We took a helicopter tour around the island and it was AMAZING! 

I’m not going to lie, I was slightly nervous about the trip having never been in a helicopter before, but a few minutes in those worries slipped away (we had a great female pilot) as I was swept away into the beautiful scenery and breath-taking views that you just wouldn’t get from anywhere else. 

We took the “Grand Skies Island Tour” which is a 55 minute tour around the island. After a short safety briefing we were on our way and, for anyone who hasn’t been in a helicopter, I would say it is definitely worth doing. The take off (which I was most worried about) was super smooth and before long we were gliding along, enjoying the spectacular surroundings.

We were on board with two other couples, one of which had just got engaged (he was from California and she was from Italy, and they met 2 years ago in Hawai’i…you couldn’t make it up). 

We sat back and relaxed and listened to the pilot talk us through (via the headset) where we were and what to look out for. When she wasn’t narrating she had some cool summer tunes going, which got us fully immersed in the experience. 

They actually do a tour (which is double the price to this one so flippin’ expensive!) called “Jurassic Falls” which not only tours the island but also stops and lets you get out at Hawaii’s most famous waterfall as featured in the original Jurassic Park. Sadly we didn’t get to do this, however our pilot did fly us to the waterfall whilst playing the theme music to Jurassic park, so we felt we got some of the experience.

It’s hard to put into words how great an experience it was, you felt like you were there amidst all the beauty even though you were up in the air. Beaches, oceans, cliffs, valleys, waterfalls, forests, you name it we flew over it, it was such a buzz and will live long in my memory. It allowed us to see the 80% of the island that is otherwise inaccessible including Waimea Canyon (the “Grand Canyon of Hawaii”) and the Na’Pali coast which you cannot reach even by hiking, only see from the air or from a boat if you go around the island.

After we landed we headed to one of the eateries in “Coconut Marketplace”, called Chicken in a Barrel, which was a BBQ place. The main selling point was they had a “serve yourself beer” area. You bought a fob that allowed you to pour yourself beer from about 15 different taps and then when you’d finished you took the fob to the desk and they’d charge you for how much you had.

We paid for about 2 pints when really we had more like 6…2 of pourers seemed to be broken so you could keep topping up without using your fob. Both an IPA and a pineapple cider were “free” pours so we enjoyed a fair amount of each. We do have to be up at 6am tomorrow to do a hike along a small area of the Na’Pali coastline so we couldn’t stay there all night. 

Updates to follow soon. 

Lucy