Holo Holo Blog

Sincere mahalos to everyone that took the time to vote for Holo Holo Charters in the recent 2023 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice travel award contest for Best Tour Company in Hawaii! We were honored to be nominated and we nearly clinched the title—coming in second place.

Notably, the tour companies that came in “top three” are all Kauai Napali Coast boat tour companies, strengthening our belief and providing evidence for our claim that the Napali Coast is *thee* most spectacular scenery in the state of Hawaii. As the oldest of the Hawaiian Islands, Kauai has had millions more years of exposure to wind, rain, and erosion than the others. She’s also the most northwest of the islands, and thus often the first to break waves that have traveled thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean from Japan, Russia, and Alaska. The combination of all that time and all that power has transformed what was once a simple, smooth shield volcano into the geologic masterpiece that is the Napali Coast as we know it today—jagged, steep, 4,000’ sea cliffs, sea arches, sea caves, vast, emerald valley after valley, crystal clear water, and pristine sandy beaches. For sure, our sister islands each have their own unique and remarkable characteristics, but the Napali Coast is truly in a class of her own!

That part is fixed, so what makes a Napali Coast boat tour “the best” or better than the others? Is the cheapest one the best? Is the one that departs closest to your accommodations the best? It the one that can get you on last minute the best?? It’s subjective! Luckily, all of Kauai’s boat tour operators have our niches, and Kauai’s visitors are able to choose what works for them, based on their priorities.

For our company, being “the best” means staying committed to our values, which include:

• Being a dependable employer. Providing health insurance. Offering opportunities for upward mobility. Being flexible as employees progress through stages of their lives. Fostering a healthy company culture.
• Providing the highest degree of customer service available in the industry. Being a fair and trustworthy employer allows us to attract and retain some of the most loyal and talented individuals on the island in all our departments– Captain & crew, maintenance, reservations, and administration. Happy employees= happy customers.
• Maintaining the cleanest and safest vessels and equipment on island. Our company built our own catamarans, here on Kauai, and therefore, we have a level of pride in our vessels that other companies may not. We are intimately familiar with every single nut and bolt on our boats, which are meticulously and lovingly maintained in our own 8,000 square foot boatbuilding and maintenance facility in Port Allen.
• Making a significant positive impact on both our ocean resources and our island community. Providing reef-safe sunscreen on every tour. Nearly eliminating single use serving ware. Being the only Kauai tour boat operator accredited by the Sustainable Tourism Association of Hawaii. Purchasing carbon-credits to offset our carbon footprint. Participating in the Kauai Charity Walk and sponsoring dozens of other community events each year. It’s our privilege to operate on Kauai and our kuleana to take care and give back.

Here’s the thing: the Napali Coast is going to knock your socks off no matter what boat you’re on, that’s just a fact. If it’s important to you, as a conscious traveler, to spend your dollars with a company that implements industry best-practices and leads Hawaii’s tour industry by example, come aboard with Holo Holo Charters! Let us take you and your loved ones safely and comfortably to the amazing Napali Coast, and let us do so in style, and with integrity.

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