When the river portion of the tour at Smith’s Fern Grotto Tours was canceled my first full day here we were given vouchers to use whenever we wanted before we left the island. They said come any time and you can hop on a boat that is not full. I decided today was going to be the day. There are several tours per day and I opted for 11:00 so I could enjoy touring some more of the island afterward. We traveled down the Wailau River for 2 miles to reach the Fern Grotto encountering many kayaks along the way…there and back. Our boat was the Johnny-Mac.
There was entertainment on the boat and at the Grotto…I included 2 videos…one from the Grotto and one from the boat but also some stills.
Once we arrived at the Grotto we took a short walk down a path with some history behind the grotto…none of which I remember right now but I will post a link in case you want to check it out. There was an area in the grotto where weddings used to be performed a very long time ago…it has somewhat caved in on itself over the decades and the can no longer perform wedding in this area but they do still have weddings. It would be a gorgeous spot to get married! Here are some images going down the path and inside the grotto…several small waterfalls too. Have you been to Key West? I was absolutely amazed the first time I went at the number of chickens that roam freely down there…seems they do here too. They are everywhere…and very pretty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern_Grotto
The final portion of the Grotto tour that I will post is of the beautiful flowers I saw in and around the Grotto…
The whole Grotto tour takes a little less than an hour and a half so by the time we got back to Smith’s I was hungry. I asked a few people for suggestions and was directed to a nice area where you had an option of several restaurants as well as shopping after eating. I headed to the town of Koloa and chose Merriman’s, Gourmet Pizza and Burger’s! Great burger but mediocre fries. I walked around afterward and checked out some of the shops before deciding where to head next.
I got side-tracked on my way to where I decided to go because I saw a sign. We had seen part of this on the first day tour but I wanted to spend a little more time at Waimea Canyon.
Next up…Spouting Horn blowhole in Poipu…
A stop at the Kauai Coffee Co in Kalaheo to check out some coffee options for my son. He LOVES a good strong dark roast coffee and this place was pretty cool. I walked out with two 5 lb bags of coffee and some other miscellaneous products. Oh…I also ran into the tour guide from the first full day. He was on a tour with another group. He is the white haired gentleman below.
Just a few more miscellaneous stops while driving around the island and I will be calling it a day.
Tomorrow I am doing something that I thought I would never do, that my kids and my family thought I would never do…I went mud bugging! BEST EXPERIENCE EVER! Be sure to come back!
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Travel with KMG Photography 