Kauai by Air

Of all the things to do in Kauai, we knew we had to experience a helicopter tour which is just what we did on our first day on the island. Our friends rave about it and we were certainly not let down! This was my first time in a helicopter and it sure set the bar high! That's me in the pink in the front. Does it look like I'm already near the edge? Yep, Keith still has to fit next to me. Where are the doors, you ask? These Hughes 500s  are flown with the doors off!

Somehow I managed to squeeze in between two 200-lb men, one being the pilot on my left. It seriously looked like he was flying the thing with a video game joystick! I'm not scared to fly but I certainly didn't need to be this close to the controls and to be reminded of how much could go wrong! One time, while in the air, Keith shifted his position and the whole helicopter shifted as well. Thankfully we had a fire extinguisher in case we went down. I'm sure that comes in handy when you fall 1,500 feet into the mountains!

The density of the trees is remarkable and it seems as though you could run across the top of these treetops.

Can you count the waterfalls? I spy at least nine.

Over sixty major films have been filmed in Kauai and it's easy to see why! Here is a 360-foot high waterfall located in the south-central part of the island. Its' Hawaiian name is Manawaiopuna Falls but it's better known as Jurassic Park Falls for its' spotlight in the film it's named after.

It's a long way down!

We saw waterfall after waterfall but never tired of them! The tallest waterfall in Kauai is 2,600 feet!

This is heading out of the Mount Waiʻaleʻale Crater. The top of Mount Waiʻaleʻale is known as the wettest place on east, averaging some 450 inches of rainfall annually. A portion of the inside wall is known as the Weeping Wall because water just oozes out of the wall itself. It was drizzling on us while we were inside the crater which definitely made a wild experience even more remarkable.

The Waimea Canyon is known as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." It stretches 14 miles long, one mile wide and more than 3,600 feet deep. Like the rest of Kauai, most of it can only be viewed by helicopter.

Ahh, the Nā Pali Coast, a seventeen-mile stretch of rugged coastline on the northwest shore of Kauai. Your heart skips a beat when you turn the corner and first see the view. The majority of its' coastline can only be viewed by boat or air.

Can you see that small sea cave in the middle? The first helicopter tours in the 1960's flew through that cave. Seriously! 

White sand beaches, blue waters, dramatic cliffs - it's U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E!

This is the way to be welcomed to Kauai!