Fly Doors-Off on a 50-55 Minute Kauai Helicopter Tour
Go doors-off over Kauai on a Hughes 500 helicopter flight
Duration
50-55 minutes
Ideal For
Up to 4 people
Includes
Doors-off flight, Window seats
Highlights
Take a 50–55 minute doors-off helicopter ride from Lihue Airport in a Hughes 500 with up to four guests and all window seats. Fly over Kauai landmarks including the Nā Pali Coast, Waimea Canyon, and Wai‘ale‘ale Crater.
- Board a doors-off Hughes 500 helicopter with all window seats
- Fly over the Nā Pali Coast and Bali Ha’i (Makana Mountain)
- Spot Hanapepe’s Manawaiopuna Falls (Jurassic Falls) from above
- Circle Hanalei Bay and view Kipu Kai Beach
- Look down into Wai‘ale‘ale Crater and The Weeping Wall
- See Wailua Falls and Waimea Canyon on the route
What's Included
- Doors-off flight
- Hughes 500 helicopter ride
- All window seats
Things to know
Ages 10 and older. Guests over 240 lbs and parties of 2 with a combined weight over 400 lbs must book an additional seat. You must be able to climb three stairs to board (not wheelchair accessible).
Gratuity is not included. Phone cases and lanyards are required and available to rent or purchase for an extra charge ($5 rental or $10 purchase).
Routes and sites may vary due to weather.
Cancellation Policy
Full refund with 48 hours notice of cancellation. Full refund if the operator cancels due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances. No-shows will be charged the full price.
FAQs
Wear warm clothing, since the flight is doors-off. Wear appropriate footwear that secures around your ankle (preferably close-toed).
You can bring a phone only in an Airborne Aviation provided case and lanyard (available to rent for an extra charge or purchase for an extra charge: $5.00 USD to rent or $10.00 USD to buy). You can bring a GoPro only with an Airborne Aviation lanyard (no grips, wrist straps, chest mounts, or head mounts). You can bring DSLR and other larger cameras only with an Airborne Aviation provided lanyard and a secure hardpoint.
Do not bring selfie sticks, gimbal mounts, or any device without a secure hardpoint that can accept an Airborne Aviation lanyard. Do not wear any headwear other than glasses or sunglasses.
Meeting details
Lihue Airport, Kauai
More about the Waimea Canyon Trail
The Waimea Canyon Trail winds through what Mark Twain famously called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, a vast crimson gorge slicing ten miles across Kauai's western highlands. From the open doorway of a helicopter, the Waimea Canyon Trail reveals itself in a way no ground hiker can ever experience, with rust-red cliffs plunging more than 3,000 feet into emerald valleys streaked with waterfalls. The colors shift with the light, deep ochre, burnt orange, and forest green folding into one another as the canyon walls catch the Hawaiian sun. This is Kauai at its most raw and elemental, a landscape carved by millions of years of rain and erosion into something that feels almost otherworldly.
On this doors-off helicopter flight, the Waimea Canyon Trail becomes more than a viewpoint, it becomes an immersion. With nothing between you and the open sky, the wind rushes past as the pilot banks along the canyon rim, tracing the same ridges that hikers below spend hours climbing. You will feel the temperature drop as the helicopter dips toward shaded gullies, then warm again as it rises above sunlit plateaus. Cameras capture unobstructed frames of the canyon's layered geology, ribboned waterfalls cascading from hidden plateaus, and the lush Alakai Swamp stretching beyond the canyon's eastern edge. The scale only registers when you see how small the trail markers and lookouts appear far below.
This experience is perfect for adventurous travelers, photographers chasing once-in-a-lifetime shots, and couples or friends who want to share something genuinely unforgettable. If you have hiked the Waimea Canyon Trail or driven to its overlooks before, seeing it from a doors-off helicopter offers a completely new perspective on a place you thought you already knew. For first-time visitors to Kauai, it is the most thrilling possible introduction to the island's wild interior, and a memory of the Waimea Canyon Trail that will stay vivid long after you have flown home.
