Kauai Na pali coast which company
 

Will be in Kauai early June, I have visited the island on two previous occasions and never done a cruise to Na pali Coast and I want to change that this year. I would appreciate your input as to which is better. This is what I want not sure if I will be able to find one company that has it all:
Not interested in snorkeling cruise but I do want to go during the morning (have read here the ride is smoother in the a.m.) Don’t want it to last more than 3 hours. & Want a boat that goes through the caves (not sure if they all do and I do know that depending on weather they determine if they can go in or not). As always your thoughts and experience are welcome. Have a great day
Gina

It's been years since I went, so I can't recommend a specific company, but I have a couple of pieces of advice. Look for "zodiac" boats, as those are the maneuverable boats that can go in the sea caves. Secondly, book the cruise for early in your trip, and check with the company on the weather before you go out there -- if the weather is too rough, move your reservation to the next day, and so on. The Na Pali coast is beautiful under any circumstances, but going in the caves is really cool, and worth doing a little extra work for.

sg92:
Will definitely make notes of your advice. Thank you

Any other thoughts?
Thank you
Gina

tours 3hrs or less are usually sunset tours that don’t include snorkel or caves. launches from hanalei (my preference for dep) has the best afternoon tour b/c it’s very scenic. sorry, i can’t remember the name, “sun” something, they’ve been around forever, but it seems the boat has too. try googling na pali tours hanalei. another shorter distance to na pali than pt. allen is kikiaola harbor (between waimea and kekaha) but again if you staying northshore, consider time spent in traffic or time on the boat. sunset tours are rough rides as you already know. i used to frequent smith’s zodiac out of hanalei (classmate fam-owned), but as years past, the slower and bigger the boat the better b/c i can never tire taking a tour every year, rafting is just not an option for my back. good luck. let me know if you find a co, i may call them too.

Na Pali Catamaron out of Hanelei got good reviews in the Ultimate Guide book. We chose them adn we were pleased. The tours from the North shore include more of the cliffs, caves since they are up north. This company is by reservation and they do book up. Ours was a morning tour, 3 to 4 hours as I recall

Thank you very much. I will let you know once a decision is made.
Gina