Na Pali Cruise

Aloha everyone! Thank you all so much for your very valuable input into my Kauai itinerary. I have another question. Since we have settled on a cruise along the Na Pali coast over a possible day of scuba diving, I now need to decide whether I would be better off doing a morning tour or a sunset cruise. We will be there the last week of February - at that time of year which tour would be preferable? It would be nice to snorkel and I have heard the seas are calmer in the am. However, I have heard that the afternoon light is better for viewing the Na Pali. I just don%26#39;t know whether the seas are so much worse for the pm cruise? Is one or the other more likely to be canceled due to weather/ocean conditions at that time of year? Thanks in advance for your assistance and opinions!

Jen

Na Pali Cruise

Jen, you will be there during whale season - how lucky!!! We were there last Feb. and we actually did the sunset cruise with Capt. Andy%26#39;s - it is great but only does the South Shore. I do recommend it highly. IF you chose to do the Na Pali I would recommend the AM cruise. We have also done this in the past and yes it can be rough so be prepared. But to see the whales is the REAL treat! I only wish I could see the whales when I return in May but I know I won%26#39;t (sniff sniff)

Na Pali Cruise

I suggest you check the horror stories of cruisng thre napili coast in winter....huge rough seas, rain and wind.... there was a great one last month..20 ft sea, everyone sick, no snorkel,pouring rain... Read and heed

You need to understand this is the north exposed coast and in winter few will even venture to it... Thats November to April.... when the winter swells smash Kauai and Oahu s north and east shore.

Calmer in the Am??? yea ...in the summer. Snorkel in the Winter....not good....it will be upsidedown

Whale watching will be to the south....even the whales wont be up there. See this coast in summer or by Helo in winter

Thanks for the heads up and the input - others had suggested it was still Ok to do the Na Pali cruise in February. Maybe I%26#39;ll revisit the scuba dive trip on the south shore, or do the sunset sail on the south shore.

Mahalo,

Jen

We HAVE done the Na Pali in Feb. Going was NOT bad, coming back was much rougher - Even though going was not rough my daughter did get seasick - OK this is funny - the poster said even whales don%26#39;t go north LOL well what the captain did was have everyone that wanted to jump out and swim, his words were that was the best for sea sickness - our daughter realized there was NO BOTTOM and got right back in LOL - but alot of people stayed out swimming - the Captain yelled for everyone to get back on board eventually and no one listened - well we were surrounded by whales and he finally yelled ';IF YOU DON%26#39;T GET BACK ON BOARD YOU WILL BE FINGER FOOD'; They all got back in. We were surrounded by female whales and their escorts as the captain told us - It was an excellent experience LOL -- and IF the weather was like it was last Feb. that ocean was like glass! I would personally wait till I get there to make that decision.

That IS funny! I normally hate the ';wait and see'; approach, planning nazi that I am, but in this case, it definitely makes sense. I would love to experience that if it is at all possible :o)

Wow Kauaiger100, I%26#39;m jealous of your whale experience! We are going to Kauai late February and am contemplating the Capt Andy%26#39;s Poipu sunset cruise. The primary reason would be to see whales; we don%26#39;t care about the pupus and we%26#39;ve seen scores of Hawaiian sunsets. Were you happy with the whale watching he did? I don%26#39;t think we%26#39;ll do Na Pali as we all got very seasick when we did it in the summer (although it was afternoon, maybe that was why). Anyway it%26#39;s a lot of $$ to shell out and possibly be miserable as we already once were. I wish Kauai would have the inexpensive whale watches that Maui has, but I haven%26#39;t found any.

%26lt;%26lt;Wow Kauaiger100, I%26#39;m jealous of your whale experience! We are going to Kauai late February and am contemplating the Capt Andy%26#39;s Poipu sunset cruise%26gt;%26gt;

It was excellent I would do it in a flash again! I will tell you this past Feb. the whales were really in abundance in Poipu! I have never seen so many and the shows they put on with their tail flapping and breaches. We stay at the Pointe at Poipu and I can sit along the cliffs all day and just watch them - amazing creatures! One day at Poipu Beach they were really putting on a show to. Go for it! Also while in Poipu watch for the Monk Seals

Thanks! Can%26#39;t wait!

sightseeingfool, I can tell you are adventurous like we are.

We just got back from Kauai and we did the Kauai Sea Tour catamaran on Day 3. The sunset cruise with Kauai Sea Tour (out of Port Allen and then north to Na Pali) and was awesome and beautiful in the late afternoon sunlight. The seas were smooth about 80% of the time. The tour was slow and dramatic - 4 hours.

From the ocean, you get to see much of the same amazing scenery as from a helicopter, but more slowly. Also right now, the humpback whales are all around Kauai. on our little 4 hour tour, we were close up with many whales. We have pics of two of them diving together with tails up, others jumping (breaching), and many others just cruising up and down in the water around us.

The crew was very professional. Also the bar was open the whole time.

The sea was occasionally a little rough, but if you stay out in the wind don%26#39;t run around the boat, you can enjoy the scenery and have no problems. The skipper of our boat warned us in advance if there was any ocean chop ahead and you just picked your standing or sitting place and stayed in one spot. It was really not a problem.

Frankly, I would save the snorkeling to a beach visit. You pay for 4 hours on a tour and if the tour does snorkeling it will be very short and cost a lot of valuable time that can be spent sight seeing. There are lots of beaches all around Kauai where you can find great snorkeling that will cost you nothing.

If I had to choose which one to take with someone I loved, it would be the sea tour.

I hope you both have a great time.

Aloha!

Richard

Mahalo for your great report on the sunset na pali cruise. That sounds fantastic and just like what we are looking for - also I can%26#39;t wait to see the whales up close and personal. Was your tour crowded? Can I wait until we arrive to make reservations so I can wait to see the weather and sea conditions? Or should we reserve in advance so we can be sure to get on the boat?

By the way, I really enjoyed your whole trip report. You did alot of the things my husband and I would like to experience while we are there for our first visit to Hawaii in just 6 short weeks!

Jennifer