North Shore Charters — Local services in Kauai

I would NOT recommend this company. We booked with them as the highlight of our trip to Kauai and they canceled twice! We booked for our third day of our week stay and they cancelled the morning of the trip due to "potential lightning" the day was gorgeous on the north shore and had maybe 10 min of sprinkling rain which we knew since we spent the day on the beach. It seemed like a cop out for some other reason. They rescheduled for the last day of our trip as that was their only open availability. about 6pm the night before the rescheduled tour (~12 hours notice) we get a text that now suddenly there is mechanical issues and that it was canceled too. At minimum this company isn't reliable enough to keep a booking and isn't worth the risk. We did get a refund but that doesn't replace the missed opportunity to see the sea caves, dolphins, whales, turtles, etc while we were here which was half of the reason we came to Kauai. Extremely disappointed in this company. At a minimum an option for alternative types of tours if that location was risky would have been nice or giving referrals to other companies that would accommodate last minute. but that didn't happen, just flat canceled and with no time to book from another company. In response to the owner's comment on my review. it may not have been a cop out but to a customer it felt pretty weird that the first cancellation was due to weather on a day with great weather. As far as the rest of your message, WE DID CALL and talk to someone for both cancelations. for the first cancellation the only reschedule option was the last day of our trip since your other days were booked. saying "you were not obligated in any to reschedule your reservation on the last day of your vacation, you chose to do so" is a wild response. We still wanted to go on the tour and there was another booking during our trip. Why wouldn't we reschedule if that's the case?? however, you are correct! In hindsight, I should have cancelled. Which is why I let others know about my experience so that they can be informed of the risks. for the second cancellation we called to ask what was going on and why it was cancelled and asked if there were any other options for us. that was your opportunity to help us and you didn't give us any information, recommendations, alternatives or even a genuine apology on the phone. All we got was "sorry there's mechanical issues", and "no there's nothing we can do besides reschedule" (past when the trip was over). A one star review based on my experience was accurate. I hope you care more about your future customers...

Loved these guys, Gary and Lee! Super easy to book and communication was great. Janelle in the office offered to meet us at our house on anini to sign paper work so we didn't have to go into town the morning of the boat ride since we lived so close to the launch. So helpful and sweet. We met her at the office the day before to sign the waiver that way we could just meet them at the boat since we were walking distance.

We have wanted to see the coast from the water but always here in the winter when it's too rough. We were so lucky with the weather (July) and had a perfectly calm day. I would recommend going in the morning when it's super calm.

Trip was great. Perfect amount of time to see the sights, go into the caves, learn some history of the island. (Both guides grew up on the island - nice to support the locals!)

We headed back to Tunnels to snorkel. They had a great snorkels and masks - I used theirs instead of my own!

After snorkeling we enjoyed sandwiches (delicious), chips, drinks, etc. Lee even shared some of own candy with my boys!

We were treated with a pod of dolphins on top of it all.

Loved the size of the boat - you could move around and you could be protected from the wind and sun if you wanted.

Highly recommend North...

We loved North Shore Charters and their incredible customer service so much last year that we booked another charter this year!! The communication and care from Janelle set us up for success. She was available to answer questions and made us feel comfortable and valued. Our chauffeur, Debbie, was full of energy and humor and took us to the boat and brought us back to our cars. Captain Gary and First Mate Lee made our trip absolutely unforgettable with their expert navigation and their knowledge of the island. They also made us laugh often!! Lunch and drinks were appreciated after our snorkeling. We've worked with a couple of charter companies, but this is the only one we knew immediately that we would book again. The ease of access to the boat, the nice amount of space on the deck to stand and sit, and the attention to safety made our trip so enjoyable! Thank you, thank you, thank you. We hope to see you again for a threepeat!! P.S. Janelle, your thoughtfulness that morning will never be...