You board a wooden river boat and are entertained by the crew as you travel downriver with history, corny jokes, and good-spirited songs. We passed quite a few kayakers on the river as we went. They also point out where a scene from Indiana Jones was filmed. It takes about a half-hour to get there.

Upon arriving, you walk up a sloping path to a stone amphitheater-type seating where they tell you about the history of the grotto. It’s a popular spot for weddings. After that, you go into the Fern Grotto, and while you are standing in the grotto, they play a Hawaiian wedding song and the hula maiden does a hula dance. Then you return to the boat. On the return trip, they do more songs and hula dances. It was well worth the cost (especially with the two-for-one coupon) and a pleasant experience.

While your cruising the Wailua River on the flat bottom passenger barges, you'll be entertained with some Hawaiian songs, hula dancing, and some off-beat humor from your boat operators, the Smith's family members. By the time you reach Fern Grotto, you'll know some of its legends and history.

Fern Grotto is set in a beautiful, tropical jungled atmosphere. You'll find a natural amphitheater just waiting for you. One word of advice: there are many steps and uphill climbing. Please take this into consideration when doing this tour.

Fern Grotto Wailua River Cruise Tour lasts approximately one hour and twenty minutes. Their tours departs every 1/2 hour 9am-3pm daily, seven days a week.

Overall, we feel the Fern Grotto and Wailua River Cruise should be experienced at least once, but not more than that. I think the next time we decide to go on the Wailua River and to Fern Grotto, we'll try renting kayak boats. That should prove interesting.

We all emptied out of our tour bus and got in the red and white boat (as distinguished from the other boat which belonged to the second tour company on the river). As we were waiting for other passengers who paid $15 for only this portion of the tour, we decided where we wanted to sit. It really didn’t matter since the boat wasn’t full and all the seats were good. Then we began chugging down the Wailua River, the largest "navigatable" river in Kauai and the entertainment began. During the trip down the Wailua River, one of the two male "hosts" drove the boat while the other kept up a running commentary of history of the river, the people, and other interesting tidbits of information. Then they would switch roles. Both of the hosts were funny as well as informative. I wish I could remember some of their jokes but then that would spoil it for when you go! Actually, since we had our video cam, I do have some of the jokes, and other antics, recorded!

After at least 10 minutes we docked where we were told to follow the road to the Fern Grotto. More jokes followed (along the line about not getting lost as if you could). We all sat in the "amphitheater", which was rock seats overlooking the performing area. Then the one woman began dancing the hula while the other woman began singing and the two men sang and also played the guitar. All three had beautiful voices. While listening (and one claim to fame of the area is the great acoustics), we also looked around at the beauty of the place. It definitely wasn’t as spectacular as Howes Caves (near where I live), but it definitely had charm and beauty. During this time we all were put in the mood of imagining having a wedding at the Fern Grotto (I mentioned to my husband that we should return in two years and renew our vows as we celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary). The only negative about having a wedding there is paying accommodations and travel for all of the guests!

Returning down the river was even better. Again the men told jokes and stories and the women danced and sang. In addition, the one male was dancing as he was driving! At this point I am glad I have the video! In addition, the crew got everyone on board the boat to stand up and they taught us a basic hula. Corny but fun. All too soon it was over.

One note of caution: it is better to have proper footwear since there is some moderate hiking involved and some of the ground is wet.

You can access a web site For a narrative and pictorial information of the grotto area.

The trip takes 40 minutes with any one of many companies on a long, flat-bottom riverboat. Boats depart from the south side of the river every 30 minutes. The Wailua River is the only navigable river in Hawaii. You will also see kayakers, motor boats and water skiers. We went on Waialeale Boat Tours which departs for the grotto every 30 minutes - cost is $15/person. While cruising at a leisurely pace to and fro from the Grotto, we were entertained with Hawaiian musicians and hula dancers. Great trip. There are other companies and you can go directly to the marina for your pick of companies to cruise with. At the marina is the Smith's Tropical Paradise also.