Mike Lewis
Staff Member
Hi,
My wife and I are heading to Hawaii 2 days after I retire (kick things off right!
. ) We will be splitting time between Maui for the first portion of trip and Kauai for a few less days for the 2nd portion of trip.
One of my bucket list desirements I'd to photograph is the amazing cliffs along the Nā Pali coast on Kauai. After doing some research it seems like that perhaps renting a helicopter might be the best way to make that happen. My wife is not up for it though so it would be just me.
I have seen lots of good feedback on Mauna Loa as a helicopter tour provider. They appear to have 2 choices - Kauai Experience tour, which is $325, and the dedicated photo helicopter is $693, but not clear if I might have to pay for a 2nd seat on one or the other depending. The Experience tour has a preset route, while the photo tour I would just tell them what I am hoping to shoot (which would likely be Nā Pali coast and Waimea Canyon possibly too.
I am going to ask some specific questions of the helicopter company to clarify the differences and required costs, but wanted to see if anyone on FW had and direct experiences to share. Big unresolved question seems to be what time of day, as light more favorable in afternoon for Nā Pali but then more likely to be cloudy or rainy too. So would love any generic feedback on photographing from a copter and then of course if any one has specific experiences with this part of Kauai that would be awesome to know about too.
Thanks bunches,
ML
My wife and I are heading to Hawaii 2 days after I retire (kick things off right!
. ) We will be splitting time between Maui for the first portion of trip and Kauai for a few less days for the 2nd portion of trip.One of my bucket list desirements I'd to photograph is the amazing cliffs along the Nā Pali coast on Kauai. After doing some research it seems like that perhaps renting a helicopter might be the best way to make that happen. My wife is not up for it though so it would be just me.
I have seen lots of good feedback on Mauna Loa as a helicopter tour provider. They appear to have 2 choices - Kauai Experience tour, which is $325, and the dedicated photo helicopter is $693, but not clear if I might have to pay for a 2nd seat on one or the other depending. The Experience tour has a preset route, while the photo tour I would just tell them what I am hoping to shoot (which would likely be Nā Pali coast and Waimea Canyon possibly too.
I am going to ask some specific questions of the helicopter company to clarify the differences and required costs, but wanted to see if anyone on FW had and direct experiences to share. Big unresolved question seems to be what time of day, as light more favorable in afternoon for Nā Pali but then more likely to be cloudy or rainy too. So would love any generic feedback on photographing from a copter and then of course if any one has specific experiences with this part of Kauai that would be awesome to know about too.
Thanks bunches,
ML
