Let me get something out of the way. I don’t feel that I have a fear of heights. I can be in a tall building and I’m fine. However, I do have a fear of falling. If I’m in an open space, I’ll do my best to hold on to something or hug the wall.
For example, here’s me standing on the York Wall.
Note me leaning against the wall. That’s on purpose.
Flash forward to making plans for our trip to Hawaii. I’ve heard many reports saying that taking a helicopter ride over Kauai is the only way to see many places on the island. We’ve been on helicopter rides in Hawaii before, including one on the Big Island that let us look into the volcano caldera [Note from Sharon: it was SO FREAKIN’ COOL!].
There are many different companies offering helicopter rides from Lihue. Some of them are luxury rides in Eco-Star helicopters which have a guided soundtrack and offer a video of your ride. There’s even a company that lands at the base of the waterfall from Jurrasic Park, just like at the movie’s opening.
However, one company stood out when I read the Kauai Revealed guidebook.
Unlike other places, Jack Harter Helicopters uses MD Hughes 500s, which are smaller than the Eco-Stars and only hold 4 passengers. More importantly, they offer doors-off rides. One of the drawbacks of taking pictures from helicopters is that you’ll usually get some glare/reflection from the windows. That’s not a problem if there’s no window or door to keep you from looking straight down.
I presented the idea to Sharon (who’s the daredevil of the family), knowing she’d be down with the idea. Without thinking about it, I filled out the web form and was called the next day to confirm our reservation. Payment isn’t accepted until the day of the trip because cancellations happen due to weather or if they don’t have enough people to fill a helicopter. We booked for early in our trip, so we had 2 other chances if our first day didn’t work out.
We got to the airport and went through the safety briefing, making sure our pockets were empty (They keep your car keys locked up at the main office). We could bring a camera/phone if it were on a lanyard around our neck but that’s it. That’s when it sank in that I was going to fly through the air with nothing between me and the sky except a safety harness.
I convinced myself that there was no backing out now and I’d be strapped in every way from Tuesday. I planted my feet on the ground and waited.
Besides the height and lack of doors, the next thing I noticed was the wind whipping through the helicopter. Our pilot, Josh was wonderful and let us know when there might be turbulence that might cause us to drop several feet. Before our first banked turn, he said the centrifugal force would push us down into our seats so even if you were on the side facing down, it wouldn’t feel like you were falling out (which was a 100% accurate description).
It took about 5 minutes to get more comfortable looking at the surroundings. It would be very easy for me to turn this into a post stuffed with pictures, as we took more photos during this 1 hour than during any other part of the trip. I’ll try to stick to just the highlights.
We started by heading towards the center of the island.
Our first highlight was the “Jurrasic Park” waterfall. You can see the helicopter pad and path to the waterfall used by another company with rights to the site.
We then saw waterfalls, more waterfalls and even more waterfalls.
From there, we took a turn to the island’s western coast. The same place we visited by catamaran the day before.
Seeing the Na Pali coast from the air is breathtaking.
We got to do something we couldn’t do from the water, fly into the valleys.
But honestly, I think it looks nicer from a little distance. You lose perspective of how massive everything is when you’re up close. Might I add that while I was just starting to let go of the handle on the seat in front of me, Sharon was on the other side, leaning out of the helicopter.
Eventually, we reached the North Shore and were greeted with this amazing view of Hanalei Bay.
As we headed back to the island’s eastern side, we visited this massive waterfall.
It was near the end of the trip but we weren’t done seeing amazing landscapes.
And then we were back. I survived, which I knew I would. Once I got used to the sensation of flying and feeling grounded in my seat, I was fine. It was more like watching an amazing travel show on TV as I’ve never seen so many awesome landscapes in such a short amount of time.
Please forgive our windswept hair and me still not knowing how to smile for a smartphone camera.
It was a truly unforgettable experience. The 60-65 minute “doors-off” helicopter ride from Jack Harter Helicopters costs $359 per person and reservations are required. If you’re looking for a helicopter ride with doors, they also offer 60 and 90-minute rides on an A-Star with noise-canceling headphones and air-conditioning.
After going on a helicopter tour of Kauai, I agree with everyone who says that if you can manage to do it, it’s the best way to see the island.
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1 comment
I flew the U.S. Army version of this helicopter during the Vietnam War. Yeah, no doors either. At least no one was shooting at you. Big wussy