Day Trip From Oahu To Kauai: Waimea Town & Fern Grotto W/ Airfare

John and Kristy were awesome! Thorough and fun! They day flew by! The only issue was there wasnt much guidance once you got off the plane. We figured it out though.

James is amazing. Had so much fun. Loved the information the jokes. All of it was so good. Would absolutely book again!! Thank you for such a good time!!

Great day. John was personable, knowledgeable and fun.

The tour was excellent; John, the guide, was extraordinary! He was funny, insightful, and made the day much more enjoyable and fun. 100% recommended. On the other hand, the driver, Scott, was a bit aggressive with his speed, especially when driving up and down Waimea Canyon.

Great way to see the island highlights! John did an awesome job! Highly recommend.

It was a perfect tour as we were expecting! John was so great, friendly and so knowledgeable. We had a great time!😊

Lots of great experiences, all in one day. Our guide John, made the day a totally enjoyable experience.

Rosario was great. Pickup at LIH airport from HNL smooth. All canyon sites outstanding. Lunch at Kauai Brewing, e cellent. Coffee tasting at Kauai Coffee Co. Great. Blowholes, nice. River cruise and entertainment to/from Fern Grotto very nice. Drop off at LIH for flight back to HNL great. Overall great day w/Roaario.

Flew from HNL to LIH. Met pro.ptly by our Polynedian Adventures driver, Rosario who kept the all-day tour interesting with just enough background and historical significance. Boat trip to Fern Grotto was entertaining and educational. We all were "married" again in a joint wedding ceremony. All stops were great, but the canyon views were spectacular. Thanks, Rosario

This was a nice way to see a lot of Kauai. The stops were as advertised, so you can research them ahead of time if you want. While you could do the route and follow the itinerary in your own rental car, you would miss out on the tour guide’s knowledge and humor. (John was our wonderful guide - personable, happy to help with photos and questions, and local knowledge of the island.) Our lunch spot was in Old Koloa Town with plenty of options and shops. I recommend sampling the food trucks and getting a coffee or smoothie from the stores. In our group of 15, we were the only ones who flew in and out on the day. All the others were picked up from hotels and resorts on Kauai. After seeing the earlier review about someone’s bad experience with the pickup, we were on high alert for potential delays or issues, but it was just fine. It was outside the baggage claim that the instructions mentioned and immediately to the right in a small lot with parking spaces sized for tour bus mini-coaches and coach buses. There were other Polynesian Adventures buses that came and left, and those drivers were friendly and told us who our driver/guide was going to be. And when it took a little bit longer than expected, the dispatch staff on the phone were cheery and helpful. We got back to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

I went on this trip booked through Viator but run by Polynesian Adventures. The pick up at the airport was a disaster. They provided directions. After waiting for 10 minutes beyond the pick up time, I call as instructed and find the phone # provided does not work. Then I hunt and find another number, call to be told the driver is on the way, and I see the coach approaching but the driver does not stop at the designated pick up location but speeds off around a corner. I inform the representative on the line who assures me the coach will come back. I wait for another 15-20 mins and call again and I am told to wait. After a short while the coach comes around again and repeats the same thing - not slowing down but this time I step off the curb and notice the female driver gesticulating ahead. So I chase after the coach and find her parked around the corner and when I get in she tells me she would be fined for stopping there. Then why on earth do they give directions to wait at baggage claim. Why not say go around the corner of the building to meet the coach. I was tempted to chew her out for the general incompetence of the tour group but decided not to make a scene. Anyway, finally I get in and a short while later the coach hands off the customers to another coach. This was driven by a voluble lady named Sabrina. She started talking and did not stop till the tour ended. I indicated I had to catch a flight to Oahu and the boarding time was 6:14pm. She indicated she would drop me off at 6pm and made a point of indicating how small the airport was and how short the TSA check-in was. The tour itself was pleasant and scenic except for endless soliloquy. I have never met anyone who can literally gab for hours on end. Then at the end of the sightseeing I indicate I need to get to the airport. She says she has to drop off a couple of other customers at local hotels and she will get me to the airport. I had no choice. I thought why are airport passengers who have to catch a flight not given priority over customers staying at local hotels. But, she keeps on with the monologue and drops the first and then the 2nd customer by which time it is 6pm. Then I watch as she drives past the turn- off. I thought maybe there is an entrance further down for coaches. It did not occur to me she was so bird-brained that with all of her yammering she forgot she had to drop off the next customer, me, at the airport. But, she blithely keeps on driving and yakking and then I finally had enough and said when was I going to be dropped off. Then she says she forgot and she would turn around. She then executes a clumsy U -turn and goes roaring back. By this time I am certain I will miss my flight. She screeches up to TSA at 6:15 pm after my flight has started boarding. Contrary to her assertions the TSA line is long. I do not bother to say anything to her though I would have liked to give her a piece of my mind. But, there is no time for that. I rush through TSA and I look for my gate. Directions are not clear and I am casting around looking for the gate, asking around all the while getting more desperate as I hear the final boarding call. I try to run but my lungs are wheezing and knees are creaking. Finally, I reach the gate at the last second and rush through. This was a frenetic end to what would have been a wonderful trip to Kauai, thanks to an incompetent tour group with a thoughtless, garrulous driver with no ability to track what she should be doing instead of yapping nineteen to a dozen. So it started and ended with stress, though the sights were marvelous. It is probably best to avoid Polynesian Adventures and go with another tour group as PolyAd believes in needlessly getting your adrenaline flowing. But, Kauai is worth visiting. Just avoid Poly Ad and Sabrina.

Pickup was late and trip started late. Sabrina, our driver/guide, was knowledgeable and very helpful. Would have been nice to have a map of the Island to follow.

Kaleo was an amazing tour guide, the Hawaiian Superman himself! Beautiful island tour and learned a lot! Would recommend!

The Waimea Canyon is the best pet of their tour. I will be coming back to take time to truly enjoy its beauty.

The tour wasi incredible, informative and educational. Kaleo did an ex ellent driving the bus and entertsining the group tour. He was awesome.

Rosario was an awesome tour guide. He was funny and made the tour very enjoyable. He needs a raise so he can buy his 12 million dollar house!!

Sabrina made this trip amazing! She has so much knowledge, history, and fun stories and really brought it all to life! She also knew weather patterns and things well and even though of course rain can’t be controlled, she knew the usual timing and pattern and we were able to see it all beautifully even on a rainy day as she diverted bad weather and showed us different things to wait it out. The only two complaints are coming from Oahu and flying out that morning for a day trip, we did have to sit at the airport in Kauai for about an hour and a half after landing for the van to come to start the tour at 8am so it was a very long day. But it was entertaining and a great way to see a lot of the island and learn a lot! Only other thing is the lunch place was an odd choice. It was at a nice golf course but the options were super basic like cheeseburgers and fried chicken and it would have been fun to go to a local place with local cuisine. Sabrina knew so much about everything and made it so much fun!

Too far to go; if on the island already is OK. Would you like me to be more critical? Don't want to spend any more of my time with this!

Our driver ((Kaleo) was fantastic and humorous, made the ride very enjoyable. Educational and the views was worth the tour.

Really enjoyed Kaleo and his bus tour. Quite the entertaining guy. Buckle up for some dad jokes. Saw some great sites too .

Kaleo was an awesome guide/driver. Right up my alley with dad jokes. I loved hearing of his stories and ancestors culture and beliefs. Amazing, I wanna visit again using a 1 way ticket! Mahalo

Great views! Rosario was a great guide. You might get motion sickness going up and down the canyon. Take meds, but otherwise it's a good time.

This way an awesome tour. Kaleo was very knowledgeable and humorous. He engaged with everyone. I'll recommend this tour to everyone.

Kaleo was excellent! He made the day very fun and informative! Could have been a miserable day. Mahalo for a wonderful day!

HAWAIIAN SUPERMAN KALEO! We love you! We are so grateful to have you as our guide TWICE! Anyone who is wondering if this tour is worth it, 100% yes it is worth it! The best part was definitely having Kaleo as the bus driver because of his wonderful sense of humor, upbeat music choices, and excellent relay of information. We appreciate his attention to detail, wide range of knowledge, and warm Aloha Spirit! Mahalo Nui!

The views were amazing! Our tour guide Rosario was the absolute best! He’s so passionate about his home island and had so much knowledge about the history, the trees, plants, canyons etc. He also had many funny stories to share. Enjoyed the day because of him!

Some of the most breath taking views with an excellent tour guide. Guide provided us with excellent tidbits and recommended bites.

We had a great time. Rosario is an experienced and great guide. Thanks a lot. Kauai is such a beautiful place.

Excellentl, great tour guide. Rosario was very knowledgeable Will recommend to my friends Very impactful

Tour guide kaleo was very informative about the island. He was attentive to those on the tour and answered our question.

Kaleo was my bus driver and tour guide. He has a vast knowledge of the Island and is very humorous. He makes the tour very interesting and fun filled. I highly recommend him.

Other than the incorrect information on the pick up at the Lihu airport everything else was great. It said that we would be picked up between 8.10snd 8.15am and to stay at the curb side in front of the baggage claim area when we come out.I was sitting on the bench from 7.30am but no bus , so panicked and had to run around till I asked a security who said the tour busses park right side of the baggage claim area, where I finally found the bus not in the purple color which is shown on the brochure! This happened to another family as well.Please give correct instructions in the future and tell the driver to get off the bus and check with people who is sitting right in front of the baggage claim area to see if they are waiting for the tour! Is it do hard? Other than that our guide Lisa was awesome and a great way to spend the day.The lunch stop was under renovation and there was loud bang sound throughout our lunch time!

Breathtaking views..... Fun tour guide.... Amazing day! Lunch was delicious. Loved learning some native lingo. Mahalo 🌺

We were traveling with my eldrly mother and this trip was great. Our tour guide shared a lot of historical information and was very friendly. The Luau was great entertainment was top notch. I highly recommend this tour.

Kats, our tour guide, made this tour one to remember. Her personal history & connection to the island brought all the small details of Kauai to life. Additionally, she had a vibrant character and was very hospitable! The tour itself was good. The Waimea Canyon was certainly the highlight, and all other locations (Spouting Horn, Village of Hanapepe, Fern Grotto) were nice too. I wasn't a huge fan of the Wailua River tour, but I don't think Polynesian Adventure Tour handles that. I also thought the lunch stop (Chicken in a Barrel) was pretty standard and could've been better. I loved the tour guide. I enjoyed the sightseeing. I felt well taken care of. For me, it was worth the price.

Great full day. Lucky to have sam as our designated driver.Blowhole in full action. A bit of sunshine before the rain closed in on waimea canyon Highly recommend

Had a great time. The Kauai guide was great and very kind. She spoke the entire time about what were were near and the history of Kauai. That helped a lot. She was a local and enjoyed talking about her home. Highly recommend as adding a day trip to another island was great. Remember, Kauai is the wettest of all islands and in 2018 the wettest place on earth. Hard to control the weather. Would like a bit more communication. (i.e. upon arriving in Kauai, what time will a Poly Ad rep pick us up? Not just someone will meet us there. Upon returning to Oahu, have the poly ad rep have a sign with our name on it. )

The best: Our guide, Joseph, was excellent. His knowledge, stories, observations, friendliness, humor, and patience were superb. He answered our many and diverse questions easily and clearly. The island is beautiful and well worth visiting. Because of Joseph and Kauai, the tour was memorable in a good way. However, there were a couple of concerns with the information supplied by Polynesian Tours. The write-up notes pick-up between 4:30 and 5 am. After a call made to the 800#, the bus arrived about 5:15 am. Since we were waiting on a street corner before dawn, we became disconcerted by the original misinformation. Also, we had a few questions concerning the form of the tour since particulars had not been provided until a second call was made to the supplied 800#, when we spoke to a very helpful contact. Finally, no information about airport pickup upon out return to Honolulu had been relayed. While searching for a driver, bus, or sign that we would not be left to fend for ourselves, Polynesian Tour employees found us wandering around the baggage claim and assuring us that all was well. To improve the experience: be more detailed in the explanation of the actual tour, be accurate and thorough in the particulars of pickup in the morning and at the airport in the evening. These changes would make the tour even more enjoyable.

Rosario was a very interesting & informative guide. He was very knowledgeable & had a great sense of humor. We loved the view of the canyon & the boat trip on the Wailua River was beautiful & very interesting. We got to see an overall view & feel for this island.

<p>We loved this trip. We were staying in Waikiki and had been to Maui and the Big Island before, but never Kauai. It was a debate about doing an overnight trip, but after reading the reviews of trips, decided on this one 36 great reviews, guess it's 37 now. We are very glad we did! Great tour guide Jonna, as least that's how she said to pronounce it , the trip to the Canyon was most spectacular, but loved stopping in the coffee plantation, stopping for lunch, the river tour trip to the Fern Grotto, the overlooks, historical insights as we went by everywhere. We usually had extra time to squeeze in another sight. I am not sure why some folks complained about getting to the airport early, we thought it was perfect timing and on the way back had an hour to eat dinner at the airport instead of eating at 930 pm on Oahu. Highly recommended, and we are actually glad we did not stay the night. I would do a tour with this group again, to another island we have not seen.</p>

If you do not have a car or any other form of transportation, then this may be a good option for you to consider. But be advised you will spend a lot of time on the bus just picking up and dropping off people. For us we spent two hours on the bus in the morning before we made our first scenic stop. If you want to see the canyon, I would recommend renting a car and making the drive on your own. I will be a better use of your time.

I've written many reviews for trip advisor, and most of them are rated 5 stars, I'm upbeat and like to turn any adventure into a fun one but with this tour I was very disappointed especially for what I was expecting and for the amount I spent. My husband and I had little time in Hawaii and I wanted to get a feel of Kauai all in a day so I booked this tour, excited to read the itinerary hit all these many areas, it sounded promising. The day started off way too early, our flight was 7:30 and we were at the airport at 5:30, ready at the gate and waiting with nothing to do for 2 hours, we could have easily have driven there ourselves at 6am and had an extra hour of sleep. We were picked up at the airport by our guide, Jonna, who didn't even introduce herself but we went straight into the van. (My husband and I are 30yrs old and the entire van was occupied by people aged 55 and up, which isn't a problem and all our fellow tourists were lovely, but it gives you an idea of the type of crowd/tour/vibe you're in for.) A lot of the day felt like we were just driving around in a quiet van, the tour guide didn't really have much interesting information to share and was annoyingly not very informative or clear on what the day itinerary would look like. The day was cloudy and rainy, and each stop just felt like a drag, out of the bus, look at the scene for a few minutes and get back on. The weather is not in our tour guides control but she could've done a better job brightening up the ride, or providing information in advance to prepare us for the fact that the highlight of the trip might be completely ruined, which it turned out it was: the Waimea Canyon was totally not visible due to the heavy fog. (Perhaps with better planning, as a local to the island, our tour guide might have realized to switch the itinerary and take us to the Canyon in the afternoon where the forecast showed the sun coming out, which it did.) All in all, it did not feel like Jonna cared to provide us with the best experience possible, she did not change around the itinerary to make it work for her tourist who are paying a pretty penny to simply be driven around an island, and she never gave a heads up as to where we were heading next. My husband and I searched all over Waimea town just to find a coffee shop by lunch time, only to get back on the bus and have her tell us that we were now heading to a coffee shop, which turned out to be the Kauai Coffee Company plantation, not just a little shop, but my husband and I discovered for ourselves the self-guided tour which was actually interesting and we really enjoyed, although we found it strange that our guide never gave any background about it before we headed out there. We made a few more random stops, including the beautiful Opaeka Falls, by which time the sun had come out. The best part of the trip was the ferry tour ride to see the Fern Grotto, and the local tour guides were great, my husband and I enjoyed the local Hawaiian hula dance lesson and songs under the fern and on the ferry, by far the best part of the trip and we could easily have done that on our own w/o booking this tour. Finally our guide Jonnna picked us back up in a new bus, which incidentally actually had an air conditioning system that worked, as opposed to the rest of the day where the van was definitely not "climate controlled" as promised. Still not sure why I paid so much money for a sub-average experience. Best suggestion: Do this exact trip on your own, save your money and have a better experience.

Day started at 0500 and as usual with the Waikiki based island hop day trips, expect to waste 60-90 mins in the airports on either side, after TSA, due to over-careful guides dropping you off in way good time. After finally landing at 0830 at Lihue, the bus trip picked up local tourists for a long time and in general drove while talking for a long long time, without stopping for picture oppotunities, unlike e.g. the Volcano trip to Hawaii. Eventually we did get to Waimea Canyon at 10:45 which looks amazing but there is just that little vantage point to see it from. After that a long drive again that looked amazing but from a bus it was kinda meh and nothing much went on till we hit the coffee place which I recommend although it tasted weak and bland in the tasting. Poipu had a lot of lunch options after that and we then hit a Steam hole for 5 mins before we got to the boat ride, which I hope some people will skip. The boat ride is 2 miles on a slow damper on the Wailua River to a beautiful cave with a waterfall that has wedding history. It was very tacky though and although I respect the wedding songs and dances from the local Hawaiians, the rest was too touristy and slow for me, so kajak yourself to the cave and see the waterfall if possible, but skip the rest if possible. After the boat its return to the airport and you are home in Waikiki at 2000. Conclusion, Kauai is definitively worth it! But skip the tour and bus and fly yourself there and rent an open car and drive around yourself. Its much faster and the amazing nature and roads are so much better experienced this way. Just copy the itinerary from the bus: Airport - Kalaheo - Waimea canyon - Kauai Coffee - Lunch at Poipu "mall" - Steam hole at McBryde garden - Wailua river boat ride, ceremony and waterfall cave. Then you'll have oceans of time to explore the details of this beautiful paradise island on your own terms.

The first leg of the journey started with picking the visitors from various hotels and Airport on my Dime! On our trip the bus broke down and we lost 1+ hour of the tour; Sam the tour guide did his best to keep us entertained and posted on the progress. It was 25th Dec when the tour was offered and we signed up, roads were almost empty; with that I felt 70% bus travel was picking the tourists / Visitors; what would have been on a regular busy day. Perhaps the tour on this small island should have known what is open for lunch or not; the adventure to find what is open was another waste of time. Second leg of the journey was to take the river cruise for the Fern Gato but felt like a broken toilet up the hill is leaking and a thin water stream is flowing down; with that whatever fern can survive; lots of selling and very less meat in the journey. But the river cruise ride was very calm and pleasant. Hula dancers and singers made the ride even better! Overall, I would rate our experience very avg.

<p>This was a very memorable tour with an ethnic Hawaiian guide who informed us about flora and fauna, Hawaiian history and native traditions. I had learned when I was 12 the motto of Hawaii and recalled it because of his running narrative.</p>

<p>Kauai was beautiful. Tour was excellent. Only regret was would have liked more than one day there.</p>

<p>What we saw was nice, but I had expected more for the Garden Isle. It was a little disappointing after a beautiful, 5-star trip along the Road to Hana in Maui a couple of days earlier. However, kudos to the driver who safely managed to bring the bus to a gentle stop on the roadside after a rear tire blowout.</p>

<p>The bus driver was hilarious and brought us all together. Wondered if we really had to be at the airport 2 hours ahead of time for a 7:30 a.m. flight.</p>

<p>Great tour well worth the travel. Excellent way to see Kauai. The Island was beautiful! I highly recommend the tour. Our tour guide Vinnie was fantastic and very knowledgeable.</p>