Reviews

It was my first time up in a chopper. I had major anxiety as I hate being up in the air. Pilot Jim made all that go away once we where up in the air. He is super nice and made us all feel so safe, and was very knowledgable and funny! My husband, 7 & 5 year olds loved every minute of the experience. Mahalo Pilot Jim 💗

Booked a trip over Oahu with my wife whilst holidaying in Oahu and what an experience we had. The trip started really smoothly when we were collected at our apartment and continued till the completion of the trip. All the staff were really friendly and carried out a safety brief prior to boarding the helicopter. The pilot was first class and very knowledgeable about interesting facts as we flew over the island, even seeing Jackie Chan's hilltop house. Flying over the craters of the dormant volcanoes was fantastic and although you can walk up to see Diamond Head I'd argue that the view from the air was far better. Pearl Harbour also looked completely different from the air and seeing the pool of oil from the USS Arizona was a poignant reminder of what occurred here in 1941. If you are looking for something different while holidaying in Oahu I'd certainly recommend using Makani Kai and if it's good enough for Five O it's good enough for me.

pilot Jim is so chill it really helps if anyone is nervous about flying, he has all the right music to set the mood depending on what you're looking at, waterfalls, mountains etc.

Pilot Jim was amazing! Today made our 50th anniversary a day to remember. Thank you Pilot Jim. If you want a memorbable experience book this helicopter adventure, you won't be disappointed. Ray and Judy from San Clemente, Ca

My wife and I booked the front seat in the closed door helicopter. Spend the extra money you won't regret it. Views were amazing. I video the entire 1 hour flight. Be aware if you get motion sickness you may want to pass. One guy in the back seat was sick the entire trip.

Our pilot was very witty, skilled and knowledgeable, making it a very enjoyable trip. The company, itself, is very clean and professional. Safety was always stressed. I took this flight in memory of my son who passed away just 4 months ago. As I viewed the beauty below, I was imagining this was the view from his front row seat in heaven. I can't wait to come back and do it again and when I do, it will be with Makani Kai Helicopters!

I decided to try the doors off Helicopter flight as a surprise fro my wife. You can either arange a hotel pick up or drive to the departure point yourselves. We choose the later, plenty of parking, check in process was ok, just need a print out of your booking / ticket. The Helicopter takes a maximum of 4 people plus pilot, you can pre book your seating position if you like. The front is a little tight with 2 plus the pilot, outside seat is best for photos, we sat in the back and had plenty of opportunity for photos. The polit made a point to move to turn the helicopter around at the key sites to allow people on both sides to grt their photos. The flight was along the southeastern rim of the island, along the eastern and northern beaches, then down thu the center of the island, finishing with a fly over of Pearl Harbour. The first part of the flight takes a bit of settling in, the helicopter moves about, the wind is really rushing past, the floor mats are flapping up and down, you are feeling outside of your comfort zone. You always remember the very best or the very worst experiences from your vacations, this is one of the best, we will talk about this for years to come.

We were only in Waikiki (from Australia) for 10 days, so thought we would take in as much of this beautiful place as we could, & the best way to do this is from the air. Our pilot, Jim, made us feel safe & comfortable (I was a little hesitant at first) & his commentary was extremely witty & informative - he had me in stitches!!! I would highly recommend this company. Very professional. Picked us up from & dropped us back to the hotel with no issues.

Wow - the doors-off helicopter tour was an exhilirating experience - I've been in Oahu 3 times and saw entire swaths of the island I didn't even know existed. Wind was intense - I wouldn't recommend it for the height-sensitive or for kids younger than late teens, but the full view meant that you felt like you were floating above the landscape. Pilot was great providing a constant stream of information about what we were seeing. We probably saw about 80% of the entire island, West to East, South to North, and back again. The thrill factor means that it probably be a great date trip too if you are seated next to your significant other.

This was an experience I don't think we will ever forget. The staff is excellent and gives a perfect tour of the island. We went from Ko Olina on the 1 hour. PERFECT. Our autistic son loved it. Pay the extra for the first class it is worth it.

We booked this through Viator. I had been on one helicopter ride in the past through Blue Hawaiian, but really wanted to try the Doorless Ride on this trip because taking pictures through windows is somewhat useless. Our pilot was Nathan and he was wonderful. I say this for many reasons, but if you are skittish about trying a doorless ride or a helicopter ride in any fashion (which I was not...but ask for him if you are)..Nathan is quick to put you at ease mentioning many times how he will get you back in perfect shape and nothing will go wrong. I thought that was smart on his part and wanted to mention it. There were people who turned back, so it's important to have a pilot who speaks to these anxieties. Me, I'm pretty fearless, so I was excited to get in the air. There were many awesome views that we got to see of the island. We didn't have the greatest day. It was cloudy and for that, I wasn't that happy about going on this day...but I still got some great shots. The one negative I have to say and the reason I don't give this a full 5 stars (4.5) is that the pilot should understand that he has people on both sides that want to take pictures and view things. He did not turn the helicopter around so that all passengers could see things (like our pilot did in Kauai on another doorless tour). Because of that, my husband would probably rate this a 3 out of 5 stars.

Zum zweiten Mal Hawai'i, zum dritten Mal die Helikopter Tour "Open doors "! Es war fantastisch, bisken wie "TJ" ! Super Service und freundliche Menschen, ich freue mich auf's nächste Mal.

I found this Damien tour by accident on one of the Makani Kai web pages, and called the number indicated on the web page. I was told that at that time the tour was not a certainty because of some kind of issues with the National Park Service. I reserved 2 spots on the tour anyway because I wanted to see Molokai. I had to give my credit card to reserve the slots. After following up several days later I was told that the tour would go through. What's strange about this was that I could not find the specific web page anymore (the one exclusively for the "Damien" tour by Makani Kai) no matter how hard I tried. Luckily I kept the phone number. The tour included hotel pick up (from Hyatt Regency), commuter air transport to and from Kalaupapa, Molokai, tour of Kalaupapa and lunch. We were picked up promptly, and shared the van with other guests on different Makai Kai tours. When we got to the airport, we realized that our plane was not dedicated solely to the tour, but was an actual commuter plane that took people between Honolulu and Molokai. In fact my husband and I were the only people that were on a tour. The pilot dropped the two of us off at Kalaupapa then proceeded to "Topside," which was his normal route (we weren't on his normal route). The Kalaupapa airport and terminal were empty when we got there. The pilot told us to "hang around" and eventually someone will come to give us a tour. So we waited patiently. Eventually a guy came but looked surprised to see us. He said he wasn't expecting anyone and told us to wait for another 20 minutes so he could go "back to town" to get the van. So we waited again. When the guy came back, he told us that it wasn't his tour that we were on because his had been cancelled indefinitely, but to go see another guy who by this time had already arrived, and was on a different van. Apparently two different companies called their tours "Damien Tour" which caused the confusion. Anyway, after things were sorted out, we had to wait for people who took the mule ride down and for another set of people who hiked down, before the tour began. It was well worth the wait because our tour guide told us heart wrenching stories of the leper colonies in Kalawao and Kalaupapa, and of Father Damien and Mother Marianne who cared for the lepers when no one else would. We also learned a little bit more about the history of Hawaii and about leprosy and the discovery of the sulfate drugs that arrested the disease. Our guide even told us about the legend of Lemuria, which Molokai was supposedly a part of before Lemuria sank beneath the waves. The guide also emphasized the sacredness of the place, way before it was set aside as a place of exile. The lunch, however, was no big deal. Just a plain turkey and cheese sandwich which tasted like one of those you get at a cafeteria. Overall, I enjoyed the tour immensely. The commuter plane that brought us to Kalaupapa also brought us back, after which another van took us back to the hotel. It was night time by the time we get back. I would do this tour all over again if I had the chance.

We took the one-hour tour of Oahu departing from Ko Olina. It was our first experience with helicopter flight and after getting past some initial nervousness we loved it! Jim, our pilot, did an excellent job explaining what was happening with the helicopter. It was a great way to see the island and included areas that would be impossible to see from the ground. Jim provided a great deal of information about what we were seeing along with historical context. It helped that he is a great entertainer as well with a lot of funny stories! Even if you've been to Oahu before, if you haven't taken the helicopter tour before you should take it on your next visit. It was the highlight of our vacation. BTW, it's well worth the small additional premium for the front seats on the helicopter.

We went on this tour with 2 kids. We all loved it. Best way to see Oahu. Our pilot Jim was great. Very knowledgeable and funny. He made our tour very personal by knowing our names and addresing us by such Would feel safe riding with him anytime.