Private Waimea Canyon Tour

Departing Lihue by private minivan, your full-day tour is led by a private guide who will tell you about Kauai's history and culture throughout the day.

Make your first stop at the Menehune Fishpond (for Lihue departures only), where you'll learn about the mythical Menehune people and discover rare features of the pond, built on a freshwater river rather than the ocean shoreline. Next, head to the Kauai Coffee Company, the largest coffee plantation in the country, with four million trees on 3,100 acres. At the visitor center, sample a variety of coffee, and then take a short tour through rows of coffee trees to learn about the harvesting and drying process. Back at the gift shop, you can taste roasted coffee beans dipped in chocolate and purchase coffee to take home.

Leaving the plantation, drive through historical Hanapepe, the model for the town featured in the animated Disney movie Lilo and Stitch. Pass by restored buildings now occupied by art galleries, and then continue toward Waimea town. Your guide takes you past the Russian Fort Elizabeth, established in 1815, before stopping at the statue of Captain James Cook, which marks his first landfall in Hawaii.

Make your way up the mountain to Waimea Canyon, stopping for a photo op at a viewpoint on the way. From here you can see the Forbidden Island of Niihau. Our next stop is the Waimea Canyon main lookout and then we continue up the road to view Waipo'o Falls, where you can pose for pictures with the waterfall behind you.

Your next stop is Kalalau Lookout, which boasts views (weather permitting) of the magnificent cliffs of Kalalau Valley extending to the Pacific coastline far below. As you head back down the mountain, arrive at the once-thriving sugar-plantation town of Kekaha, and drive along Hawaii’s longest beach, which extends 15 miles (24 km).

Stop at a local diner for a Hawaiian barbecue lunch (own expense), or ask your guide to make other recommendations. After lunch, you’re taken to Poipu Beach Resort to see the Spouting Horn, where ocean waves enter a lava tube and create a geyser up to 100 feet (30 meters) in the air. You can also observe sea turtles in a cove.

Pass by Mt Waialeale on the way to your final stop of the day, Wailua Falls (for Lihue, Wailua and Kapaa departures only), which you may recognize from the opening credits of the TV show Fantasy Island. Admire the beautiful sight of the twin waterfalls cascading 170 feet into the stream below before arriving back in Lihue, where your tour ends.