
Best part of our trip to Kauai!
Posted on: 2021/09/24

This tour was by far our favorite part of our entire trip. The kayaking is beautiful and relaxing - easy enough for beginners (like some people in our group) but still very enjoyable for seasoned kayakers like my husband and me. The hike was also a lot of fun. A bit challenging at times - not so much in the way of fitness, but more-so because there are some places where it’s uneven and slippery. But as long as you wear good water shoes and step carefully, it’s a fairly easy hike even for someone that’s out of shape like me. The waterfall and swimming hole are stunning. Totally worth the muddy hike. Something we’ll never forget. And the guides are AMAZING! Our guide was Garrick - he was super knowledgeable, friendly, fun, and funny. He made the entire trip a blast. And at one point we met up with another group and their guide, Ty, was also super knowledgeable and funny - and played the ukulele on the hike back down. It was great! I would absolutely recommend this to anyone visiting Kauai and would definitely do it again.

Attended as: Couples
Reply from activity provider

Aloha J’Neal,


What a nice review with some advice of how to negotiate the often muddy trail. As you shared good water shoes helps allot.


Thanks for taking the time to let us know, well I mean that Garrick, continues to do good if not great job. Glad that you got to meet one of our other guides Tyler as well.

I can honestly say we have a great group of guides who truly love what they do and are their to interpret and share their particular and unique form of aloha.

Thanks for making it possible. You both sound like you might be candidates for our day long Na Pali sea kayak tour.

Stay active.

A hui hou,

Micco
Head Guide


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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Very enjoyable river cruise
Activity Date: 2021/09/16 | Posted on: 2021/09/21

Great opportunity to sit back, relax and enjoy and hour and 20 minutes on the Wailua River and “getting married” at the Fern Grotto. The music and hula dancing on the journey up the river added a wonderful ambiance and the history and information on movies filmed on and around the Wailua on the way back was very informative. All in all a wonderful addition to our trip to Hawaii.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Couples
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Wailua River Kayak & Secret Falls Hike - Guided Kauai Adventure
Challenging but worth it!
Activity Date: 2021/09/18 | Posted on: 2021/09/20

As a beginning kayaker, this was an energizing and satisfying ride. Make sure you have sturdy shoes for the hike. Our water ‘shoes’, more like socks, did not work as well as the closed toed more sturdy shoes would have been better and what most people had on. We made it though! That dip in the waterfall was worth the whole trip! J, our guide, was informative, attentive and amusing. Highly recommended.

Packages: Sacred Falls Paddle & Hike Tour
Attended as: Families
Reply from activity provider

Aloha Mary,

Yep…just the right amount of paddling and hiking. By the time your arms are getting tired…you are out and hiking to the falls.

Thanks for taking time to share and reflect on your tour with your guide Jay.

Sturdy hiking shoes makes it much more enjoyable; thanks for warning others.

Keep active and sharing aloha,

Thanks again for your nice review.

A hui hou,

Micco
Head Guide



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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Lynsan
Activity Date: 2021/08/30 | Posted on: 2021/09/06

We had not been to the fern grotto in 25 years. It is more beautiful and serene then we remember. The staff a Smith's are welcoming and deliver a fun trip. We like the music and the Capitan's narrative explaining the area.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Friends
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Smith’s Fern Grotto River Cruise with Live Hawaiian Music & Hula
Aloha ! Remarkable performances by the musicians and Aloha dancers
Activity Date: 2021/08/02 | Posted on: 2021/09/02

Aloha ! Remarkable performances by the musicians and Aloha dancers. A very entertaining group! My family was amazed all througout the river cruise. The walk to the Fern Grotto was a unique experience because the beauty of the lush and large tropical plants was amazing and beautiful. Overall, an exciting experience to see a beautiful garden ( Fern Grotto) . It is very well recommended to have the river cruise and if we come back to Kauai, we will do the Wailua river cruise again.

Packages: River Cruise Package
Attended as: Families with Young Children
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Things to Do in Kauai in 2026 – Tours & Activities | HawaiiActivities.com
Kauai’s Wailua River flows from Mt. Waialeale past lush jungle landscapes and hidden waterfalls, creating the perfect setting for outdoor adventure. Paddle a kayak through calm, scenic waters to explore secret falls and ancient sites, or take a relaxing boat cruise to the famous Fern Grotto. Whether you're chasing waterfalls or enjoying the ride, the Wailua River offers one of Kauai’s most rewarding nature experiences.