Summary - If you don't want to read the whole experience (which is quite long with all the details), here are the important details regarding my 2 star review:
1) We traveled during the rainy season (my wife and I and our 4 teenage kids)
2) Our tour guide (Brian) was great
3) Brian indicated at the beginning of the HIKING portion of the tour (after warning us a bit earlier of the possibility) that, if we did the initial river crossing, there was a chance the river might be running too strongly by the time we returned to be able to cross it, leaving us stranded on the other side. His demeanor suggested he thought it was a realistic possibility.
4) Decision was made not to risk it, so we headed back - meaning all we did was kayak (plus Brian's - I believe, genuine, attempt to give us "a bit more" by driving us a short distance to view another water fall - from afar - and then return to the vehicles). No hiking, No swimming, no viewing of the Secret Falls.
Realistically, we could easily have driven to the other waterfall ourselves. It was nice, but not terribly impressive. He told us a couple interesting stories and a little Hawaiian trivia during the drive and while at the falls, but, that's about all that was "added" that we couldn't have done ourselves with a few minute drive in the car.
5) Brian told me to contact the owner, Chris, and he'd probably issue us a discount, since we never were able to do the hike or see the falls
6) I called Chris later that day, he offered to reschedule, but I told him the rest of our time in Kaua'i was booked. He said he would not offer any sort of discount.
7) Hence, this review. We received, realistically, less than half of the real tour, and still paid full price.
And, here's a more detailed account of exactly how everything went down:
First, let me say that Brian was a great tour guide. He was attentive, answered all of our questions, was a wealth of information about Hawaii, various parts of our tour and all manner of random Hawaiian trivia. He kept us well informed of exactly what was happening, what we should be doing, and was an all around fun individual to tour with.
So, with the good out of the way, I'll pass along why this is not a 5 star review. When we went on the tour there had been some recent rainfall so that the river was running a bit faster/"fuller" than is ideal for the "back-end" hiking portion of the tour. The kayaking ends where the hiking begins, and during the hike you have a number of river crossings that must be done.
At the marina where we launched the kayaks, Brian indicated there was a possibility that we could run into some issue at the river crossing, but decided to carry on since there was also a chance that there would be no problem at all.
Keep in mind that, had we decided not to go at all, since we might only get "half" of our tour, then we'd likely have been stuck paying for the full tour and getting nothing, since they require 48 hours advance notice of a cancellation, and we'd "effectively" have been cancelling our reservation.
Considering how things ended up when all was said and done, I'm pretty sure that's exactly how they'd have handled it - but, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Once we reached the end of our kayaking, and reached the first river crossing area, Brian indicated that, we could cross and that it might be fine for the return, but that it was possible that, once we had crossed, by the time we returned to get back, we might not be able to safely cross and we'd be stuck on the other side of the river - requiring us to possibly wait hours for the water to slow down or having to receive an emergency evac which would have required an arduous trek through the "jungle", basically, to reach the evac point.
The decision was made to play it safe and return. So, we returned to the kayaks and headed back. Once back to the marina, Brian did drive us to see another waterfall (although only from a distance) and then took us back to the vehicles.
I asked him how they would handle the situation, since we had paid quite a bit for, realistically, only "half" of the tour, at best, since it was the hike and the swim and the falls that we were really after - the kayaks were just a means to get there.
He said to contact Chris (the owner), and that he'd likely issue a partial refund. I can't say if he really believed that Chris would do so or if he simply didn't want to deal with it and passed the buck. Either way, I called Chris later that day and was offered another trip out, but no refund. I indicated that the rest of our time in Kaua'i was already booked and that it really wasn't an option.
He said there was nothing further he could do.
All in all, I think 2 stars is an accurate description of our experience. Had we received the full tour, I fully believe that we would have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and that Brian would have done a terrific job. I also believe that Brian probably made the right call in playing it safe.
However, there is, realistically, no reason that Chris could not have issued us a partial refund, since the best part of the trip never materialized and Brian really only spent a little over half the originally alotted time with us, total (even accounting for a little jaunt to view the other waterfall).
I didn't expect half off. I didn't even throw out a number. I simply asked what Chris could do for us, since Brian had said I should give him a call. Even if he had given us 15 or 20%, I probably would have been fine with it. He still would have made a bit on the excursion, and would at least have walked away with a 4 star or possibly even 5 star review.
Instead, he chose a little extra profit over the customer and this review is the fruit of that decision. That is unfortunate, but, it is the reality. Maybe he doesn't care because he's got a decent review profile, and maybe figures this won't affect him much. He probably also figures very few people ever take the tour again, so repeat business from us is unlikely. But, for certain, we won't be sending anyone else his way.
Buyer beware. If you are thinking about this excursion, and you're taking it during the rainy season or after any heavy rains and the tour guide suggests there is ANY chance that the hike may not happen, consider how badly you want to kayak, because you may end up paying full price for an entire waterfall hiking tour simply to kayak down the river for a few hours - which, although nice, wasn't anything amazing. There are plenty of other FREE hikes/trips/excursions you can do on Kaua'i that will offer spectacular views and much more interesting scenery than the river offered, and you won't be risking a significant pricetag for what may be a very underwhelming experience.