So we signed up for "Kipu Kai Snorkel Picnic Whale Watch" which is exactly what we thought we would be doing. We got to the dock and found that what we thought would be a Catamaran boat was actually a rubber raft dinghy that had 6 unwitting participants - 3 of us and 3 from another family from Toledo. We got on board and everyone could hardly believe that at this time of year, we were actually going to sea in this thing. We headed southeast since Napali coast was going to be way too rough and then we got beyond Poipu and at that point, it was like your worst roller coaster ride ever but with the difference that you got entirely soaked with the ocean spray just pounding us and with no place to go, you just had to suck it up.
To be fair, the crew were really nice about everything and honestly, I think they were a bit embarrassed by the whole thing. No on board toilets (of course there weren't) so need a bathroom break, no problem, just let them get close to shore and jump into the ocean and take care of business. We had my wife's 77 year old mother on board and I could tell, she was miserable even though she was a trooper and put a brave face on the whole thing. Only thing preventing her from being tossed into the ocean on the ride was a rope in the bottom of the raft that we were instructed to make sure you had one foot under at all times - yes REALLY !
They took us eventually to a pretty nice snorkelling area where I went in the water and saw lots of nice fish and a turtle but that wasn't enough to make up for the cluster of a washing machine ride across the open ocean.
Kauai Sea Tours need to make clear EXACTLY what folks are signing up for with this deal. Clearly it's not at all obvious since everyone on board had no clue - I suspect it's deliberate designed to get you signed to a low cost (for them) boat and save money. Very devious and never again !