Kauai From The Air

The morning after our luau Drew and I were up early and headed south along the coast.  We had scheduled an 8:30am helicopter flight for an aerial view of the island we'd already grown to love.  Knowing what Lake Michigan waves, roller coasters, and bumpy airplane rides all do to me I made sure to take some Dramamine right before heading off from the condo.

We made our way back to the Lihue airport and found our outfitter, Mauna Loa.  We'd chosen them because they offer private flights (the pilot plus a party of two or three) and because they allowed passengers to choose doors on or off.  As we waited for our pilot to get the helicopter ready (and meanwhile signed our lives away inside their mobile office) we noticed a few other outfitters taking off with larger helicopters and unfortunate passengers crammed in the middle without much of a view.  We were happy that we would each have the best view possible, and for the price you pay with any outfitter it's really a must.  I'd hate to pay $$$ for a helicopter ride only to be in the middle row and middle seat leaning over others to see - talk about a let down.  And doors off - you can't beat it.  We'd read reviews for both options but for Drew it wasn't even a question.  :)

We loaded up with our fantastic pilot (who went to school at CU-Boulder), got a quick run down on safety (Mauna Loa also runs a flight school and they are very particular about safety - which is good), and then without much fuss we took right up into the sky!  We were in a tiny little helicopter with the doors off, about to make our way around the island.  We had incredible photo weather, incredible flying weather, some easy listening Bob Marley over the radio, and not one second of turbulence the whole trip.  We toured the whole island and I'll just say I'm glad we hiked the Na Pali coast and then saw it from the air, because there would not have been a hike if it had been the other way around.  There isn't a whole lot else that I can say about the rest of the trip that can't be explained better in pictures (and no, I didn't do any color enhancing - this is what it really looks like).  Once I figure out how to upload Drew's GoPro videos, that will give it a whole new take, too.  Our ride lasted over an hour, which is one of the longest rides offered by any outfitter.  Didn't matter - I wanted to stay up longer...

Enjoy!