FAQ

We are located out of Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor, 2494 Niumalu Road. The harbor is on the southeast side of the island, five minutes south of Lihue International Airport. For more information about how to find us, please visit our contact page.

Outside of Nawiliwili, wind conditions are typically 10-15 knots, and the waves are 3 to 6 feet. Conditions can vary throughout the year and can be quite lively. For Kauai marine weather, click here.

Due to the lively ocean conditions around Kauai, if your kids are 10 or under, please consider a “private trip”. If you want to do a shared trip, and you have a child/children under 10, please give Don a call at 808-639-3012 because a great experience and safety are always the most important thing to our Ohana and yours.

Anything under 25 lbs you can keep. We will filet your catch and you can take it home. For anything over 25 lbs, the catch stays with the boat. In Hawaii, the boat makes the call on all fish caught. Our policy is that you don’t go home hungry. We will cut up enough fish for you to eat during your stay, as long as the fish is less than 25 pounds. These fish go to market and help to recoup expenses such as lost lures and broken equipment.

On a shared trip, everyone shares the catch. That means that if another party catches one type of fish, and you catch another, both will walk away with both fish if wanted. This also means that if you don’t catch anything, and somebody else does, you still will get some fish to take home.

Please advise the captain of any medical conditions upon booking the trip. The weather and water conditions can trigger discomfort of some conditions, which is the last thing we want! Let us know how we can help you!

Generally, you should dress like you are going to the beach. A T-shirt, shorts, shoes, sunglasses, and maybe a hat are great. We usually have some sunscreen on the boat, but be sure to pack your own. We provide rain jackets if needed.

We provide all of the fishing gear and lures that you will need. We also provide a cooler with ice and sodas. We have rain jackets on the boat.

All you need to bring are snacks, food, and beer if you’d like. Captain Don always appreciates a bad joke or two as well.

For our morning trips, we ask that you get to the boat by 5:45 a.m. so that we can be off the dock by 6 a.m.. For our afternoon trips, we ask that you arrive by 10:45 a.m.

We do require a credit card (Visa or Mastercard) to reserve your trip. If you give us notice more than 48 hours before your scheduled trip, there is no charge for cancelling. Within 48 hours, it is a 50% charge, and if you are a no-show or cancel within 24 hours of your trip, it is full charge. Of course, if the captain decides that weather conditions are too rough and unsafe, there is no cancellation charge.

The Happy Ryder is a 39-foot Hatteras boat with an indoor salon with couch seating. There is also a shaded cabin area and a fly bridge.

We do have a restroom on the boat. There are also restroom facilities at the harbor.

On a shared trip, there are no less than four and no more than six people. On a private trip, there can be from one person up to six people.

If you desire a particular date, try to book at least three weeks out. Of course, feel free to call anytime.

Captain Don or Captain Asher will be running the boat the day you go out. Both our captains have years of fishing and nautical experience and will take you to the best fishing spots around the island! To learn more about our captains, visit our about page.

Kauai has four types of tuna: yellowfin, big-eye, aku (skipjack tuna), and kawa kawa (wavy back tuna). We also have mahi, ono, and two kinds of marlin, bule and striped. On rare occasions, we catch spearfish and sailfish. We can also bottom fish, where you can expect to catch grey snapper, amberjack, trevally, barracuda, and sharks.