While tens of thousands of tourists enjoy The Garden Isle Kauai every year, far fewer get to experience the beautiful and totally inaccessible majority of the island. Hidden in the interior of the older island in the Hawaiian chain are waterfalls, ancient volcanoes and spectacular scenery that can only be experienced from the air. With no roads or hiking trails penetrating the interior beauty of the island, a great way (and the only way) to catch a glimpse of these spectacular sights is on a helicopter tour.
There are many helicopter companies that offer sight seeing tours of Kauai, all leaving from Lihue airport. Theses tours are not cheap-usually ranging between $150 to $250 for an hour or two hour tour—but if you can spare the cash, the tours are well worth the price for the memorable and spectacular tour of the island. Also, almost of the various helicopter companies have large discounts available to those who book at least 5 days in advance and do so online. Some of these companies (like Blue Hawaiian) offer as much as a $60 discount to those willing to book through their web site in advance.
While there are nearly a dozen helicopter tour companies operating out of Lihue Airport, all of the tours follow very similar routes and hit the same major sight seeing points. These include “Jurassic Park Falls” (as seen in the 1990s blockbuster, which was filmed on the island), Waimea Canyon (the Grand Canyon of the Pacific), and other waterfalls and secluded valleys. Make sure your helicopter tour flies to the wettest spot on Earth, located in the crater of the ancient volcano Mt. Waialeale. Weather permitting, the helicopter will fly into the center of the giant crater where you will be surrounded by 5,000 foot cliffs towering on all sides with lush ferns draping the sheer drops and 3,000 foot spectacular waterfalls encircling you. This part of the trip alone is worth the couple of hundred bucks for the seat alone.
