Reviews

The first thing my new husband and I did while on our honeymoon in Honolulu was take a helicopter tour of the city on Makani Kai. This was our first time in a helicopter and the experience was AMAZING! Our pilot did an excellent job narrating the various sites of Honolulu and the entire staff at Makani Kai was extremely nice. If you want a great overview of the city, I would recommend taking a tour with Makani Kai. This was one of the best experiences of my life (aside from my wedding day, of course!)

We loved this ride!  It was windy that day we were out, so it was the choppiest helicopter ride I've ever been on.  This was #4 for me and the second one for my spouse. I was actually in danger of becoming sick from the combination of the winds, and not-so-smooth ride, the rounded glass windows, and the spinning of the chopper pilot to allow everyone to enjoy all the views while he narrated.  Yet, despite feeling a little sick, I loved the views.  These were angles of view you were not going to get from anywhere else! We were picked up from hotel promptly and given our safety video and talk enroute to the site.  When that finished, we were shown a video of attractions in Hawaii.  No soliciting, just information on interesting areas to visit, which we appreciated. The Makani Kai helicopter is actually the one that they use in the modern day Hawaii Five-0 tv series.  We were happy to play tourists and get a photo of the signboard they have in the indoors waiting area, as well, as a photo of us standing in front of the helicopter with the call letters proving it is the same Hawaii Five-0 helicopter.  :-)  They were very professional and efficient in showing us where to wait, stand, and sit in the helicopter to adhere to all safety procedures.  There were only four of us that day for a 30 minute ride, so we all got a window seat.  Our actual ride was just under 30 minutes, but when you include the boarding, deboarding, and the photos they take afterwards, it was exactly 30 minutes.  The next tour took off at exactly 12:30. My spouse was a little disappointed that it was over so soon and wished we had gone for the full hour tour to see the entire island of Oahu.  But since it was so windy that day, I was rather glad to be done in 30 minutes.  However, it was a gorgeous, clear day, so the views were spectacular.  You don't really get an appreciation for how large Koko Head crater is until you're up there and realize it can swallow up whole both Hanauma Bay (itself a former volcano crator 170,000 years ago before water levels reahced its peak) and Diamond Head crater, with room for more! I loved the views of Diamond Head, the Koko Marina, Waikiki Beach, the eastern coastline, the interior of Koko Head crater, the tall waterfalls on the interior mountains-side of Koko Head crater, the city views, and the view of Pearl Harbour and the Arizona.  Our pilot was nice enough, but I don't think English was his first language, it was difficult to understand him at some points, but between my husband and i, we were able to sort out what was what after the ride. We definitely enjoyed the tour and found all staff to be polite and helpful in taking our photos.  They offer a video of the tour, with all narration and 3 camera angles which we didn't buy.  When we return to Honolulu, we'll take the full island helicopter ride and buy the video for that. Definitely would recommend this tour.  Try to book for a calm day if you get any kind of motion sickness. TIP:  we booked the combo helicopter ride with sunset dinner cruise as it saved us about $50 from posted prices.  We booked with the GO Card concierge services to save another $32 off the advertised prices.  There are options to upgrade, which we declined partially to diet restrictions and time time-constraints.  We had almost10 tours and excursions planned for this trip, so we needed some travel and down time in between.  Richard, Cristel, and Tai from the GO Card concierge desk took great care of us for all the out of card excursions that we booked.

The tour we booked with Makani Kani Helicopters was the "The Hidden Oahu Special" for 45 minutes and it was the smoothest ride I've ever taken in a helicopter. My husband said that you got the chance to see so many attractions you would never see from the ground which gave this trip an extra special memory. Oahu is a beautiful island and if you book this trip, you'll get the chance to see those attractions such as the Coco Crater, Sacred Falls, Diamond Head and many others. Our pilot was very informative and was delicate with flight. It was like floating on air - just overall smooth! My husband said it was a great first helicopter ride of him. (This was my second helicopter ride and it was amazing!) A must see and do on Oahu! Great staff all around!

What a way to spend your 50th B'day.Everyone at Makani Kai was fantastic from the time you got picked up till the time you got home.What an experience,if you get the chance it's a MUST DO.What a way to see the island of Oahu,it's breathtaking.We are still talking about it.Thanks to all the staff at Makani Kai for making our 1st helicopter ride unforgetable,and will rave about for some time.....Gail

My mom and I went here on our vacation last week. We chose the 45 minute tour. The company was very professional, punctual and organized. Hotel pick up was right on time, and the tour began almost as soon as we arrived back at the Makani Kai area of the airport. The helicopter tour itself was amazing! Great views, lots of large windows for taking photos. The pilot was very good about telling us about the things we were seeing, but he didn't speak English very well and was difficult to understand. If you have a tendancy to have motion sickness, I would recommend you pick the 30 minute tour.

Meraviglioso giro dell'isola, vale ogni centesimo speso. Cortesissimo personale : dalla prenotazione on line al pick up con il pulmino. Abbiamo avuto la fortuna di fare il giro in un giorno di sole, abbiamo prenotato i posti davanti pagando la differenza e non ci siamo pentiti della vista che era semplicemente meravigliosa.

We came on our honeymoon and our first full day we took the helicopter tour and it was absolutely amazing! It showed us the island and we knew where we wanted to visit later in the week from seeing it in the air! It was our first helicopter ride and we had no problems with it. It was very smooth and the people were all so friendly. It was also wonderful to be picked up at our hotel on time! We loved the experience and will do it again if we ever return.

This was my first time up in a helicopter and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I was never scared at any time thanks to our highly experienced pilot. It was worth every cent to see Oahu from a birdseye view. All the staff were very friendly and professional and exceeded our expectations. We hope to do it again someday.

They looked after us from pick up to drop off. Went from scared to elated. Pilot commentary so good, fun and interesting. Views were fab. x If you do any trip do this one.

We did the 60 min Ali'i Sacred Falls Makani Kai Helicopter tour and it was fantastic. We were fortunate enough to have the 2 front seats with the pilot & took loads of pictures and videos.

From a New Zealanders point of view - Jeff the pilot took us on the outstanding Sacred Falls Tour for 1 hour across Oahu. The exceptional service surpassed expectations where they picked us up from our hotel and drove us to the airport where we took off to see some priceless views. Immediately from take off, Jeff with his sense of humour knew and decades of certified experience we knew we were in for a ride of a lifetime. A favourite of mine was the aerial view of Pearl Harbor and the many views of the water fall and we could catch a live weather report on the North Shore break with its near 20m waves! We were able to capture premium photo shots throughout the flight and on the ground with the famed Hawaii Five-O's Eurocopter - this was very cool! We found it to be remarkably best value for money! We would like to thank you Makani Kai Helicopter team for making it a memorable part of our holiday and look forward to our dvd. P.S. Our seven year old son is still talking about it to his classmates - it was considered the best highlight of our holiday!

We chose the 45 minute flight. It was our first helicopter flight and it was truly amazing. The staff and crew were very efficient and professional. The views were amazing and we felt it was a perfect amount of time to spend in the air, and we saw all of the Island that we wanted to see. There were a few things that bothered us, though. The pilot was very good at flying, but his commentary left a lot to be desired. He had a monotone voice and described things as though he had said it all a million times before - boring! The other dissappointment was, when we booked the tour through VIP Tours, the lady told us not to waste too much time taking pictures and videos, but to enjoy the thrill of the ride and the beauty of Hawaii - we could by a video from the helicopter company on our return. When we got back, we were told that our helicopter was not equipped with a video camera, so there was nothing to purchase. We (and another couple) asked if we could buy the video from another flight and they said no, they had none available!

Pleasant, courteous staff who were more than willing to make our experience memorable. I was born and raised on Oahu, and I assumed I knew the island well. However, I saw many things for the first time from the Helicopter. Also, the staff were so patient and accommodating for my 3 year-old too.

I am a first time visitor to Hawaii, from Australia, and wanted to get an aerial view of the Island of Oahu - Makani Kai Helicopter delivered, and more. I was escorted to and from my hotel by a courtesy bus with other passengers who would be riding alongside me in the helicopter. The staff were friendly and hospitable, offering to take photos of us infront of the helicopter with our own cameras, rather than taking and developing photos themselves, and charging a ridiculous sum for them at the conclusion of the trip - like so many other tourist attractions tend to do. Our pilot Jeff was informative, and funny. He made the tour a lot more entertaining with his hints of humour, and insight into the Island of Oahu. Whilst the helicopter was able to seat 6 people, I think perhaps a maximum of 4 at a time would provide a great experience to all passengers. Whilst I was lucky enough to have a seat with a prime view, two people on the helicopter were seated in the middle, had no window to their side, and had to peer over the shoulders of others to see anything. After the flight, I received a complementary DVD of the flight from Makani Kai, and was offered another photo alongside the helicopter, taken with my camera. I highly recommend this helicopter company, provided you get a window seat. Don't forget your camera, this flight is one you can cross off the bucket list!

Very punctual round trip transportation from hotel, driver was very pleasant and customer oriented. We booked a 1 hr flight however they had made a mistake and we we arrived we were offered the 45 min flight. They offered apologies and we accepted the 45 min flight instead, got reimbursed part of the payment and got a free DVD of our trip. Trip was awesome, pilot was very knowledgeable, service second to none...great facilities. Only complaint is that the water fall view was too short and at an attitude that was almost impossible to appreciate. The rest of the flight was very enjoyable. Thanks Makani Kai for an outstanding job!