Kauai Morning Snorkel Sail or Sunset Dinner Sail: Which to Book

The two days side by side

Both leave from Port Allen, and both run the same cliffs. The difference is what fills the hours: a swim and two meals in the morning, the light and a long dinner in the evening. The check-in desks, parking and what to bring for each are in the visitors guide.

What you give up either way

Choose the morning and you miss the evening light on the ridges and the long dinner. Choose the evening and you give up the only chance to get in the water, and you ride home in the dark for part of the year. Neither choice changes the cliffs: you pass the same valleys, and the crews tell the same history.

Price will not settle it either. The dearest morning costs more than the dearest evening, but the cheapest of each sit close together. What settles it is what you want to do for five hours: swim and eat twice, or watch and dine once.

The case for the morning

The morning is the only way to get in the water. Every morning boat stops at a reef with gear and a lesson, and the Lucky Lady morning adds a waterslide. You also get two meals for your fare rather than one. And the sea tends to favour you: DLNR tells kayakers to start early, when winds and seas are calmer.

The morning suits swimmers, families with children who want the slide, and anyone who feels the swell. It asks for an early start. Lucky Lady checks in at 6:45 a.m., and from November to March that is before sunrise. In mid-January the sun rises around 7:19 a.m..

The case for the evening

The evening is about the light. The coast faces north-west, toward the setting sun. Dinner is served on board, and the bar stays open all evening for guests 21 and over. On Holo Holo's Leila, the sails go up when the wind allows, and a champagne toast marks the sunset.

There is no swim, and the ride out can be fast and wet. Travellers at the front of the Leila evening describe being soaked again and again on a windy night. Pick a seat under cover if you would rather stay dry, and wear quick-dry clothes either way.

The sea, morning and evening

No listing promises a calm ride at either hour, and travellers report rough mornings as well as wet evenings. The state's own advice leans one way, though. DLNR tells kayakers on this coast to start early, when winds and seas are calmer, and notes that large swells rarely last in summer. The boat operators cancel or reroute for wind and swell, not for rain alone.

So if you worry about seasickness, a summer morning gives you the best odds. If the captain does change the plan, Holo Holo announces it at check-in and lets you continue, rebook or take a refund. Kauai Sea Tours may run its boat along the south coast instead, with no refund for the change.

The food and the bar, compared

The morning feeds you twice. Holo Holo serves breakfast and lunch, with beer and wine only after the swim. Lucky Lady's morning starts with breakfast treats and lays out a sandwich lunch, with an open bar for guests over 21.

The evening feeds you once, but it is the bigger meal. Lucky Lady serves dinner with an open bar of beer, wine and mai tais. Holo Holo's Leila pours mai tais on the way out, serves dinner as the sun goes down and adds a champagne toast. Tips for the crew are extra on every boat, morning or evening.

Do both, on different days

If you have the days, do both. Take the morning first, early in your trip, once you are past the 24-hour gap after a long flight. That way you learn how your stomach takes this sea. If it goes well, book the evening later in the week. If it does not, the 90-minute cruise on the bay gives you a sunset in sheltered water instead.

• Day one or two: rest, and no snorkelling within 24 hours of a long flight.
• A calm morning: the snorkel sail.
• Later in the week: the sunset dinner sail, or the bay cruise.

Watch the forecast either way. The operators cancel for wind and swell, and the free cancellation window on most listings closes 24 hours ahead. Read the patterns on Kauai weather by month, and in whale season look up whales and dolphins on a Kauai sail: the whales show up morning or evening.

Verdict by visitor

• Swimmers and snorkellers: the morning, every time.
• Couples after a special evening: the sunset, with dinner and the bar.
• Families with small children: the morning on Lucky Lady, or the evening if they cannot swim. More in our post on sailing with children.
• Sailors at heart: Leila, which sets its sails when the wind allows.
• The seasick-prone: a morning, sitting low at the back, or the bay cruise.

Where to book each

For the morning, the snorkel and sail on Leila serves breakfast and lunch at $292 a person; every morning boat is on Na Pali snorkel tours. For the evening, the Na Pali evening aboard Lucky Lady is the lowest Na Pali fare at $222 a person. Want the sails? The Leila sunset dinner sail costs $263 a person. More answers on the Kauai sailing FAQs.

Morning or evening: boats for each

Kauai’s Na Pali Coast Snorkel and Sail Tour

Five hours from Port Allen on a 50-foot sailing catamaran: breakfast, the Na Pali cliffs from the water, a snorkel stop with gear and instruction, then lunch, with beer and wine once the snorkelling is done. From age 5, up to 41 aboard.

From $292 per person

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Kauai: Leila Na Pali Sunset Dinner Sail

Four to five hours from Port Allen on a 50-foot catamaran that sails when the wind allows: mai tais on the way out, dinner as the sun sets and a champagne toast. Up to 41 aboard.

From $263 per person

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Kauai: Deluxe Na Pali Sunset Cruise aboard Lucky Lady

Five hours on a 60-foot catamaran from Port Allen in the afternoon: the Na Pali Coast towards sunset, dinner on board and an open bar with mai tais for over-21s. No swimming on this one; children from age 3.

From $222 per person

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