Great experience and fun tour. We had fun traveling even though there was a hurricane the night before.
About Activity
What's Included
Includes
- Tours NEVER expire
- Freedom to explore at your own pace
- Offline map (no wifi or data needed)
- Turn-by-turn directions using GPS
- Hours of audio narration with stories, travel tips and music
- Audio narration that plays automatically as you drive
Excludes
- Meals & Refreshments
- Private Transportation
Itinerary
Day 1
1
Wailua Falls is an iconic 173-foot waterfall surrounded by jungle forest. This spot is just a quick photo op as there’s no hiking to the falls. It’s one of the most epic falls on the island, so you’ll definitely want to make the stop.
Lydgate Park is a cool place for kids both young and old alike. Little ones will love the gigantic Kamalani playground. There are also rock-enclosed pools that make swimming safe and fun. The protective pools were constructed so that reef fish can still come and go as they please.
An ancient Hawaiian temple in the Wailua River State Park area, Holoholokū Heiau was a sacred site tied to Kauaʻi’s aliʻi (chiefly class) and royal births. Today, its stone platform stands as a powerful reminder of the island’s deep spiritual and political history.
A sacred temple site within the Wailua Complex of Heiaus, Poliʻahu Heiau is believed to have been dedicated to ritual and chiefly ceremonies. Though only stone foundations remain, the site carries strong spiritual significance and reflects Kauaʻi’s powerful ancient ruling center along the Wailua River.
Located in Wailua River State Park, 'Opaeka’a Falls is a spectacular 150-ft waterfall that flows over volcanic basalt rocks. This is another stop for a photo op right next to the parking lot as there’s no hike to the falls.
Nestled on the outskirts of Wailua State Park, you’ll find a 363-acre Hindu monastery that’s considered one of the holiest sites in the Hindu religion. This Kadavul Temple is home to the largest quartz crystal on earth, surrounded by 108 golden statues of the Hindu god Siva.
The Kuilau Ridge hike is a relatively flat trail with a broad shaded path through an old-growth forest. It’s quite long, but we recommend just hiking the first mile or so.
This is technically more of a leisurely walk than a hike. Here, you’ll see local plant species like monkeypod trees. If you’re lucky you might even spot a rainbow eucalyptus tree!
The first is Sleeping Giant (Nounou Mountain) - West Trailhead. Technically, Sleeping Giant has three hikes of varying difficulties, but our tour takes you to the Sleeping Giant West Trail, which is the easiest.
If you’re looking for the chance to hike to a waterfall, you might want to skip Sleeping Giant and head straight to the nearby Ho'opi'i Waterfall Hike. On this hike, you’ll meander along a forest trail until you reach the first of two waterfalls. If you want to swim, you’ll have to continue past the first fall to the second where you’ll find a rope swing that you can use to jump into the pool below.
Kapa’a Town is a seaside neighborhood with cute restaurants, a few hotels, and some historic landmarks. Spend the afternoon learning about these sites, walking around the town, visiting local shops, and trying some Hawaiian food!
We recommend Pono Market for a poke plate lunch, but we’re sure you’ll notice all the cute little cafes and restaurants in Kapa’a. Take your pick and refuel.
After lunch, we have one more scenic spot on the tour. You’ll pull over into a parking lot to learn about Sleeping Giant and view the mountain from a completely different vantage point.
Day 2
2
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Language Offered
Additional Info
Cancellation Policy
Reviews
The auto tour was easy to use and provided details about the area as you travel through the island. Much more interesting than just driving through the island.
It's a great way to see areas you may otherwise miss. Fun facts, stories, and local legends keep you company while you drive.
Very thorough tour. I enjoyed the sites. I liked the narrator and the pace of the tour. It was also accommodating for those with mobility issues.
This was a very enjoyable and leisurely tour. The guide had a very pleasant voice. The history and stories were really great. Be sure to stop at the pineapple smoothie roadside hut on the way to Wailua Falls, or on your way back. They were delicious! Enjoyed the Hawaiian music between stops.
Weak. AI voice. It should be a local narrator. All the info is on Wikipedia, not original content. No human, uninteresting AI regurgitation.
What a great way to explore Kauai! We were able to go at our own speed, stop or pause the app when we wanted to. Plus the narrator was very interesting to listen to.
The app queued up and everything came in right in a timely manner as we were traveling. The stories were great and the information on the various attractions was spot on. It’s a great way for his self guided tour. It’s one of the best I’ve ever seen and I’ve traveled the world
The app sends you to a place to start the tour but there is no way to actually start it. Called customer service, they told me to check with Viator, called Viator they told me to check with the tour operator. Could not do it.
With this audio tour via car, we were able to see and learn way more than with a tour guide and bus! Fantastic!!! Maybe a little off in how long the trails are but truly great experience for us to move at our own pace.
I loved the waterfalls. However, I must have missed where it said hiking trails as I didn’t have the proper shoes. It was very informative and I liked the music in between stops.
The concept is really great so we downloaded it and we had my son-in-law use it to direct us. It worked well until we arrived in Kapaa. The tour is designed to originate from Lihue or Kapaa. There is a blue and a red version. Once we arrived in Kapaa the 2 versions kept interfering and gave conflicting instructions so we eventually abandoned the use of this app and followed the descriptive map and our car’s navigation system to find the waterfalls, temple ruins, and arboretum on our own.
This was one of the most enjoyable tours I've ever been on. The culture stories, both ancient culture and current cultural practices. The lighthearted jokes and stories were great too. For the money this was an AMAZING DAY!!
This was really fun! We were a family of 8 traveling and my husband drove us. It was so fun! There are also hikes, you don’t have to do those right away, you can do them another day. Beautiful site seeing!!!
Mostly good info, a couple technical issues, mostly user issues, just doesn't tell you you're going the wrong way if you make a wrong turn. Tells you to turn here after you've passed the turn.
We were going to explore the island on our own but the Shaka Kauai app showed up in my Facebook and I was curious and downloaded and was thrilled to find that we would have our own private guided tour. Loved the fact that we were not limited to what a tour company would want us to see and were allowed to go where we wanted and to stay as long as we wanted. Would recommend to everyone!!
Super easy to use. Great way to do self guided tour. Only wish it was carplay compatible. Will definitely use for the other islands!
This audio tour is fantastic. It is totally linked to your GPS so the commentary is synced with the each highlight. The narrator has interesting historical and cultural facts that make the tour valuable. He has a light touch on the narration that keeps it fun. Well worth the money and the half day it takes to complete. Even if you don't do the hikes (broken foot) you will get much out of this tour.
This is one of four tours on a downloadable app. the whole package is $22 or so, and we were able to download all four on both of our I-Phones just in case. The app played beautifully through the Blue Tooth connection in our rental car. Keyed into our phone’s GPS, the directions for turns, stops and myriad local sites was absolutely spot on. If you backtrack the app resets. The narrative is very well done with a touch of humor and loads of local knowledge. Unlike the recorded narratives in museums and elsewhere, there are no buttons to push. The information arrives when you do. There is also a detailed map shown on your phone which gives you visual directions as well (which was handy when there was a silence gap between sites or turns). Frankly, this app is way underpriced for it’s value to someone touring Kauai by car. Great use of technology, Bra!
It’s a GPS driven app with stops, history, sights, restaurants food trucks turn by turn and is excellent. We used it on three islands. This is the best of the digital world and internet. I wish I knew of other apps like it in other countries.
I wished I downloaded in the hotel before beginning the journey so I could get familiarized with how it works. Don’t forget to bring your recharger cable for your device!
Well. You really can't! We enjoyed this app. Easy to use and took us some interesting places. Enjoyed the way we were congratulated for every correct turn. Fun to listen to. The Hindu monastery looked really cool but was only open 9-noon so plan accordingly. The hike up sleeping giant was quite muddy. I should have brought my hiking shoes to Kauai as there were a few other hikes that would have benefitted.
Easy to work App. Useful for finding out of the way, really cool places. We enjoyed local flair for details. We did not find the App until the last few days of our visit. Had I downloaded it sooner, we might have done more. Then again, relaxing and doing nothing was fine on my first visit to Kauai.
WOW' so nice, driving around and getting a funny guided tour withe cues abut most do or less intersting
Loved this app. Some of the places it took me to were places I would have never seen w/o the app. It is a cultural tour as much as a site tour. The instructions were easy to follow and had excellent insider info. of smaller "off the track" stuff to hit up if time allowed. If you are on the island already... I suggest all four tours from Shaka Guide.
Don’t like tours where it’s you and 65+ people? Then this is the tour for you! A private, guided tour to Kauai’s most difficult to reach and secret places with an awesome tour guide. A must do if it’s your first time on the island. I went on this tour with my 65 year old mom, and Chris (our guide) helped her along the sketchy path to Queen’s Bath & Wailua Falls. He was awesome!
Monday through Friday 9 am to 7 pm EST
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