Coast to Na Pali on HoloHolo Charters in Kauai, Hawaii
Written: Oct 25 '02 (Updated Apr 01 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice, friendly crew, clean and well kept boat, great tour.
Cons: Be prepared for a very fast trip on the way to the coast.
The Bottom Line: We were very happy with HoloHolo Charters. With our coupon we got a great deal and it was a wonderful sunset cruise.
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| jo.com's Full Review: Holoholo Charters - Kauai |
While in Kauai this summer, we did a "must do if you can" trip to the Na Pali Coast through HoloHolo Charters the tour company I am reviewing.
About HoloHolo Charters:
There are several charter companies in Kauai that will take you to the Na Pali Coast. The one you choose may depend on what kind of tour you want or how much you want to pay. Some guidebooks give their choices for best tours. One that was liked was HoloHolo Charters and since we had a 25% off coupon from The Entertainment Book we went with them.
Their website is www.holoholocharters.com where you will learn a lot if you still have questions after this review. From the website "We have two vessels offering a variety of different tours, all narrated and under the direction of our friendly and professional crews. We have more experience taking passengers to Na Pali than any other company. We have the highest crew to passenger ratios around to provide you with added safety and personal attention. Book your trip on-line and receive a free HoloHolo T-shirt for each party! Call us toll free at: 800-848-6130 and our friendly reservations agents will assist you."
We did not book our trip online. We did reserve it a day ahead and I more than highly recommend it. You must make reservations.
Location, Parking and Tours:
HoloHolo Charters office is located in the Eleele Shopping Center in Eleele, Kauai. This is off of Highway 50 in Port Allen heading south from Princeville. Look for Waiaio Road but we truly had no trouble finding this shopping center.
When you get to the office park your car anywhere in the shopping center. You won't be there long. You are parking basically just to check in and pay if you haven't already done so and wait until you are told to drive to Port Allen. Port Allen is where the boat leaves from. We arrived at the office at about 2:15 and around 2:45 drove to Port Allen. There is a parking lot near the dock which is not paved so if you have someone who can't walk well, you will be able to leave them off a bit closer to the boat.
Tours:
Our friends sprung for an amazing tour-Na Pali-Niihau Supertour on their 61' Motor Vessel, HoloHolo which will cost you $165.00 and $109 for children. It does include snorkeling and an array of other goodies but leaves at 6:30 a.m! You will have breakfast and lunch on board this tour. That was a bit over our budget so we went with the sunset cruise.
I am not going to talk much about the Na Pali Coast except to say that it is breathtaking and the only way to really see it is by boat. I would like to review it separately at some point.
The sunset cruise was also on the 61’ boat, HoloHolo. The charter company has a 48’ sailing vessel as well. This is a barefoot cruise. You cannot wear shoes. One man had on socks for some reason but barefoot is preferred. The tour is about 3 ½ hours and costs $79.00 for adults and $60.00 for children without tax. The tour comes back after sunset and is available every night.
Our tour included champage, beer (My husband was impressed that Heineken and Coors were offered.) soda and a dinner pupu. I will talk more about this later since the pupu came at the end of the trip.
If you don’t want to snorkel (or pay the money) this is a great tour and a great way to see Na Pali Coast. As I said they leave from Port Allen and head west and north to Na Pali, going very fast. The "bar" is open as soon as the boat leaves the harbor
About the boat:
The boat is really nice with 2 indoor seating areas and areas to sit and a deck to stand outside. There are two bathrooms that were clean. A bar is indoors and if you choose to sit indoors you will be able to see out the side windows.
The boat goes very fast for one its size – 27 miles per hour. That means you will be doing a lot of holding on if you are standing up. It will be very difficult to go to the bathroom in the first 1/2 hour so if you drink a lot of beer just be aware that getting to the bathroom is tricky. I was actually surprised at how fast they went especially since the water wasn’t flat as glass. I am used to boats but if you are not, be prepared for a ride!
The HoloHolo is a catamaran so you'll find netting in the front of the boat. While the boat was stationary we could sit there if we wanted. There were also some seats on which to sit at the bow and a cushioned seat that held about 10 people by the back of the boat.
What you will see:
It was evident that our captain (and a crew of 3 – all young men and very friendly and sociable) knew where the dolphins might be. Of course, this isn’t Disneyland and I can’t promise you will see the spectacle we saw but we were treated for quite awhile to dolphins swimming right by the boat and spinner dolphins doing their thing. It was quite a treat. The boat stopped for us to watch them and take pictures.
Once you get a first glimpse of this gorgeous coast you will realize how truly breathtaking it is and why so many movies (or scenes) were made here including King Kong and The Thornbirds. The captain does a wonderful job of narrating exactly what is being seen including the hiking trails, the waterfalls, information about ancient Hawaiian culture and even backing into as far as possible a couple of caves. One had a waterfall over it and many people stood where they would get wet!
Once we got to the coast and on the way back, the boat slowed down so the coast, pupu, sunset, cookies and champagne could be enjoyed. The pupu was wonderful. It included various breads, meat, veggie, fruit and cheese trays, chicken wings and vegetarian egg rolls.
We had fresh baked chocolate chip Macadamia Nut Cookies with our champagne. The food is prepared fresh daily by Dali Deli restaurant in Koloa town on the south side of Kauai.
Important information, including what you will need:
If you are at all prone to seasickness you will want to take a Bonine or something similar. One person did get sick on the boat.
All destinations are weather permitting. Snorkel locations are determined by ocean conditions. A 24-hour notice for cancellation is required.
Pregnant woman are not allowed on board because of the vigorous nature of the trip.
This company has had people with wheel chairs on-board but the decision is up to the captain on the particular day you are going. Since conditions can change, that decision can only be made that day. Speaking as someone who has gone, I think that the trip would be very uncomfortable for someone in a wheelchair or not steady on his or her feet.
If you go on a snorkeling trip but have never snorkeled they will teach you as long as you can swim.
You should bring: a towel because you and or the seats may get wet, sunscreen and don’t forget to put it on your feet, a hat, sunglasses, a sweatshirt or windbreaker, camera(s)- we only had one and it wasn’t a waterproof camera. I would bring both. There were times that our camera was getting wet (It rained for a minute, for example and I had to get the picture of the dolphin!) so it won’t hurt to have one especially if you are snorkeling.
Children 6 years and older are allowed for day tours.
Children 4 years and older are allowed on sunset sailing trips and children 5 years and older can go on the Na Pali sunset tours. There were no children on our boat. The youngest people were in their late teens. If you are in Hawaii with children, then obviously your child will go with you. Personally I think the sunset cruise is not one a 6-year old will enjoy.
The boat was full but not crowded. There was always somewhere to sit and even when the dolphins were around everyone could see them without squashing someone else. It was quite comfortable.
My final thoughts:
During the trip to the coast I thought the Captain was crazy because he was going so fast. In order to get there, spend some time at the Coast and have a leisurely trip back, it is necessary, though it was not a comfortable trip. Even the most seafaring people, I think, may have been a little uncomfortable with the speed and the waves.
In spite of that I would do it again in a heartbeat. I think the snorkeling trip sounds wonderful as well, but the sunset trip was very nice. It was timed perfectly so we were drinking champagne and eating cookies as the sun went down and have some terrific shots (People took pictures of each other.) of the sun going down behind us. I highly recommend this trip and I have no hesitation in recommending HoloHolo Charters. I would use them again.
Feel free to leave me a comment or ask any questions.
Other Hawaii reviews you may be interested in:
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Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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