You haven’t been to Kauai, and you have not taken a helicopter tour? What in blue blazes are you ready for? This desires to be at the top rated of everyone’s bucket list. No fooling, you simply just ought to get out to the island, reserve your tour, and choose a helicopter excursion all over the most wonderful, enchanting, awe inspiring position on earth. Cease looking at this and phone your vacation agent, now!

All right, I am a bit biased I in fact flew Kauai excursions for a number of decades, and in the interest of whole disclosure, I flew for a firm named Air Kauai. So of course I have a different perspective on helicopters, and flying about islands in them. I am heading to endeavor to share with you, expensive reader, why it is that you basically will have to fall whatsoever other vacation plans you could have, get a ticket to Lihue, and hop aboard a tour helicopter. You can go to Orlando, or Branson, or the Catskills subsequent 12 months.

Here is why you need to have to do this, what helicopter company you ought to contemplate, how considerably it may well price tag, what to choose alongside, and what time of year and time of day to go. Additionally a handful of extras: what to be expecting on the helicopter tour, what you could possibly see, a basic safety overview, and other odds and ends to make your existence-altering practical experience even more gratifying. Let’s begin with finding to Kauai, and a little bit of the island’s mystique, commencing, as they say, at the commencing, the origin of Kauai.

Kauai, or the Yard Island, is the furthest (uncovered) northwest island in the Hawaiian chain. I say uncovered mainly because the Hawaiian Islands are slowly disappearing. No, this is not a rationale to transfer your trip up a several months, rest. Here’s a bit of Hawaiian trivia that some of your tour mates probable will not know. There are in point 127 islands in the Hawaiian chain, not just the seven you see on a map today–Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Oahu, Kauai, and Niihau. The Hawaiian chain stretches throughout the Pacific for one,200 miles, ending in a minor coral atoll referred to as Kure, which is, in reality, the incredibly very first Hawaiian Island, dating again just about a hundred million decades. As a reference, a single of the Hawaiian Islands is a minimal area known as Halfway which is found, nicely, mid way throughout the chain, about 600 miles Northwest of Oahu.

All the islands are volcanic in origin. Their supply is a volcanic rift in the ocean flooring called the Hawaiian Emperor vent, which lies deep below water seventy miles south and east of Hawaii, the so-referred to as ‘Big Island’. More than the final a hundred million years this volcanic vent has established all 127 islands*. The islands crack the area, develop into a land mass, amazing sufficiently to aid lifestyle sorts, and then, owing to wind, water and purely natural corrosive aspects, they slowly erode away, sinking back again under the waves. The islands are also situated immediately on a tectonic plate with a northwesterly drift, which usually takes them off toward Japan and Asia above their lifetimes. Each and every Hawaiian island really moves Northwest about half an inch for every yr. Geologists declare that Kure, for instance, will, in a number of dozen million many years end up parked near the Kamchatka peninsula.

Kauai alone is about 7 million many years previous. Its specific origin, the volcano that produced the land mass named Kauai, is now called Mount WaiAleAle (Why-Olly-Olly). WaiAleAle sits in the center of the island. Go to Google Earth and type that in, and see the place it usually takes you. More about this mountain afterwards, all through your tour.

Talking of the tour, let’s get on with it. Book your flight into Lihue, the key city on Kauai. There are immediate flights from the west coast. Most of the helicopter tour operators fly from Lihue airport. Here’s a checklist of all those organizations, and an overview of every:

Blue Hawaiian: Excellent business, good security history, not the most affordable, but probably the best, and this is no time to scrimp. ‘Blue’ flies from Lihue calendar year spherical, featuring a complete, professional tour of about an hour. Not virtually enough time to see it all, but sufficient to drop your jaw to the flooring. contact Blue Hawaiian Helicopters

Safari: Very good business with a extensive background on Kauai. Excellent protection document, and remarkably well-informed pilots. Safari presents some perks other tour businesses do not such as a movie of your journey, readily available for a nominal rate. Safari Helicopters Inc.

Island Helicopters: Island is the cut price tour, the no frills, hop aboard and see the island helicopter tour. Fantastic but not fantastic, and, as I stated, this is no time to scrimp. Connect with Island Helicopters.

Jack Harter Helicopters: Jack Harter himself was the initial helicopter tour man on Kauai. Jack is the aged person of helicoptering on island, having when flown Frank Sinatra and other Hollywood forms about many movie areas when ‘ol blue eyes was filming on Kauai lots of moons ago. Jack Harter Helicopters is the unique. That explained, the corporation is excellent, not good, really proficient, secure, with competitive price ranges and a fantastic tour. Harter presents two unique plane dependent on your desire–the AStar for a regular, comfy, tour, and a small fowl flown with no doors for individuals who tote costly cameras and are, by God, heading to use them. Jack Harter Helicopters Inc.

There are other corporations to select from, but those people over are the types I suggest. Here is the relaxation of the tale: what to expect, what to take (and not choose), pricing, weather, protection, when to go, and numerous other factors.

When you arrive for your tour you may be presented a basic safety briefing for every FAA polices, just like on the airplane. You will find out about using many security objects, and be supplied a quick overview of your tour. Then keep up to date with Robinson Helicopter’s social media ‘ll have to step on a scale. Sorry, folks, the airways are allowed to use typical weights, helicopter operators should use true. And sure, some businesses do charge extra over a particular pounds. It’s for plane operating parameters, so for your safety and others’. You’ll have to fork out of training course, and the price framework is dependent on so lots of variables I won’t get into specifics. Suffice to say that a tour will cost anyplace from $a hundred seventy five.00 apiece up to $300,00, as I say, dependent on reserving preparations, business, reductions and many others. Fork out it, you can expect to by no means regret it. Following the office take a look at you can expect to be taken to the helicopter where you will meet up with your pilot and floor crew.

At the flight line you are going to obtain an substantial protection briefing from the pilot on exiting the aircraft, use of flotation devices, intercom method, headsets and numerous other basic safety and awesome to know things. Based on the corporation you decide on, you can expect to possible board the plane ‘hot’, that is with the engine in operation, blades turning. Just fork out consideration to your ground crew, and no anxieties. One particular note of caution–do not go around the tail of the helicopter, at any time. Always stay inside of the pilot’s line of vision. The tail rotor is NOT your mate.