advance reservations. Good idea?

I%26#39;ve been mainly lurking and reading this board the last few days and have some questions.

We%26#39;re coming to Kauai in Sept for 5 days and then on to Maui for 5 days and already have plane and hotel reservations. My question is regarding advance reservations for activities such as helicopter, napali coast boat tours, evening cruises, etc. Are they really a good idea? I%26#39;ve noticed that most of the companies have severe penalties for cancellations. Do these apply if the weather is bad too? We%26#39;d hate to lose our money if we can%26#39;t go, or if the weather%26#39;s bad and THEY still want to go,haha. What do ya%26#39;ll think? We want to take a helicopter tour, the napali coast tour, the boat trip to the Fern Grotto and maybe an evening cruise, in addition to just driving around the island. Sound like a good idea, or too much for 5 days? I%26#39;d appreciate any tips ya%26#39;ll could give us. Thanks!

Sandy

advance reservations. Good idea?

Aloha Sansue :-)

In regard to your question about cancelation policy; I found that if THEY cancel, you get a refund, if YOU cancel then you pay the penalty! Sept. still has decent weather, so you should be OK as far as that goes.

I would suggest that you schedule your helecopter tour early in the morning to get the best views. Since the early times tend to fill up early for this very reason, you would probably be better off pre-scheduling this activity.

For the NaPali coast boat tours, you can get smoother water generally in the morning. The good news on this front is that the boats take more people than the helecopter, so you can generally book these once you are on the island. There are quite a few companies on the West Shore, but only a couple on the North Shore. You didn%26#39;t mention which part of the island you are going to be staying on. This will be a much bigger factor in your choice than anything! If you are on the North Shore, it makes sense to go with a company there since it is so far to travel to the west side. If you are in the South, just the opposite. If you are on the east shore, you can choose any company and get there in about the same amount of driving time.

The fern grotto is pretty easy to get on, so this can be scheduled when you get to the island and decide which days you will be doing the helecopter and Napali coast boat tours.

It does sound as if you are packing quite a bit in for 5 days, but it can be done. We were there in April for 7 days, but found that we had planned too much to do and still have some relaxation time, so we cut out the Waimea Canyon %26amp; Polihale Beach trip out of our schedule.

Hope that this is of some help to you! :-)

Aloha :-)

Dan

advance reservations. Good idea?

Thanks Dan!! That makes a lot of sense.

We%26#39;re staying at the Plantation Hale on the east side. I noticed in the book Kauai Revealed (which I bought on the recommendation of some of this board%26#39;s regulars) that they like the Napali boat tours that leave from the north shore. So maybe I%26#39;ll check out their rates online and try to make a reservation in advance. We%26#39;re seniors and don%26#39;t snorkel or swim, so we mainly plan to drive around and enjoy the beautiful sights. We%26#39;ve been to the other islands, but this is our first trip to Kauai, and from the pix we%26#39;ve seen it%26#39;s really gorgeous!

Thanks again. The info available on this board is just great and I want to thank ALL of you for providing such good information for those of us planning a trip. I can hardly wait till Sept,haha.

Sandy

Your welcome Sandy :)

The north shore companies do get to see more of the awesome Napali coast!

I took a west side company for our Napali cruise (Liko%26#39;s Kauai Cruises) that leaves a small boat harbor further north than most other west side companies, so we got up the coast to the good stuff faster! They were also recomended for being good with kids, which I was bringing my 7yr old son and 10yr old daughter, but they were the only kids when we went. We were also able to see most of the coastline all the way to Ke%26#39;e beach. You can see the pictures I took there along with some others if you like at www.need2go.myphotoalbum.com

Aloha :-)

Dan

I would suggest that you pass on the Fern Grotto boat tour but instead visit one of the National Tropical Botanic Gardens - McBryde in Poipu if you%26#39;re up for walking (on a flat path but slightly uphill for about 2 miles) or Limahuli on the North Shore. Fern Grotto is really nothing to get excited about but the variety of plant life you will see in the NTBGs is INCREDIBLE (but don%26#39;t forget bug repellent!). Kauai Revealed does not give the Gardens enough mention in my opinion.

We did a 9 am heli tour and the clouds started to roll in as we were landing - definitely book ahead of time to get an early morning flight. It%26#39;s also good to book the flight early in your trip so you get an overview (literally and figuratively) of the island to help orient yourself.

For advance booking for any activity:

Absolutle must do - book as early as possible before you go (most online booking offer a discount). Chances are if you think it is a must do then so does everyone else. Nothing like flying 5000 miles to find out it is booked solid for your whole stay.

Shoulkd do - book when you arrive and know your schedule...if you can vary doing the activity on one day or another fine.

Might do - book it anytime, if you do not get a slot then nothing lost.