Reviews

We decided to do an hour tour..called the sacred falls tour. Our driver that picked us up was quite friendly. The pilot was exceptional. His name was Jeff and we felt like we had known him all our life.Very knowledgeable and funny. I was quite nervous going up but he made me feel at ease. I would recommend this tour to everyone. The company lives up ti its reputation by far. Very pleased

On our trip to Hawaii we decided to take a helicopter sight seeing tour. This was a great decision. My husband had flown on helicopters in the Army but my niece and myself had not. I was not sure what to expect. Out pilot Jeff was great. I felt very comfortable with his flying skills and he made the trip very interesting and was full of facts. This is the only way to see the island.The sights were beautiful. I would take another flight with Makani Kai anytime.

We wanted to see as much of Oahu as we could in a short time and decided a helicopter tour was was the best way to accomplish it. We saw ads for other tours, but when asking for references, Makani Kai was mentioned as the best quality tour, andwe agree - it was fantastic! They picked us up at our hotel and brought us right to the airport - the van driver was friendly and very informative about the area. As part of the trip to the airport, we watched a 5 minute video on safety - in addition, the procedures before and after landng were carried out just as the video described they should be - safety was of the highest concern. If you are thinking of a helicopter tour, there is no question that Makani Kai is the best!

My husband had been wanting to do a helicopter ride since our last trip to Oahu. I was very nervous about it and didn't know how our 5 year old would do spending an hour in the air. I'm so happy we made this choice. Our pilot Jeff was incredible! What a great personality! We saw the entire Island during our tour and Jeff was very knowledgable. A DVD is available for purchase after your trip and I think it makes a great keepsake. It was in our mailbox when we got home and was great to share with my older parents who will never have the opportunity to travel and see the beauty of Oahu.

This was by far the highlight of our trip to Ha'waii. I work in aviation and Makani Kai is top notch

Makani Kai has everything you want from an air charter company and it starts from the telephone booking. They take ALL your details (telephone number, hotel and room number) explaining that great safe flights require good weather and that they need to be able to contact you if circumstances change. The pick up was on time with a friendly courteous driver and the safety briefing happens via a professional video right in the van on the way out to the airport. The driver worked for the company and knew everything about the tour, the options, who was booked on and anything else you wanted to know. You could be mistaken for thinking the driver was the company owner - he just had that calm super friendly 'nothing will surprise me' manner. The pilot was an ex navy chopper pilot with thousands of hours of experience and new the chopper inside out. The chopper was fitted with both in cabin and external front-facing cameras with the option of purchasing a video and getting shipped to you. Production and post-processing meaning you could not get it at the time, but $40 incl shipping is a very reasonable price ($50 for video with international shipping) and the raw footage was playing on the screen after the flight so we could see the kind of quality and imagery we would be getting in the DVD. I have done a bunch of chopper rides in Australia, Brazil, Grand Canyon, Utah etc... and this was by far the most fun weaving in and out of mountain tops like a mild but exhilarating roller coaster ride. The pilot took time to make sure he flew key attractions from both sides so all passengers could get a view. Makani Kai use the American Eurocopter A-Star or AS-350 chopper which is a great bird with good visibility for all passengers (2 pax front and 4 pax rear) although I would highly recommend paying the extra for one or both of the "First Class" seats in the front offering the best vantage points. It is also the little things like recommending that you wear dark coloured clothing so as not to reflect off the glass when taking pictures which really shows the thought and care that Makani Kai put into their guest experiences. I chose Makani Kai after researching each providers website and then looking through the reviews on Trip Advisor. I would have to say it pays to know who your tour operator is (rather than just getting the best special from the hotel's activity desk) and the tours available. I can thoroughly recommend Makani Kai - the guys were truly professional and a whole bunch of fun! Thanks for a spectacular tour!!!

we went on the one hour tour. They picked us up at our hotel and dropped us back there when it was over. The piolet was great telling us about everything we flew over as well as the history. the views were amazing 7 we are so happy to have had the experience while on oahu!

Very easy to book and the pick up at my hotel made getting to their site easy. The trip was well worth it and the views were incredible. The whole team is very professional and they treat everyone with the utmost respect.

I have a fear of heights and my wife hates flying but, somehow, we managed to book a flight with Makani Kai. I have always wanted to fly in a helicopter and, as we had toured the island by car, were keen to see it from the air. Collected from the hotel promptly and shown a very clear safety video. On arrival our ground man took photos of us WITH OUR OWN CAMERAS (no $30 a photo rip off here) by the helicopter, then ensured we were safely strapped in before we took off. Absolutely b........y brilliant!!! Our pilot was great and very knowledgeable. We had booked the long tour and certainly got our money's worth, seeing every spectacular part of the island. The pilot did not try any fancy flying which I admit I had worried about. It was a lovely smooth flight and VERY quiet as the Bose noise cancelling headphones were very effective. No pressure to buy the DVD of our flight. To prove it was OUR flight they played a few minutes of it then we filled in posting forms to enable them to post the completed DVD to us.It would have been so easy to flog us a generic DVD of any old flight so we were all very impressed by the filming of our flight.

Couldn't have been a better experience from booking to end of flight! These people still know the meaning of "customer service". Daughter and granddaughter rode and loved it! If you are going to try this, use this company.

I recently stayed in Waikiki and felt a helicopter tour over Oahu was a must. I looked at a few options but settled on Makani Kai helicopter because they were competitively priced online and they had availability to do it immediately. My only knock is that our pilot didn't get very close to anything. I didn't want him flying dangerously close to anything but he barely got us in the sight of the falls, one of the main attractions for the helicopter tour. I watched dozens of helicopter tours flying around the island in my couple weeks there and many seem to be flying a little lower and getting better views of everything. Also, if I were to do another one I'd fly with the doors off. You would have amazing photograph opportunities but it is difficult shooting through the windows on the helicopter. The service at Makani Kai helicopters was on par but there video they offer for approx. $40.00 is worse quality than old VHS tapes so I couldn't purchase it. If you're in Waikiki don't be scared to give this place a try if they are the better deal!

What a wonderful way to view Honululu & the Sacred Falls. We got picked up at our hotel, were taken back afterward, and between got the ride of a lifetime! The crew was OVER THE TOP friendly, very informative about local sites, experienced (you kinda want that!), and really made our flight truely one to remember! I am so happy our daughter who had taken this tour advised us to take it! It was worth every penny! We did learn they are one of the few people who will accommodate handicapped individuals, nice to know if you need it.

My family took the 45 min tour over Oahu and it was great. All the employees were friendly and helpful. The pilot was great. He knew all the history and made the ride very smooth and comfortable. They were able to extend our original flight of 30 min. to 45. And we also booked a dinner cruise on a boat with them which was very entertaining, food was pretty good too. I would recommend to everyone. Thanks Fred C

We have done drive around trips around Oahu on previous trips to Hawaii so thouight this time a helicopter tour would be another great way to see the island. We did the 45 min Hidden Oahu tour and it was fantastic. We were picked up from our Hotel for the trip and the staff were friendly and helpful. Can recommend taking the first class options as the front seats give an extra amazing view.

Great experience! 1 hour tour. I would do it again