Kauai had a lot of rain lately, and they warned us that it was gonna be super muddy. As promised, so delivered! I have to say their customer service is excellent. We originally had the trip booked before a luau, and we realized that we'd be too late. So, five minutes before departure they let us move to the next day. It saved our night (Luau Kalamaku is excellent) and we came back the next day ready for more adventures.
Day 2: We show up and our guide Evan was there waiting for us and a few other people to come with us. We started off getting gear and wet bags to keep our clothes and lunches dry and clean. Then we took a ride in the van over to the Wailua River. After a brief tutorial we got started paddling upriver. It was a perfect day to be out there. The Sun was shining, there was a mild breeze and we were ready to paddle out. It's a 2 mile paddle up to the hiking point and from there we hoof it. Evan warned us numerous times that it was going to be the muddiest, slickest, squishiest hike conditions that it could be. No problem! The hike was invigorating and the views amazing. My only complaint is that you spend all your time looking where you put your feet, so you must remember to look up and enjoy the views. We stopped at an old queen's waterfall bath and then followed the mud trail up to the "secret" wailua falls.
The falls are amazing. With all the rain we had, it was flowing 1.5x its usual volume so it was really going off. We had bagel sandwiches and chips for lunch (the perfect amount) and started swimming in the waterfalls pool. Then I swam out to the fall and walked behind it to get the full falls treatment. Breathtaking.
The hike and paddle back is more of the same, all good. Our guide Evan did a fantastic job. He gave us excellent instructions on how to avoid slipping on our butts, told lots of jokes and kept us laughing throughout. He's a guy who loves his job and it shows. I'd go back and do it again.
Overall the hike wasn't too rough- but the mud made it awful slippery. You don't need to be super fit for this trip, but if it's been raining then the difficulty goes up because it is hard to stay on your feet.