Many outfits take you down the Wailua River (featured in the film DRAGONFLY) with a hike to the "Secret Falls" - all at various prices. The family-owned Kayak Wailua was the least expensive that I found (almost half of what you would pay if you went through the concierge at the hotel). The price is due to minimal advertising and good word of mouth and it’s B.Y.O. (bring your own lunch/snacks).

The trip takes about 4 ½ hours and costs about $40 with a standard 15% gratuity added on. An extra $5 will get you a better seat with back support on the kayak (which almost everyone gets and is highly recommended).

You’ll meet at the Shell gas station located at 4-350 Kuhio Highway, Wailua, Kauai just north of the Wailua River on the Makai (ocean) side. Sign in, pay, get snacks at the Shell Mart if you didn’t already bring them and go through a quick orientation with their friendly guides. Our guide that day was local Nathaniel (with his charming Hawaiian accent), one of the sons of the proprietor, Pete – who drove us to the launch site. After orientation, you’re driven over to the river (a quick couple of minutes) and off you go. First half of the trip takes about 45 minutes and be prepared to weave around if you’re a first timer.

Once you "park" your kayak at the destination, you have to traverse a small portion of the river so it’s wise to wear water shoes or sneakers you don’t care that you’ll get dirty/wet. Hike to the "Secret Falls" takes a good half hour (at least a mile or so) over fairly rough terrain. The day we went it was dry but my muddy shoes made it a little slippery. Ground is overgrown with tree branches so it makes it hard to walk in some places. I’m not much of a hiker so this definitely was not my favorite part.

Once you get to the Secret Falls it is all worth it. Beautiful Falls and a swimming hole (it’s brisk but refreshing!) await you. Enjoy your lunch and snacks and take a dip. If you’re a Lost fan, this is the fall that was featured in the episode "Whatever the Case May Be" where Kate and Sawyer find a private swimming hole and take a dip only to discover a suitcase and a victim from the crash.

Hike back the way you came, cross the river and kayak back. It’s easier kayaking back than to because you’re not facing into a tailwind.

The trip is good for all ages, life jackets are provided if you want them. Dry bags and cooler bags are provided for you as well.

Wear plenty of SUNSCREEN, even if it’s cloudy out! I put on sunscreen but still got burned. Remember to reapply after the swimming hole!

http://kayakwailua.com/index.html

Our guide was a young guy--sort of Rastafarian Caucasian--who enjoyed this entire trek to the secret falls barefoot. He was entertaining and very cool about having a couple of gay guys on his watch. The entire coordination of paddling vs. steering was a bit of an arm wrestling match between my partner and I. We didn’t kill each other but this definitely tests your relationship. After about 1 mile of paddling, we landed the kayaks on the calm side of a small island. We crossed to the other side of this small island to find a rope that would guide us across the swift/deep waters. The weather had been quite wet of late and our trek to the Secret Falls followed a early man made aqueduct system that was quite muddy. This trek to Secret Falls on foot was another mile. Once there, the falls and pool were well worth the trek. The guide provided snacks along the way (organic of course) and lunch items. Once there, we noticed about four or five other outfitters that provided the same trek, but probably not with the amount of entertainment and nature history that our Rastafarian Caucasian guide provided. The trek back was equally as long and fun. We switched positions in the kayak so as to experience the other one’s frustration. I’m told this same trip during the dry season is not as hazardous but then again, we wouldn’t have as good of stories to tell our fiends and family when we got back, now would we?

A group of strangers embarks on a five-hour cruise in man-powered kayaks. Everyone suits up in a life preserver and stands on shore learning the way to paddle a kayak. You see a variety of ages from 10 to 70, plus a variety of physical types ranging from body-builder to mildly obese.

Once each pair of kayakers has practiced staying afloat in the boat dock area, off they go upstream on the Wailua for about two-and-a-half miles, passing by an old Hawaiian village where the movie Outbreak was filmed. The guide will inform you of the different kinds of vegetation along the way and Hawaiian folklore.

Once the river becomes too narrow to navigate, you will disembark your kayak and go on a short hike through an old terraced taro plantation to a splendid waterfall called Secret Falls, a.k.a. Uluwehi Waterfalls. Here you will have a deli lunch and fruit punch and time to swim in the crystal clear pristine waters.

Then you hike back to the kayaks for a paddle back to the beginning. The huge-flowering plants that lines the riverbanks are beginning to turn from yellow to bright salmon in color. Everyone stops and picks a flower and positions it on their right ear if they are available and left ear if they are spoken for. Basically, it was a fun-filled daytrip.

It's a good workout kayaking to the falls. On the way there you are kayaking against the current of the river coming down, and on the way back you are kayaking against the ocean current coming up the river. The falls are 200 feet high and you can swim in the pond below and stand in the falls. It's ice cold but well worth the experience.

Kauai has the only navigatable rivers in all of Hawaii. It's one of our favorite activities to do year after year, although it has become quite popular and can get crowded, so go early, at around 8am. It will take you about four hours give or take. The location is by Kappa Town, a fun place to have lunch after.

Dan, my son-in-law, teaches kayaking so we took advantage of his experience. Rented three boats for Dan, Laura, Jacob (5) Quin (1), and grandparents. Got a map from company, stopped at Hawaiiian Village, then on to falls. Muddy hike to falls, but worth it.