Mauna Loa Helicopter Tours - Kauai — Attraction in Kauai

What a wonderful experience! I was terrified at the thought of going up in a helicopter as I hate heights and the thought of being in a flying tin can was not soothing, however my significant other really wanted to go and so much of Kauai can only be experienced from a helicopter so I figured I would just do it and if I died it would at least be over. I found Mauna Loa Helicopter Tours via google... I really didn't want to spend a ton of money and sit in a middle seat or fly with strangers, and as a bigger person some companies have a very low max weight which wasn't going to cut it! Mauna loa helicopter had private flights for a SUPER reasonable price with a high weight limit of 275 pounds! I looked up their safety record which was impeccable and every customer review was awesome (and the few one star reviews were either for reasons outside of control from the company or things not related to the actual helicopter tour or from people who didn't even fly w them!). One theme I saw was people who first flew doors on came back and did doors off and said doors odd was the way to go. Now remember my utter terror about even flying in a helicopter, there was no way I was doing doors off... or so I thought :) we checked in and I said doors on but then spoke to the woman who checked us in and she said honestly doors off was such a better experience though doors on was still fun. She asked what I was afraid of and I had a list of things, namely getting sucked out of the door. She said not to worry, you are securely buckled in but I could talk to the pilot when we arrived at the heliport. Our pilot Sam was awesome... she listened to my fears but said how she recommended doors off but wants me to be comfortable so if I was too terrified then to keep doors on and it would still be great. Well it was game time and I had to make a decision... I was already so petrified that why not just go all in since I was going to be scared either way. So I said let's go doors off... my partner kept his door on and he thought I had been abducted by aliens overnight and replaced with someone else bc I would never door anything like that :) SO glad I did... it was such a super fun experience, doors off honestly wasn't scary at all and I got such better pictures and just felt more part of the experience than watching the experience if that makes sense. The phone holder they gave for the ride was super sturdy and I had no fear of my phone getting sucked out! Sam had a great sound track to listen to and gave us lots of history and facts about the island. It is truly a memory I will never forget and definitely will come back and do the tour again at a different time of day (we went early morning this time) just to see the island lit up from a different angle. Absolutely wonderful experience. While we were sitting in our car after our ride we saw a neighboring company unloading a helicopter w 6 people on it with several people in middle seats and it was several small groups of strangers flying together and we thought how much better of an experience we had and we then looked up the cost of those tickets and the ride was a little shorter and cost was only a little less than what we paid (and they had a much lower max weight!) and we were SO happy we chose this company. 10000...

UPDATE: We took a second trip on May 15, 2005 at 12:30. This was on a more cloudy day but OH MY!!. Mr Grey was our pilot this time and he was also fantastic. We thought the flight might not be as good because it was cloudy over the mountains but boy were we wrong. There were waterfalls to see on our previous trip, but this time the mountains were "crying". There were so many waterfalls to see we didn't know where to look; 3 here, 5, there, etc. Mr. Grey pointed out that we were getting a pretty rare opportunity as its not often to see so many. Thank you once again - this was an especially fantastic end to our 2 week vacation in Kauai. As a famous General once said, "I will we return".

On previous visits to Kauai, we've enjoyed a couple of Na Pali sunset cruises and a helicopter tour with a different touring company (that even included a waterfall landing). But THIS private tour with Mauna Loa Helicopters far exceeded them both! Our experienced pilot, Mr. Hayzen, gave us a knowledge-filled tour of Kauai we will never forget.

On our early morning flight, we were treated to a few beautiful rainbows (one that seemed to follow our helicopter for many miles), and absolutely incredible views of the island. There were times it seemed we could reach out and touch the cliffs - but I learned the hard way not to stick you arm out of a moving helicopter on our previous tour, NOT SMART (although my arm fortunately stay attached)! Some kindly advice (just in case you're also tempted to point out the sites to your companions), imagine you have T-rex arms that are too short to reach out of the helicopter.

All in all, I'd say a sunset cruise up the Na Pali coast is still a nice experience and the view is worth it; but if you have to choose, I highly recommend choosing Mauna Loa's helicopter tour (with the doors off!). You'll not only have the unforgettable (and closer) view of the Na Pali coast, but you also have the advantage of a bird's eye view of many other beautiful parts of the island - the south east coastline (our very first opportunity to see this incredible coastline, as you can't see it any other way); Kauai coffee plantation; Olokele Canyon, Waimea Canyon; Na Pali cliffs; numerous gorgeous waterfalls; Hanalei Bay, north side coastline (breathtaking reef views), Wailua Falls, etc., etc., etc. You will not be disappointed!!

We took a 7:30 am trip and are now thinking about booking another trip at a later time in the day just to experience the island in a different light and to get a better view of the Weeping Wall in Mt. Waialeale crater (unfortunately, we couldn't get too close this time because the weather got a little rough causing...

If you are in Kauai - this is something you MUST do. I did a lot of research on different helicopter tours before I booked and I’m so glad I went with Mauna Loa. When my husband and I showed up for our originally scheduled tour, Stefan our pilot came to chat with us and let us know the weather wasn’t looking great. Obviously this is something they cannot control so although we were disappointed, we listened to what he had to say. He told us that we could still go if we wanted but the cloud coverage was very low and we would likely not have a great experience. He recommended we reschedule if we were able to. We found another day/time that worked for us and Stefan even offered to work on his day off to accommodate us and a few other appointments that had to be rescheduled due to weather. Note: I recommend booking earlier in your stay JUST in case you need to reschedule. Our other option was for a full refund but I’m so glad we chose to find another time, now for the good part….. We did doors off, just my husband and I. SO worth the extra money to have this experience to ourselves. We watched other helicopters from other companies packing people into them like sardines. I imagine the experience would not nearly be the same. And doors off is 1000% the way to go. The ride itself was about an hour and we saw most of the island. The absolute highlight was the Na Pali coast - the views are BREATHTAKING. On our way there we saw rainbows, the “Grand Canyon” of Hawaii and waterfalls you only see in movies (literally - the Jurassic Park waterfall). Another one that is 3600 feet tall. And more notable, most of the island is uninhabited and/or protected land. So this is really the only way to see everything this spectacular island really is. The different greens and blues you see from above take your breath away. The whole time Stefan would tell us what we were seeing or answer our questions but he wasn’t talking the whole time which let us just take in each and every moment. He was a FANTASTIC pilot. Super friendly, knowledgeable and approachable. We also felt very safe with him. He also had a really fun playlist/music piped into our headsets that helped set the mood of an adventurous and fun hour. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Here it is in summary - definitely do this if you’re in Kauai, choose Mauna Loa, get Stefan as your pilot, do doors off and go only with those in your party. 10/10!!!!! Thanks so much for a wonderful experience Stefan! This was an experience of a lifetime we will...