Every year we go to Kauai. Every year we rent from this shop. They are the kindest most helpful…read moregroup of people. Pick up and drop off is a cinch and they will always help you with every detail of your adventure. Thanks guys. Look forward to next year!

This one I'm going to have to file under one of the hardest things I've done in my life! But I'm so…read moreproud we accomplished this and did this! So many people talk about kayaking the Wailua River and hiking to Secret Falls. We didn't get a chance to do this on our last trip, but my youngest and I tackled this on this trip! Our guide, Ronda, arrived a couple minutes after our tour start time at 1pm. The morning guide said she'd be along "in island time." Once she got there, she took the time to tell us a little about herself, went around our group and had us each introduce ourselves and share a few words. She took the time to memorize all of our names! She also explained to us as all the other tours were heading out, that she liked to hang back and let everyone go do their thing so we can experience the falls privately as just our group. This girl knows what she's doing! It was about a two mile kayaking journey up the Wailua River with stops intermittently along the way for our "kayak kisses" so Ronda could tell us about the history and other aspects of the island. We were almost in our own little version of Survivor, thinking up ways we could survive out there and what we would need. It was honestly very cool. Once we got the end of the kayaking journey, we were given walking sticks for the moderate 1 mile hike to Secret Falls. There are a couple of areas where you have to cross through water, but nothing higher than the knees, at that time. The hike was beautiful! Ronda pointed out the Hawaiian Woodrose, kukui nuts, which we got to crack open and have a small sample, we washed our hands with awapuhi from the awapuhi plant, etc. it was such a cool adventure. We met the local songbird and dug to find worms for him to eat. He ate right from our hands! He actually landed on my hand and looked at me for a couple seconds! We saw cows on the journey home as well. Secret Falls is amazing. We had a blast swimming around there and resting from the journey. We met a lot of great people in our tour. It was like we all became a little family. We packed up and hiked back to our kayaks and headed back down the Wailua for the journey home. This time the wind was against us, so it was literally like paddling upstream both ways lol! This was such an amazing experience. I'm sure I'm leaving some things out because there was so much! I would say, if you're doing the 1pm tour, don't have any other plans the rest of the day. You don't want to be in a rush to get out of there. Our 5 hour tour ended up being close to 7 hours. It was nice because on the way back the motorized vessels were no longer on the river, so we didn't have to worry about other traffic. I'd also recommend having dinner for that night figured out ahead of time because most places locally close at 8pm. We were able to grab dinner from a spot about 10 minutes prior to their closing. They recommend tennis shoes or hiking boots, but my daughter and I used our water socks/reef shoes and while there were a couple times when we were bouldering I would have liked to have better shoes, ultimately it wasn't an issue. Ronda gives you an opportunity to unplug from the world, get yourself on island time, and take in all the beauty Kauai has to offer. Take it!

We booked this tour as a fun extra thing to do on a couples vacation and it ended up being a…read morehighlight of our trip!!!! Booking we thought, drinking and animals were worth the price of admission but the tour is more than that. I can't praise our amazing tour guides, Tiny and Rick, enough. They were knowledgeable, hilarious, and incredibly kind. Rick educated us on all the agriculture grown on the farm which was fascinating, and was able to answer any questions anyone threw at him. The mai tais were obviously amazing but their original farm cocktail was knock your socks off good. If you're considering booking, do it right now! The four of us who went talked about it for the rest of the trip- I can't recommend it enough!

The tour and the guides were amazing. They were knowledgeable, personable and the rum did not hurt…read moreeither

Spring for the deluxe tour. At the end instead of having to decide what you want you get a great…read morevariety. Our tour guide Sherry was amazing, great energy. Expected to have my husband pass me his dark chocolate as normally it's not his thing but he tried it and I'm sad to say he kept eating all the chocolate. If you're looking for a good intro to fine chocolate and eco tourism this is it.

a must-stop three hour tour for chocoholics if visiting the island of Kauai…read more Like coffee, the cacao plant grows in the tropical belt with Hawaii being the only state in the Union that can grow it. Thus, taking a chocolate tour (and sampling chocolate) became something my wife wanted to do during our visit to Kauai. I booked it on the first day on the island, with cost being $140 per person via Viator, and was able to reserve spots for the following day at 11:00. It's well set-up with clear signs pointing you to the farm (need to pass by other houses through a small residential area). Guides will tell you where to park your car...we intentionally came only 10 minutes before the start and were some of the last ones to arrive. Our tour was fully filled with a maximum of 25 guests. The property is hilly, and the tour does involve a bit of walking, with 3 separate sitting areas where we sampled different foods. In our initial gathering spot, we met Mason (our primary guide). He later told us that he was going into civics. His charismatic personality and willingness to help others, really serves his guests well during the tour and his future (in politics, I'm assuming). We learned a lot about the farm, and had access to bathrooms, natural bug spray (mosquitos definitely bite here) with a place to wash hands, and distribution of umbrellas (for the occasional shower and protection from the sun). Got to sample an apple banana and cocoa tea while learning about the history of the farm. There was so much information, I had to take notes on my smartphone...apologies if I looked like I was not paying attention. In addition to the 3968 cacao trees on the farm (46 acres), other products are grown and raised to supplement the viability of the main crop: apple bananas whose leaves are used the cacao fermentation process; honey from the 50 hives to pollinate the cacao (the parasitic destructor mites that have devastated honey bee hives across the world have not yet made it to Kauai...makes me appreciate the Hawaiian agricultural controls); the vanilla plant vines that are hand pollinated to produce such rare extract that the public can't buy it. We walked to the second spot, passing by various plants and crops. There we sampled unusual tropical fruit (rambutan, soursop, and white pineapple), chocolate covered macadamia nuts (grown in Hawaii), and different honeys. Made me love mac nuts again. The final spot was to taste the chocolate bars. We sampled 5 of theirs (70% dark, 70% with sea salt, 75% with rum, 78% reserve, 50% milk with coffee/nibs), 3 Valrhona, and 1 Hershey. Mason gave a demonstration by hand of how cocoa liquor is made from the fermented seeds (this part is done by machine at a plant in Oahu...their plan is to do future expansion in Kauai so they can emphatically state that it is a completely Kauai product). The 70% dark 1/8 lb bars are $18, and I ended up buying quite a few to give as gifts (Mason didn't buy this explanation). We tried one bar when we got home, and can confirm how creamy and sweet they are (no bitterness). Other tidbits: -- chocolate is a fruit, not a bean or vegetable. -- Only Hawaii can grow it in U.S. -- Grafting is common for consistency -- Chocolate is purple. Black means there were moldy shells. No mold here, so discarded shells can be made into tea -- Most macadamia nuts sold in Hawaii are grown in Australia, and only packaged in Hawaii. -- White chocolate is real chocolate, just using cocoa butter only. -- AI will tell you dark chocolate is bitter cause raw cocoa is earthy (i.e. bitter). Instead, Mason proposed that it was because mass production causes uneven, incomplete fermentation. Smaller batches = careful watching = less bitterness. This was a revelation to me. -- the owner is a fifth generation farmer in Kauai, with him recently changing the name of his farm to his family name. -- At the 2023 Cacao of Excellence Awards held in Europe, Lydgate won the top prize (gold medal) for the Asia & Pacific region, along with six others in the same region, including 2 others from Hawaii. They had previously been named Top 50 in the world multiple times. -- Because they are such a popular tour, there are multiple time slots and days available. The most important thing to note about the quality of the chocolate: cacao plants bear fruit all year round, with Lydgate farms picking and fermenting by hand when it is the right time (as opposed to bigger operations where they combine ripe and unripe fruit all together for the sake of efficiency). Even for a layman like me, it was a convincing argument on why their dark chocolate is premium, costly, and has no bitterness (even at 70%). The major awards that they have received is just confirmation of this fact. And the tour being 3 hours long in such a small area...the time went by really fast.

This Na Pali Experience was absolutely amazing! We did the 12pm tour--expect a ton of fun splash!…read moreKasey and Chellen were great company and took good care of us (Kudos to Kasey for remembering all of our names!) We saw the beautiful Na Pali Coast, caves, waterfalls and snorkeled. First timers, and would 100% recommend. Make sure you follow their Dramamine advice--I don't normally get car sick but I'm glad I decided to take motion sickness medicine. Thanks again!

We chartered a private boat for our group of 16, and Captain Jan and Colleen took us out to see the…read moreNaPali Coast. The whole experience was absolutely amazing! The views were breathtaking. The 9 teenagers in our group said it was a highlight of their trip! Captain Jan and Colleen were very knowledgeable and friendly. They catered to what our group wanted to do. The boat was brand new in January and was impressive! It was comfortable, big enough for us to move around a bit, but yet still small enough to get into the caves. if you are on the fence about seeing the coast, I highly encourage you to do it! This is the company to use!!!

Kauai plantation railway is a fun train ride for the whole family!…read more We made reservations online, and the location was easy to find. It's a pretty solid train ride that gives you a view of the whole estate, including a number of the crops that were grown on Kauai, including sugarcane and bananas. Near the end of the tour, there's also an opportunity to feed the farm animals, which was a big hit with the kids! You can feed the horses, cows, and pigs. Boris, the pig, even does tricks on command, which was my daughter's favorite part of the whole tour! Great adventure that we all enjoyed!

Took my niece and son here for the first time and the train ride itself was a blast -- genuinely…read morefun for kids and adults alike, and I'd recommend it for a family outing. Where things fell short was the dining/happy hour experience beforehand. We arrived on time for happy hour and were told our food would be out before boarding, but it never came. Our server mentioned she'd checked on it a few times and that our ticket had gotten stuck in the queue -- meanwhile we watched tables around us get served. It seemed like she was covering both the bar and the dining section solo, which is a lot to juggle, and I think that stretched her (and our food) too thin. To her credit, she was apologetic and comped our entire food order, which I appreciated. I did ask if we could just get some chips for the kids since we were trying to feed them before the ride, but was pointed toward the gift shop instead -- a small thing, but it would've gone a long way in that moment. We also missed out on the juice that I paid for with the ride but we never got to redeem it in time. Overall, the railway experience itself is worth it, but the food service side needs better staffing support -- maybe a dedicated server for the dining area separate from the bar would help things run smoother for families trying to eat before boarding.

Some friends that we were traveling with, had to come here years ago and wanted to experience it…read moreagain with us newcomers. Take us reasonably priced and bonus for Auto Club discount! We waited for our timeslot at picnic benches under a roofed area. Boarding the boat was easily accessed down a ramp, and helping hands were available to step onto and down into the benched seating area. Along the journey, our narrator was full of interesting information, facts, trivia, and sprinkled it all with fun-loving doses of humor. There was also vibe-setting live music. We watched kayakers paddle down river as we enjoyed the ease of working our way upriver. Once we arrived at the grotto dock, everyone disembarked and took a short walk up along a smooth path. A side path led off to restrooms. The beautiful jungle foliage was all around us. Tall trees, long vines, and bird song surrounded us we walked up to the viewing platform of the grotto. Once there, the ancient and more recent history and cultural significance of the grotto was shared with us. Additionally, we were treated to beautiful traditional music played at weddings, of which they are a venue. Again, the information was fascinating. The grotto itself is a cave opening at the base of a cliff face. A stream of water flows over the top, feeding into a creek, and ferns grow out from all the crevices. It is a very serene place filled with the gentle sound of running water. On the way back, we were again treated to the talented musicians' playing, singing, and hula dancing. A tip jar was available. Disembarkation was very smooth. I really enjoyed the entirety of the trip. I felt like it was a great value for the ticket price. I would certainly recommended this to anyone who enjoys easy-access to nature and traditional and cultural insight.

We got here on a very rainy day. Nonetheless, the boat tour was good, the driver had interesting…read morestories, they had some live music and some native dance routines. The river cruise to the fern grotto was good and would have been great had the weather cooperated.

Our tour guide Allison, was very informative. The tour was nice but a bit long... It was all about…read moredark chocolate, and some very different flavors! So if you're not a dark chocolate lover or have an open palate, it might not be for you..Overall , we enjoyed it!!!

We had a fantastic visit. Delicious welcome fruit table. The service and knowledge about chocolate…read moremaking and the growing of cacao trees was amazing. Angie Villa is so informative and kindly answers all questions. Delicious chocolate!!! Plan your visit.