Kauai Day Cruise
 

Will be in Kauai (staying outside Poipu) at Christmas time. Interested in finding a day cruise for my husband and myself. Any suggestions?

We took the Holoholo catamaran trip. Nice outfit, nice luncheon served, very friendly personnel. Great views of the Napali coast up close and personal. SPinner dolphins playing, a beautiful sunset. Our trip was the 3.5hr sightsee and sunset cruise.

http://www.holoholokauaiboattours.com/

Make sure you do a Napali coast boat tour and make sure you take the cruise that leaves first thing in the morning. You will see few if an dolphins if you take the afternoon cruise. The operators are all similar - chose according to whether you want speed and bumpy in an inflatable vs slower and calmer in a catamaran,, sun or shade, full meal vs snacks, etc. or just check TripAdvisor.

If it's a calm day - a Zodiac/inflatable would be ok - but if there's any chop at all - you can get bounced around pretty good.

A Catamaran is a much smoother overall ride, and you still see the fish/turtles up close and personal.

There are several companies that go out of Pt. Allen - over by Waimea on the SE side of the island, and I think we took Capt Andy's - http://www.napali.com/kauai_sailing/ but check around for the best deal/ride.

I too would recommend going early for the best ride/smoothest conditions usually - and you could watch the sunset later from the beach.

I have taken both Holo Holo and Captain Andy's both are good boats with good crews and good food, agree with taking the am tour. Captain Andy's has a new boat which is getting rave reviews called Southern Star, very luxurious and they serve a hot meal instead of sandwiches and pasta salad. Check it out, a few dollars more but sounds worth it to me, going to take it my next trip.

Of those who have replied, who has taken a cruise over Christmas/late Dec/Jan up or down the NaPali Coast?

We took Captain Andy's trip just a week ago and had a really good time. There was a little chop in the water and we saw people in a Zodiac that i was afraid were going to be thrown out.:) They were a very nice company and family. We actually did the sunset tour and we finished just as the sun was setting.