Helicopter or plane over Kauai?

DH is interested in an air tour of Kauai.

(I'd love to join him, but there's this little issue of "heights"...)

Has anyone done both a helicopter and a fixed-wing tour over Kauai?

What are the pros/cons?

If you had to choose just one, which would you do?

Many thanks!

GeezerCouple

I haven't done either way however having flown small planes & helicopters think it'd be better in a helicopter because it's more maneuverable & safer at lower altitudes. I don't know if there are any altitude restrictions on Kauai for all types of aircraft like at Haleakala NP which as I recall prohibits low level flights. Kauai doesn't have a national park so there may not be any restrictions beyond being at an altitude to safely land in an emergency.

The main reason for not doing it has been the cost which according to this current post on another thread an airplane tour is about 1/3 the cost of a helicopter tour so I'd consider that option the next time we visit the Garden Isle.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=40553656&postcount=7

We did a private helicopter tour with Inter-Island Helicopters and loved it. We figured that if we were going to pay the price for a helicopter tour (none are cheap because the cost of operating the helicopter is so high), then we would get exactly what we wanted. I wasn't going to pay those dollars to have one of us sit in an "inside" seat on one of the larger aircraft. Inter-Island never puts four passengers on it's smaller helicopters (max is three plus pilot) because they don't want to put a paying passenger in the little seat in the middle of the front row.

Our pilot, Ian, did a great job for us, lingering if we wanted a few more minutes to get a photo from a new angle and taking good care of us in general. Because we were the only passengers, my husband and I sat on opposite sides of the back seat while the pilot was in the front seat. We took the doors-off option to be able to get better photos. It wasn't quite as scary as I had feared because we were well strapped in on the helicopter. Also, the guys at Inter-Island do hiker rescue flights so they know the terrain well.

One final note -- if you are a "passenger of size", keep in mind that there are strict weight limits for flights. Inter-Island wouldn't take anyone over 300 pounds for safety reasons. Most of the companies have surcharges for those with weights above a certain point (225, 250 pounds) or will make you buy an extra seat for the flight.

Definitely a helicopter because they can hoover and move up and down and get into smaller area's where as plane cant.

We have done this tour by helicopter and you'll get up close and personal to water falls. There is also a company that lands at Jurassic Park for more money of course but don't remember which company.

Loved the helicopter ride in November! My mom days she is afraid of heights but she had no issues and she was seated in front! She has been telling everybody ever since!

We recently did a helicopter flight round Kauai with Island Helicopters. This is the company which does the landing at the Jurassic Park waterfall. We did the trip without the landing and it was AMAZING!

We had a great view and best of all we were able to go right inside the volcanic crater pin around.

I get a bight scared with heights but it was so smooth and the scenery was so breathtaking I forgot all about being scared.:D

They came and picked us up from the cruise ship and took us back - terrific service.

I think you will get a lot closer to the scenery in a helicopter, so I would do that rather than a plane flight.

Enjoy whatever you do.:)

We will be flying via plane with Wings over Kauai in a couple weeks. There are no "inside" seats on this plane. I will post back how we like it when we return.

I just did a Helicopter tour with Blue Hawaiian on the Big Island and it was amazing. I thought I would be scared but once we took off that fear left me as soon as I saw the scenery.!! A helicopter flies slower and gets lower and closer too so I vote Helicopter.