Kauai Sea Kayaking 10 mile tour - Na Pali Iki (Polihale to Milolii)

Posted By : Michael_L
Jay and Cooper were the ABSOLUTE BEST! They were informative, supportive, and all around very helpful and the ride was beautiful.

Side note:
Every muscle in my wife’s body hurt the next day. A great work out!
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Posted On : 2023-09-30 22:58:12

Posted By : 231bethanyd
This was my third tour with Kayak Kauai and my favorite so far! This is a round trip paddle to Miloli'i, a secluded beach that can only be accessed by kayak. Along the way there are stunning Na Pali coast views.

We saw dolphin pods and sea turtles, not to mention tons of other underwater wildlife while snorkeling. I also enjoyed the abundance of shells when we landed at Miloli'i (there are not too many beaches with intact shells on Kauai!).

I did this tour as a warm-up for the full Na Pali Coast tour and I found it challenging but doable - a lot of soreness depends on how well the wind and water are helping or hindering you along the way. Depending on the waves, the final landing at Polihale is no joke - while it's nice to have a guide along the way for educational purposes, I especially appreciated having them there to look out for my safety on the landing.

As an aside, if you've been wanting to spend some time at Polihale but don't have a car with 4WD, a great part of this tour is that someone else is navigating all the potholes for you :)

Mahalo Kayak Kauai for putting together another awesome tour!
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Posted On : 2023-09-13 05:28:11

Posted By : 495hankj
This was a challenging, but spectacular trip. Jay, Harrison, and Cooper took great care of us and got us launched and landed through some big surf swells. The views along the way were beautiful with the cliffs, dolphins, turtles, and blue water. The wonderful lunch and beachcombing time at Miliolii was perfect. The snorkeling was fun and I just enjoyed floating and looking up at the huge cliffs. I'm sure I'll have fond memories of this great trip for years to come.
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Posted On : 2023-05-14 16:00:52

Posted By : isaac-atl
I took their Na Pali Iki trip from Polihale. I would not book another trip with this company.

It was nice to be out on the water after I had spent several days hiking. We were able to get about 3/4 of the way up to Polihale and had to turn back because of high wind. But I didn’t find the scenery to be that dramatic and dealing with the company was frankly a mess. We had two guides. One younger guy who was very outgoing and one older guy who was hard to engage in conversation even though I shared a boat with him. The company is disorganized and not very transparent. I’d originally signed up for the Na Pali coast tour from Haena fo Polihale. The first date cancelled for weather (probably a good thing), then the second date got cancelled because of the Hanalei Hill road work. That road work had been in place for weeks already with no change to the schedule, so the cancellation made little sense with no real explanation. They offered to switch me to this shorter trip, then had a mix-up with dates and their computer didn’t send me the confirmation email the office claims it sent. I seriously considered not going at all because the company seemed quite disorganized and the competition was booked up, but the water was tempting. I give them full marks for safety, and low marks for organization and reliability. All of the clients were at the start point at Polihale before 8am. The guides were missing as were the boats. Then people started getting calls from the office that the guides are 20 minutes late and others got a call saying 40 minutes. The truck with the guides and the boats arrived at 9:10am, 70 minutes after all the customers were supposed to be at the meeting spot, and then some more time as we all helped carry the boats down, while the wind was already starting to pick up. They said they were late because they had to drive over from the other side of the island, which is not a great explanation because that’s what I did and I got there before 8am and there was no traffic. The rest of the day was fine. Lots of paddling, not much information, not much stunning scenery. Lunch was nice to get when we got back to land although the sandwiches were nothing special. Overall the day was fine but a let down in terms of location and organization. I wouldn’t book another trip with this company even elsewhere.
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Posted On : 2021-10-15 08:00:31

Posted By : timanddianeb
The Na Pali Iki kayak tour was an absolute blast. Our guides were Jay and Steve were just awesome. And Jay had shared so much incredible knowledge about the island. The cliffs, ocean, snorkeling, lunch - everything - was done with such great energy and planning. Be prepared to work a bit, but well worth it. Absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a great adventure on the island.
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Posted On : 2021-07-30 14:51:29

Posted By : nellbean
It's an early start on the Na Pali Coast Tour but well well worth it- the whole experience was magical. We took the tour in September 2019, lucky the September waters were calm and we had an excellent time out on the kayaks, seeing dolphins and turtles along the way. We had a very knowledgable guide, Dan, who was happy to answer all of our questions, and was able and happy to adjust to the needs of the group. Despite both being young and relatively fit, with it's numerous warnings attached my partner and I had some concerns about the fitness level required for this tour, but both felt comfortable both during and after the kayak tour. If you are a stranger to a gym or any kind of sports then this probably isn't the ideal holiday activity for you, but those with a reasonable base level of fitness should be fine.
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Posted On : 2019-11-16 10:44:35

Posted By : rct415
This was a wonderful tour and the highlight of our trip to Kauai! We had Webb as our guide, and the communication with Kayak Kauai from beginning to end was perfect.

We did the 10-mile trip, as the roads on the north side of the island were still closed for repairs (bummer for us--they reopened the next week!); I was still so pleased with and recommend the 10-miler, though, for anyone that isn't sure if the 17-miler is right for them (we weren't sure and didn't want to overestimate our abilities, but I can only say that we will DEFINITELY be back for the 17-miler!).

Since we were staying in Poipu, Kayak Kauai arranged for us to meet them enroute to Polihale, rather than driving to the Marina, which I thought was a nice touch (also gave us an extra half hour of sleep). The drive out to Polihale is as described (bone-rattler), but Webb warned us all in advance, and it was totally fine. I paddled with my husband, and there were two other couples on the tour that day.

Webb noted that conditions were near perfect (calm waters, etc.), and you could tell how much planning goes into these trips (checking surf reports, advising us on weather, when he expected winds to shift, etc.). We launched from Polihale and had smooth paddling to Miloli'i. Webb pointed out sights along the way (turtles, dolphins) and gave us all kinds of insights into the things we saw (and just kept the conversation going more generally--of course important over several hours of kayaking).

Miloli'i was an opportunity for everyone to relax and grab (a much-needed) lunch; we could tell, though, that the other couples (not have been as prepared as they could've been..) were already dead on their feet.. know your limitations before going! On the way back to Polihale, it was evident that they only had eyes for the shore/it was all they could do to keep paddling.

All in all, we can't wait to come back to Kauai, and will definitely seek out our next adventure with the folks at Kayak Kauai!
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Posted On : 2019-10-16 12:59:26

Posted By : Torport
Highly recommend. It's a long drive to the Polihale park and worth every minute. The beach is gorgeous and the views during kayaking are fantastic. Mike and Web were great guides and super helpful. We saw a ton of wildlife and it was truly a highlight of my trip in Kauai!
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Posted On : 2019-09-16 23:53:53

Posted By : bigjack95
Active family here, kids 14 and 10. We booked a "Maverick" trip, with a guide from Ha'ena to Miloli'i, camp overnight, and another guide picked us up to take us to Pollihale the next day.

First, think of this as an active adventure, not a chauffered rafting trip. It's two days later and I'm still a little sore. My ten year old didn't paddle much; he was my "outrigger." We all have bumps and bruises. Be prepared to contribute a little bit with packing, loading, unloading etc. It's a 13 mile kayak on day 1. It's hard. And while I'm told we had outstanding and helpful conditions, weather always gets a vote when you're outside.

That said, wow. Just wow. Incredible sea caves, the Na'Pali coast from the ocean side. Sleeping under the stars. Camping at a beautiful beach that we had practically to ourselves, with the exception of monk seals playing in the surf. It's hard, you'll be dirty and tired, but you will always remember this trip.

Guide on day 1 was Dan, great work, kept up a good pace but helped with info on caves etc. Jay on day 2 might have been a little aggressive on the pace but there's not as much to see on the way to Pollihale, and getting to Pollihale quickly gave us time to hang out there. If you feel uncomfortable, speak up and they'll adjust. Jay also gave us a ride back and was super in tune with the history of Kauai, which was cool.
Just a reminder that they are guides, not hired help, especially if you choose the Maverick option.

This trip exceeded expectations in every way possible. Our sincere thanks to Micco, Dan, Jay, and Kayak Kauai.
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Posted On : 2019-08-29 14:43:24

Posted By : Daniel J
Cannot say enough positive things about this tour and our guide, Dan. It was a blast! He was very knowledgeable about the island, and fun to be around. The paddling was easier than I thought it would be, and the sights and company made the work well worth it. Thank you Dan and Kayak Kauai for an UNFORGETTABLE experience. We will visit again when we are back in Kauai.
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Posted On : 2019-08-12 22:22:34