Movie tour or canyon and grotto??

Looking for some thoughts here! I see rave reviews about movie tour in Kauai. I am torn ! This tour vs the the canyon and grotto. I do want to do Smith Luau as well! Also not seeing any small tour companies for these like in Hilo. Thanks so much for some of your thoughts!

I took the boat & grotto tour back in 1983 and it was nice but not exceptional to me. I've read that a storm damaged the grotto but I do not know it's current condition. I don't know where the movie tour goes so don't know if those locations are more scenic than many other places on Kauai.

Having read rave reviews about the movie tour have you checked traveler' reviews on Trip Advisor about both options. Hopefully you'll get enough input to decide what is the best option for you.

Forget about the Grotto, not worth it even if it is in good condition. The Canyon is worth the time and is unforgetable. I have no experience with the movie tour.

Since we had done the fern grotto on a previous trip, we opted for a Roberts tour to Waimea Canyon only. Fern grotto is a huge waste! Canyon is spectacular

Looking for some thoughts here! I see rave reviews about movie tour in Kauai. I am torn ! This tour vs the the canyon and grotto. I do want to do Smith Luau as well! Also not seeing any small tour companies for these like in Hilo. Thanks so much for some of your thoughts!

For Kauai, my top pick if you can afford it would be a helicopter tour. You will see things which are not accessable from any road, like the interior of the Na Pali Coast, extinct volcanos etc. Very spectacular. We used Blue Hawaiian with pick up from the ship for a morning tour. I agree, Fern Grotto is waste of time and money. You can see most things, like Waimea Canyon, and visit more sites, easily from your own rental car and for much less money, only @ $40 for a full day, no tours needed. Drive to the luau on your own, or go back in the evening and join the tour.

Best small tour company for Hilo ( also Kona ) is Mary Lou's Big Island Tours. Your group will be 6 people max. or less. All owner guided. See reviews here and Trip Advisor. We used her for Volcano National Park and other sites.

I may be older than others posting, but I found the Fern Grotto very interesting, and you travel on the ONLY navigable river in Hawaii. They have entertainers on the boats, singing and telling some of the history. The Smith Family have the Tropical Garden next door to the Wailua River Cruise dock and have expanded to include a Smith's Luau now (they didn't have that option when I was there).

I've seen the Grand Canyon a number of times, so the Waimea Canyon wasn't a big thing for me, but we did travel to the end of the road to Kokee State Park to see the Napali Coastline.

We had 5 days on Kauai and also enjoyed the drive up the coast to Hanalei with a stop at the Kilauea Lighthouse and Wildlife Refuge. Lots to do on the Island.

Google is your friend. If you look up the different destinations, you might be better prepared to know what you want to see. Have a great trip, Hawaii is a great destination.

We did the Movies and Waterfalls tour on Kauai back in December 2012. My hubby is into waterfalls so he loved it. My daughter (then 15) and I are movie buffs so we loved it.

We had stopped by the ruins of the Coco Palms hotel (it was mostly destroyed by hurricane Iniki and hadn't been rebuilt) and were serenaded by a local icon, Larry Riviera (the tour guide had taken hula lessons as a little girl from his daughter) on the grounds near the river on which a major scene from "Blue Hawaii" took place. On my first trip to Hawaii I did have lunch in this iconic hotel. Unfortunately, a major fire happened last fall which probably destroyed what was left.

We also stopped by where the original opening for "Gilligan's Island" was shot. The guide had showed us the beginning of the first pilot which was scrapped and redone with some new cast members and characters and a new song (John Williams had written the original one). While we were walking to the beach there, I had to explain the show to a couple of Brits on our tour.

We also stopped for lunch at the diner featured in "The Descendants."

This is my favorite ever excursion, but we usually DIY in ports. If you are a major movie buff, you might want to consider it.