Kauai: Part 3 - Helicopter Tour

On our 4th day on the island, we woke up to another beautiful sunrise. 

After breakfast we grabbed our snorkel stuff and headed to Tunnels Beach.  It was fantastic.  We had the entire beach to ourselves and there were only 4 other people in the water snorkeling. 

My favorite beach on the island. 

Earlier in the week we booked a helicopter tour of the island so after snorkeling we headed back to the airport for the tour.  

We chose a helicopter company that lands at Manawaiopuna Falls, better known as "Jurassic Falls."  This 360 ft. waterfall that is now famous after being featured in the movie Jurassic Park.  

The falls are on private property owned by the Robinson family
(who owns most of Kauai and the neighboring island, Niihau) 

After the falls, the tour takes you through Waimea Canyon... and it's MANY waterfalls... 

... along the NaPali Coast... 

Honopu Beach... there is an arch on the right side of the
picture which has been used in several movies. 

...we flew over Tunnels Beach, where we had been snorkeling just a few hours before...

...and into the Mt. Wai'ale'ale crater, the wettest spot on earth.  It was cloudy, but not too rainy so the waterfalls were only trickling.  When it rains, there are tons of falls in this area and they refer to it as the "weeping wall."  

The helicopter tour was one of the highlights of our trip.  Definitely the BEST way to see the whole island because there is a lot of the island that you can ONLY see from the air.  

While driving back north to our condo, we stopped at Queen's Bath.  This area is known for a large "pool" formed by the lava rocks that the ocean feeds.  When the ocean is calm, people can get in the pool and swim around... on this particular day it would NOT have been a good idea. 

Enough said... I'm not going ANY closer.  

 I was uncomfortable and I was nowhere near the edge of the rocks.  Mike kept disappearing behind rocks and freaking me out (not intentionally).  

Even though it was too rough to swim, it was amazing to experience the power of the ocean.  I had never seen such big waves until this trip.  

Here is a video from our helicopter tour.  Enjoy