Kit1Corinthians10-31
Oct 2022
First, let me say that this review does not at all reflect our tour guides, Tyler and Jordan. They did a fabulous job and were very enthusiastic. One of them had salty language but there were no children aboard; I assume the language would have been tempered if there were. Tyler and Jordan also are from the island and know it deeply, which was really great.
I booked the tour months ago but went back in before we left for Hawaii to read updated reviews, and was alarmed that it appeared things had changed and that the ATV part of the ATV tour was going to be pretty limited. For that reason, I actually took notes on my phone whenever we stopped and started again to see if the ATV part was really 30 minutes as one reviewer said.
In all, for the three hour tour, we were riding the ATVs for exactly an hour. The tour went like this: drive for 10 minutes, stop at a tunnel (which we could not go through since the landowner no longer allows the ATVs through) for nearly 25 minutes and hear about the history of the tunnel, the trees in the area, everyone introduce themselves, etc. Then we rode again for 5 minutes, stopped, and fished for 32 minutes. We then rode for 20 minutes, then stopped where we had a snack (which was a very good granola bar) and talked about movies filmed in Kauai for about 20 minutes. We rode again, for 13 minutes, then stopped for 20 minutes for another talk. Then we finished with a 12-minute ride. The riding itself was a lot of fun and we did get dirty as promised, but I would not have paid the amount I did for a 3-hour tour with just one hour of driving. I think the owners of Kauai ATV should remarket this as a 90 minute or possibly 2-hour tour and have shorter stops, and cut the price. They could possibly fit in more tours and have happier customers and better reviews (and thus, more profit). I don't like leaving reviews like this as I know it impacts the bottom line for businesses, but I also think that people need to know what they are paying for. The marketing on Kauai ATV's website is not incorrect: it does mention the fishing, learning about history, etc.... I just think people really want more of the ATV part.
They were very concerned about safety, which I appreciated.