Hawaiian Family Vacation Day 8 – Kauai

Date: February 25th, 2026

This was the day we were all anticipating; Taking a ride over Kauai with the helicopter doors off. We arrived at the airport, checked in, and prepared for our adventure. After a golf cart ride to the landing pad, we sat and waited for our flying chariot to arrive. We were taken to the chopper one at a time and provided goggles and headphones and got strapped in. It wasn’t long before we were airborne, climbing over the airport. The 5-point harness was comforting, but seeing the ground hundreds of feet below you was still a bit unnerving at times.

We were warned about some turbulence that could occur as we approached the mountains, but I was not prepared for such abrupt changes in altitude. I happen to enjoy that feeling of your stomach dropping like one experiences on a rollercoaster, but I know Mattix does not. At one point, I looked over at him to find him white knuckle grasping the seat in front of us. I later found out that the barf bag and aircraft literature that was in the seat back in front of him had blown out and he was holding in the remaining items.

Chalie was the one who requested this excursion, it was a gift to her as a graduation present, but she too was pretty nervous, rarely looking down over the edge. I, on the other hand, was half hanging out of the helicopter, soaking in the views.

This was, by far, my favorite day of the trip. Seeing the Garden Isle (Kauai) from the air, with so little to impede our view was just incredible. The green mountains and their contour ridges gave me goosebumps at every glance. Sure it was pretty easy to get goosebumps up there with the wind blowing and the higher altitude, but those green mountains and white waterfalls sent tingles up my spine. I knew this was a core memory that would stay with me the rest of my life. I struggled to decide if I should put my phone down and enjoy the sights, or document everything so I could revisit it whenever I wanted. Lucky for you, I documented a lot.

We cruised along those emerald colored, serrated hills to what has now become known as Jurassic Falls (Manawaiopuna Falls – a famous set location from Jurassic Park). As we approached those falls, you could see waterfalls in every direction. The lack of human development all around the center of Kauai just added to its beauty.

The pilot then pointed us towards Waimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. The wrinkly green landscape switches to a reddish brown hue, but the wrinkles remain. Deep crevices cut into the red earth, sprinkled with green vegetation.

The best part of the flight was hovering over the Na Pali Coast. Words can not describe the beauty of the immense depth and contrast of green shadows that line the mountains from the weathered hillsides that stood tall over the deep blue Pacific. As we transitioned from over land to above sea, I spotted a hole in the Earth that was filled with churning white water from the waves that were washing in from the arch that sprawled over the ocean. I kept a lookout for sea creatures in the ocean and found none, but how could I feel even a shred of disappointment when I had the most beautiful landscape laid out before me?

I didn’t want the adventure to end, but alas, it had to. We had driven through the Tunnel of Trees almost daily, so it was interesting to see it from the air and hear about it’s history from the pilot as we circled it, heading back to the airport. A pineapple baron donated over 400 eucalyptus trees imported from Australia when he had an abundance left over from a landscaping project back in 1911. The trees form a canopy over highway 520 as you enter the Poipu area. On our way back to the landing pad, we passed over several farms with cattle appearing the size of ants below us.

When I made the video for this trip I wanted to make it a quick hit, snackable video but it ended up being just over 8 minutes long. I couldn’t, in good conscience, edit out such beauty with each view being better than the last. So, sorry for the long video, but there is some good stuff in there, if I do say so myself. Shout out to TrackTribe whose royalty free music was used from YouTube’s Audio Library.

After our adrenaline rushing ride, the kids wanted to get some shaved ice, so we stopped at Lana’s Cafe in the town of Lihue. They enjoyed their icey treat while we researched a nearby waterfall that we could visit. We decided on ‘Opaeka’a Falls but shortly after parking, a lady that was sitting in the parking lot jumped up and asked us for money. I originally thought she was a needy person, but when she asked me to scan my card to a device she was holding, I thought it was a scam. The driver of the car next to me had a similar feeling so we climbed back in our car and left, snapping one picture from the window as we left. After doing a little more research, I discovered it was legit. Hawaii now has several sights that tourist must pay for, but if you have a valid Hawaii drivers license, it’s still free.

That night, we feasted on Da Crack Mexican Grinds for dinner. I had a seafood burrito, Jill had another round of fish tacos (I think it may have been her 7th time on that trip :), Charlie had a chicken burrito, and Mattix, a quesadilla. All were delicious and consumed quickly.

We ended the day by visiting our turtle friends at Poipu Beach and watching the sun go down over the Pacific once again.

Click Images for a Short Description