Description: It's not the fault of the Smith Family that the Fern Grotto has lost much of its appeal, you can blame Mother Nature for that. Back in the early 90's, Hurricane Iniki ravaged what had become an incredibly beautiful setting for weddings and romantic interludes. Then just as the grotto was just beginning to reclaim some of it's splendor, the wet spring of 2006 washed away another generation of vegetation. So the question becomes, is it worth the $20 per adult ($10 for kids) boat ride? Maybe
once, or maybe the better plan would be to just rent a kayak and go yourself.
The good news is that the Smith Family is on its fourth or fifth generation of involvement in the Fern Grotto cruises and the luau at their Smith's Tropical Paradise. They have every nuance of the experience choreographed and planned out (be sure to kiss your partner at the conclusion of the
Hawaiian Wedding Song now!). The bad news is that they have
every nuance of the experience choreographed and planned out. Thank goodness though, that this is the Smith family and not the Disney family. The live performers and live narration would have been replaced years ago with animatronics and recordings.
The downside of all that of course, is that live performers sometimes get distracted by the repetition of four or five cruises a day and basically perform on autopilot. They were friendly enough, and talented enough; there just wasn't a great deal of enthusiasm in the performance of Hawaiian music both at the grotto and on the cruise back to the landing.
The Wailua River is beautiful though. We were fortunate on our 90 minute or so trip to actually see the peak of Mount Wai 'ele 'ele. That's notable because given its status as the wettest place on the planet, you don't often see the summit through its dressing gown of heavy clouds. Judging by the number of boats at the landing, I doubt that you'll ever have to worry about not getting a seat. All in all though, I found myself looking wistfully at the sun-baked souls paddling up and down river in the kayaks.
Boat tours depart daily from the Wailua Marina State Park at 9:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am, 1:30pm, 2:00pm and 3:30pm. For more information or advance ticket purchases, you can go to
their website.
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