lia_b

I've been reading a lot about Waipio valley and quite honestly I have to assume that if you normally do not drive a 4WD, it might not make sense to practice down that road on a rental (which is not allowed anyhow). So I will probably consider a mule or jeep tour. How are the tours? I have 2 kids (6 and 11) and one of them might be very scared if it is a fast exhilirating ride down to the bottom. Last year we were in St. Lucia and we took an open air trolley, the driver was going to fast around the turns and she got really scared. I'm even afraid she may get "car sick" if there are too many turns.

What is your recommendation for an slow-paced, non scary enjoyable tour to the bottom? Or should I skip it altogether?

Hanalei

Hi,

We took the Waipio valley tour using mules when the kids were 7 and 9. They did fine. They even took pictures with the mules at the end. It is very steep, I don't think I would drive 4WD there either. The mules were slow and the ride is gentle enough for kids. The carriage had canopy at the top. If the kids don't like sceneries, they might be bored. Mine didn't complain. What you see along the way are some vegetation, few houses of people who live there, waterfalls from a distant, going across a stream, and if lucky, you may see wild horses in the field.

Molly2

We did the mule tour when our son was 14. I don't know about him, but I was a bit scared on the jeep ride to the bottom! The tour itself wasn't scary, except when the driver went a bit too fast over a streambed. I grabbed for a little girl seated next to me {probably about 6, same as yours}, and banged my knee in the process. The little girl lost a shoe, but thought it was great fun!

Waipio Valley is absolutely beautiful. I wouldn't miss it.

Pumpy

The hike into Waipio Valley is one of my fondest memories of Hawaii (I used to live there). Enjoy!

lia_b

I know it does look beautiful from the pictures. I would hate to miss it.
So you first ride down in a four wheel drive and then take the mule ride or does the mule wagon take you all the way down?

Molly2

On our trip, the tourguide {a gentleman native to the area, not at all who we might have expected, but VERY knowledgable and entertaining} met us at a tiny store and drove us by jeep to the floor of the valley where he geared up the mules and we began our tour.

Patty

In our case, the guide took us down into the valley in a 4WD van. Then we got on the mule wagon. The mule wagon ride was pretty tame except for one stream crossing which they called the "pirates of the caribbean" portion of the ride Really it was no big deal, just a couple of bumps. We had a hilarious guide and he really made the tour.