After reading multiple guidebooks in preparation for our Hawaii trip, one sentence kept coming back to me - If you take just one helicopter trip in your lifetime, do it on Kauai. Well, in June, 4 of us did and it was stunning. You could never see the beauty of this entire island any other way. Their complimentary van picked us up from the NCL cruise ship right on time and after checking in and the pre-flight briefing, we were on our way. We zigged and zagged in and out of multiple valleys and canyons and saw numerous waterfalls and ridges that you cannot get to any other way. Yes, it's not cheap, but it was well worth it. I cannot think of a better thing that I've experienced on any vacation. I had a hard time putting the cameras down to enjoy it first hand. I've never taken so many pictures in such a short amount of time. All passengers had a noise cancelling headset and microphone, if needed, and Jason's commentary was just enough. People keep asking what our favorite part of our Hawaii trip was and it was clearly this tour. If I'm ever fortunate enough to make it to back to Kauai, I'll be doing this again.

We flew with Jack Harter Helicopters (Hughes 500 doors off) with Jason as our pilot. The experience was AWESOME! My husband is afraid of heights, and although he held on to the seat the entire ride with his non-camera hand, he also agrees with me that this was the absolute most memorable exprience of our vacation (and all prior vacations!). I was worried we'd feel that we were going to fall out but I never had that sensation. It felt completely safe.

Our pilot was professional, informative, and experienced. He mentioned the key points of the island at the right times but did not ramble nor negatively affect the tour in any way.

Although it seems expensive, I would pay it again in a heartbeat. The views you get from up above are indescribable. Be sure if you do doors off to wear a sweatshirt and maybe even pants. It gets chilly up there!

When you get to Kauai in the airport pick up a couple of the Kauai informational brochures. There was a coupon for a free Jack Harter DVD of the flight.

I would absolutely recommend Jack Harter to anyone wanting to see Kauai by air! They were awesome! No complaints at all :)

If you're considering a helicopter tour of Kauai, I don't think there's any other way to go except for the Hughes 500 helicopter through Jack Harter! I have been on one other helicopter experiences (in alaska), but nothing compares to flying with NO DOORS on the helicopter! There is nothing separating you from the wonders around you, it was an incredible experience! The views were breathtaking, and at times it felt like we were so close to the cliffs that I could reach out and touch them (I'm sure we were in reality quite far, but it felt like we were close, it was fantastic!). Being able to look down below you instead of just out of a window was just awesome!

We flew in to Kauai from Oahu that same morning, our flight was from 5:30 am to 6:07 (though we landed 10 minutes early). We rented a car and headed straight to the Jack Harter building, only a few minutes from the airport.. We got lost a few times, so it took us longer than expected, but we still made it to the office for our 7:45 check in time with plenty of time to spare. I was nervous about booking our helicopter tour so close to our flight, but I was glad to find everything worked out smoothly.

We went inside and checked in. The lady was very discreet about our weigh-in process. My husband was a little worried that he might be over the limit, since he was right at the border for having to buy a second seat, but they didn't say anything, so he must have been fine (or maybe between the two of us we balanced out, not sure). Anyway, was glad there was no problems there.

We went outside and waited about fifteen minutes before our briefing began. Because we were on the Hughes, there were only two other passengers in our helicopter with us. We chatted with them while waiting and we were all very excited to start out tour! That was another perk of flying on the Hughes - only 4 passengers per helicopter, it made our flight a lot more fun!

There was a very short safety briefing and the man explained how we was going to take us in the van to the helicopter pad, and where we would wait and in what order we would go on, etc. They gave us these yellow fanny pack things that had life perservers in case of a water landing.

We took the 2 minute van ride over to the helicopter pad, the man led us one by one to where our seats were, helped us buckle up, etc. The noise cancelling headphones worked great at blocking the loud engine and wind noise...

Once we were in the air I can't describe how it felt! I just couldn't believe how close I felt to everything, and what a difference no doors makes! I was worried before flying that it would be too intense with the doors off, or hard to breathe or something, but there was nothing to worry about. I felt very protected and secure with the seatbelts on, and never had any problems with the wind. It was no worse than being in a convertible, really.

My husband is afraid of heights, and this was his first helicopter tour. I was worried it might be too intense for him, but he had a fantastic time and was very glad he pushed himself to go on it.

We got a great primer for the island, I'm glad it was the first thing we did on Kauai! We got to see all the major sights, the napali cliffs, the wall of tears, waterfalls, the canyon, etc.. Everything was gorgeous!

I was especially excited to see "jurassic park falls", we are big movie fans, and thought that was great. The Hughes 500 doesn't play music on their headphones, so we didn't get to hear the music or anything as we flew over, but it's worth it to fly with the doors off!

We were back in the office and done by around 9:30, and were beaming ear to ear from the time we took off to hours afterwards.

We had a fantastic time on the helicopter tour and highly recommend the ride, the helicopter, and the company. The price, by the way, is just about the same as the regular helicopters and comparable to other companies. All helicopter tours are a little on the pricey side, but we thought it was worth it. Who knows if we would ever make it back to Kauai, we wanted to do as much with our time as possible. If possible, go on the Hughes 500 over Kauai - you won't regret it!

I booked this helicopter flight for my husband, my two young daughters (ages 4 and 7) and me because I felt like it was a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity. And given the cost, I really agonized over which company to choose: Blue Hawaiian, Jack Harter, or Air Kauai (all cost the same). I chose Jack Harter because they claimed the most in air time -- and we were in the air for 60 minutes, as they advertised. I don't regret spending the money at all, and my 7 year old was out-of-her-mind happy to be sitting in the front seat, but ultimately, I felt like I saw many of the same views from the ground that I saw from the helicopter. If you go to the Waimea Canyon Lookout, that's as spectacular as the view you get from the helicopter and if you hike in Kokee State Park, you can get some views (though certainly not as good) of the Na Pali coast. (We didn't do the Kalalau Trail).

The only disappointment about the helicopter ride for me is that I'd envisioned the helicopter lowering itself into the Mt. Wai'ale'ale crater, and it doesn't work like that, because it's not really as enclosed as I'd envisioned it; it was also the only part of the tour that felt rushed to me (it's at the end).

Our pilot was very nice but I could've done without the corny jokes, and he repeated the Mark Twain quote about the Waimea Canyon, which Mark Twain never said (which then made me wonder if other info was false). Although it doesn't *really* detract from the experience. And they definitely need a new soundtrack. When the first notes of Gilligan's Island hit my ears, I worried that I'd just made a $900 mistake. I would have much preferred some pretty classical music or old school Hawaiian music throughout - something low key. But, you know, no big deal.

The ride in the helicopter is smooth and dreamy, and I can't imagine how people get sick. You have to wear dark clothes if you want a decent picture, and get a polarizing filter for your camera if you can. I sat in the middle back, but got to look out the window near the pilot which was better, in my opinion, than looking out the right side of the helicopter. I felt like my field of vision was slightly bigger because of the way the pilot's seat is situated. I was a little disappointed in my seat assignment, but I felt like the only place it was a problem was getting a profile view of the Na Pali coast. Otherwise, I was able to see everything fine.

All in all, I am happy that we did it, and I am certain I would have regretted it if we hadn't - I would have wondered what I missed. But it's not something I would do twice. I do recommend Jack Harter and the woman taking reservations in the office is as nice as can be.