Wild Kauai

Helicopter Tour with Island Helicopters

A helicopter tour on Kaua'i is kind of a big deal. Not only are you exposed to magnificent vistas of Waimea Canyon, Wai'ale'ale Crater and The Nāpali Coast, you see these places up close on another level. Soaring inside the towering sea cliffs, flying up to narrow valleys and past streams and cascading waterfalls, Kauai's remarkable interior and rugged coastline are like no place on earth. 

I mean - that's the JURASSIC PARK waterfall right there....

Kaua'i, The Garden Island, is the least populated and the oldest of the major isles in the Hawaiian chain. More than half the island is covered by forests and mountains; combining razor sharp edges, deep red earth gorged canyons, lush jungle valleys, emerald plateaus, misty waterfall oases and white sand beaches. The Northwest coast in its entirety is a roadless wilderness where waterfalls dip over cliffs and crash into valleys as they stream through the verdant landscape out to sea. 

Later in the trip we would take a boat tour from Hanalei and snorkel with Sea Turtles in front of the beach above, Honopou Beach, which is only accessible by boat. 

Above is the sweeping view flying out from Wai'ale'ale Crater, below, the view entering is part of the famous "Weeping Wall". Mount Wai'ale'ale is said to be the wettest spot on earth. Usually it is tucked behind wispy rain clouds so we were fortunate to be able to fly into the crater. This is also the site of the volcano long extinct that formed Kaua'i. 

There are a ton of helicopter tours to choose from. We were extremely happy with Island Helicopters, especially for the fact that they considered us (called us up to fly two days before our scheduled flight) when they had seats guaranteed in the front. The pilot was knowledgeable and they had a fantastic soundtrack playing through the headphones! Highly recommend. 

Not bad for our first day in Hawaii!