The Adventures of Quickstride & Shambler: Na Pali Coast

Welcome to another chapter in The Adventures of Quickstride & Shambler! This time, we are taking you on a thrilling boat excursion up the Na Pali Coast!

A light sprinkling of rain welcomed us on the morning of our second full day on Kauai. Jenny, Blaine, Bo, and I sipped on a pot of complimentary coffee and watched the first tendrils of sunlight creep over the grey ocean. Our rented cottage was on the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility, almost as far West as one can go on Kauai. I slept pretty well, waves crashing on the beach and a few rum cocktails make quite the lullaby.

The four of us were up early to catch a tour boat out of the Kikiaola small boat harbor. It was a quick drive in the early morning, slowed only by a short stretch of construction. We checked in with our tour group, received our safety briefing, and applied some sunscreen while we waited for the tour boats to be offloaded into the harbor. It was a scene of controlled chaos on the boat landing. Tour companies whipped their boats behind overloaded Toyota pickups, sliding their watercraft into the harbor one after another.

Within minutes, our tour’s boat was in the harbor and it was our turn to board. Blue Ocean Tours, the company we were using, had a couple tour boats in the water, and they guided us to our assigned Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB). We stepped onto the RHIB, received another safety briefing from our enthusiastic Captain, Kori, and his equally enthusiastic deck hand, Hailey, and motored out of the harbor. As soon as we were past the surf break, Kori slammed the throttle forward and we shot out into the open ocean in search of the Na Pali Coast with the other Blue Ocean boats chasing us.

Our tour shot back the direction we came from, passing the Pacific Missile Range Facility by sea and at a high rate of speed. We zig-zagged around the ocean, Captain Kori blasting music while slamming the boats over the waves. It was exhilarating and fun, and even with the zig-zagging we arrived at our first stop in short order.

First up on our boat tour of the Na Pali Coast was a stop where we saw both a waterfall and our first sea cave of the day. The landscape had changed from the flat seaside of the highway to sheer cliffs covered in lush greenery. Deep valleys cut through the imposing mountains in front of us. Even though Kauai is among the smallest of the Hawaiian Islands, one cannot help but feel small sitting in a rocking RHIB and looking up at the volcanic mountains. Captain Kori brought the boat right up to the waterfall while we waited for another tour group to finish up with the sea cave.

When it was our turn to drive into the sea cave, Kori steered his RHIB deep to the cave, explaining the history and lore behind the cave and its accompanying waterfall. Apparently, ancient Kauaians who recently married would make their way to this cave and douse themselves in the trickle of water that fell at the mouth of the sea cave in a fertility ritual. Of course, Captain Kori explained this to us while spinning the boat to ensure that each couple on the boat got doused.

Captain Kori pushed the boat deeper into the cave. Our tour group was then treated to a demonstration of the natural acoustics of the sea cave when Haleigh turned the music on the JBL speaker to full blast. With a well-synchronized beat and throttle drop, we shot out of the cave and on to our next stop.

The entire trip was very lively. Captain Kori and Haleigh kept the music going, hosting impromptu sing-alongs and whipping the RHIB all over the ocean. It was a lot of fun, but I can’t say it was good for my back.

Our next stop was a scenic view of the Na Pali Coast, which also had an archway that was in a ton of movies. There’s a scene in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies where Jack Sparrow is running away from the villains and he runs under that arch. I can’t remember which movie, so you’ll just have to watch them all again.

We saw a couple more sea caves, the most notable being the Queen’s Bath Cave. This cave is a collapsed lava tube with an open ceiling and a boulder sitting out of the water in the middle. The sun shone on the center rock when we hit the cave at speed, slowing down so that Captain Kori could explain that this particular rock was featured in a Mariah Carey music video. I’m not sure which song because I did not ask.

Another beat drop and throttle down, and it was off to our last location. Here, we had the opportunity to relax, take some photos, and get to snorkeling. There were a lot of fish, but seeing as Bo, Blaine, Jenny, and I lived in Hawai’i, we spent more time chatting with Captain Kori and Haleigh while eating our lunch of sandwiches, pineapple with Tajin, and Hawaiian Sun canned juice.

After an hour or so of snorkeling, it was time to head back to the harbor. Captain Kori, once again throwing the RHIB over the ocean at breakneck speed, got us back to the harbor in no time at all. We arrived satisfied, and completely exhausted. The four of us thanked our crew, said our goodbyes, and drove back to the cottage to relax and take naps before heading out to find dinner.

We left the cottage late in the evening. The island’s high school graduation festivities were still in full swing, the only two restaurants in town that were still open were Wrangler’s Steakhouse, which we had enjoyed earlier in our trip, and a taco joint called Tiki Tacos. Wrangler’s had a long wait, so we put our name down and then went over to Tiki Tacos to see what that was about.

Tiki’s Tacos told us they only had enough ingredients left to make six tacos and we wouldn’t even get to choose our toppings. We went to the grocery store next door and bought provisions for the rest of the weekend, which we left in our car on our way back to Wrangler’s. It was as good as we remembered from the first visit, and this time we managed to make our way back to the cottage without getting pulled over.

The four of us spent the rest of the evening drinking rum cocktails and playing Mario Party. One of us got way too competitive, but nobody broke the Nintendo. We turned in for the night, we had a long day ahead of us in the morning.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed the article, consider liking the article, sharing the article, and/or subscribing to the blog! If you wish to support Norseman Creative, check out the shop for books and merch!