Other Kauai Helicopter Waterfalls

Kauai, Hawaii, USA

About Other Kauai Helicopter Waterfalls


Hiking Distance: tour
Suggested Time: 60-90 minutes

Date first visited: 2006-12-22
Date last visited: 2006-12-27

Waterfall Latitude: 21.9957
Waterfall Longitude: -159.52191

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

There are many other Kauai Helicopter waterfalls found on an aerial tour of the island.

In fact, most waterfalls on the island are either publicly inaccessible or awkward to view for some reason or another.

Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_550_12272006 - Kahili Falls or the Five Sisters
Kahili Falls or the Five Sisters

As a result, waterfalls became one of the main motivators for us to shell out the money to go up on one of these chopper tours.

In addition, we enjoyed the aerial views of the ruggedly beautiful Na Pali Coast and Waimea Canyon.

Thus, we’ve found it easier to justify the pain of shelling out hundreds of dollars per person for such a tour (much to the chagrin of locals who derisively call the helicopters the “Kaua’i Mosquitoes”).

I generally have mixed feelings about motorized tours such as this because of the noise and pollution they generate.

However, there’s no denying the beauty of the island you can experience through this method that you can’t get any other way.

Air_Kauai_heli_045_jx_12262006 - Some attractive waterfall further upstream from Wai'alae Falls in Waimea Canyon
Some attractive waterfall further upstream from Wai’alae Falls in Waimea Canyon

Besides the major waterfalls already highlighted in other pages on this website that you’re bound to see on a heli-tour such as the Jurassic Falls, Wai’alae Falls, and Waipo’o Falls, Hanakoa Falls, and Hanakapi’ai Falls, we’ll highlight the other waterfalls that we noticed in our experiences.

Among some of the named highlights found in this page are the Five Sisters Falls (or Kahili Falls) and Pu’u Ka Ele Falls.

We also saw numerous unnamed waterfalls as we got into the heart of the island at the Wai’ale’ale Crater – the so-called wettest spot on earth.

Kahili Falls

The Five Sisters Falls (pictured at the top of this page) was a series of at least five waterfalls concentrated in one area seemingly further upstream from Manawaiopuna Falls.

However, it seemed like only one of our Inter Island Helicopters tours spotted this place while the other ones we went on didn’t.

I’d imagine it’s highly pilot-dependent as well as dependent on conditions.

Pu’u Ka Ele Falls

Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_124_12222006 - Pu'u Ka Ele Falls, which was the waterfall we landed by though the state authorities told us later that it was technically not legal to land there
Pu’u Ka Ele Falls, which was the waterfall we landed by though the state authorities told us later that it was technically not legal to land there

As for Pu’u Ka Ele Falls, this one sat on a side valley in the Hanapepe River Valley.

When we first booked with Inter Island Helicopters, this was the waterfall that they landed at.

So we were allowed to swim here for a bit before the chopper tour resumed.

I was later told by the folks at the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) that this falls was on state land and they weren’t supposed to land here for private commercial use. Oops.

Waterfalls at the Wai’ale’ale Crater

Regarding the Wai’ale’ale Crater, it was here that our tour flew into its caldera where we were surrounded by countless water grooves etched on the green and vertical 3,000ft high walls.

Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_156_12222006 - Some waterfalls streaking down what I believe to be the Weeping Wall part of the Wai'ale'ale Crater
Some waterfalls streaking down what I believe to be the Weeping Wall part of the Wai’ale’ale Crater

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as wet as we had hoped so we had to settle for grooves on the walls instead of waterfalls filling in those grooves.

At the back of the crater, we were able to see some waterfalls on the so-called Weeping Wall which usually would’ve had more waterfalls on its bare section.

Waterfalls along Hanalei River Valley, Na Pali Coast, and Waimea Canyon

Another area that might yield numerous falls was the Hanalei River Valley.

Again on our tour, there were just a few of them tumbling along the valley walls (just barely) because it was unusually dry when we were there in late 2006.

Likewise, there probably should’ve been countless waterfalls coming down the various wrinkles of the fluted cliffs of the Na Pali Coast as well as the dropoffs in Waimea Canyon.

There’s simply too many waterfalls here and I’m sure you’ll undoubtedly have varying experiences depending on the weather, tour, pilot, etc.

So I’ll just post some of the chopper pics we took and let them do the rest of the talking…

Authorities

The Kauai Helicopter Waterfalls were spread out throughout Kaua’i Island. For information or inquiries about the general area as well as current conditions, you may want to try visiting the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) website.

Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_001_12222006 - About to board a heli with the doors off
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_016_12222006 - Trying to spot waterfalls over Waimea Canyon
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_032_12222006 - Now flying over the Na Pali Coast
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_038_12222006 - Some obscure waterfall beneath the fluted cliffs of Kalalau Valley
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_050_12222006 - Aerial view of Hanakoa Falls
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_060_12222006 - Looking against the sun towards Hanakapi'ai Falls
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_065_12222006 - Flying into the Hanalei River Valley
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_068_12222006 - Hanalei River Valley
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_088_12222006 - Some falls within Hanalei Valley
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_091_12222006 - Approaching Pu'u Ka Ele Falls
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_140_12222006 - Some falls as we were entering the Wai'ale'ale Crater
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_168_12222006 - Leaving the Wai'ale'ale Crater
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_195_12222006 - In this particular tour, some whales were spotted
Air_Kauai_heli_012_12262006 - Separate tour.  This time we were flying with Air Kauai
Air_Kauai_heli_114_12262006 - Once again, the Na Pali Coast flyover
Air_Kauai_heli_130_12262006 - Here's another obscure waterfall in Kalalau Valley
Air_Kauai_heli_144_12262006 - Na Pali Coast
Air_Kauai_heli_173_12262006 - Pair of falls near the Wai'ale'ale Crater
Air_Kauai_heli_179_12262006 - A real tall waterfall we noticed en route to the Wai'ale'ale Crater
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_282_12272006 - Na Pali Coast again.  This time from our comped tour with Inter Island Helicopters
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_288_12272006 - This time we spotted a large natural arch by Kalalau Beach
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_308_12272006 - A sinkhole or arch (depending on how you look at it) on Na Pali Coast
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_321_12272006 - A surprise waterfall by the arch at Kalalau Beach
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_383_12272006 - Unusual view towards the western wall of Kalalau Valley
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_399_12272006 - Na Pali Coast
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_457_12272006 - Contextual view of the Wai'ale'ale Crater
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_481_12272006 - More waterfalls seen where the Weeping Wall is supposed to be, I think
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_515_12272006 - A trio of thin waterfalls at the so-called Fake Crater
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_529_12272006 - It was cool that this pilot landed on the swampy top of Mt Wai'ale'ale
Kauai_Inter_Island_heli_540_12272006 - A pair of waterfalls comprising part of the Five Sisters
Inter_Island_Heli_part2_005_jx_12272006 - The chopper that we flew on


I know there were several helicopter companies in Lihu’e (near the airport) as well as Inter-Island in Hanapepe.

Since we did Inter-Island, we can say we went about 17.5 miles west on Hwy 50 from Lihu’e past the Hanapepe River Bridge then turned left onto Route 543 towards the Port Allen Airport.

If you’re going with any of the other tour companies, I think the they will also assist you with driving directions to their respective helipads.

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Tagged with: kauai, helicopter, hawaii, waterfall, doors off, hughes, a star, mosquitos, airport



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Gigantic Waterfall Hole February 3, 2009 11:16 pm by Jim Van Marr - Ahoy! On or about June 1975, on an afternoon helicopter ride with Jack Harter, out of the Kauai Surf Hotel, Na'wili'wili, we were flying west of Kapa'a and heading toward Wai'ale'ale, hoping to go over the ridge of the volcano to Waimea Canyon and on to the Na'Pali Coast area. We hit an incoming squall… ...Read More

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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
Read More About Johnny | A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls.