Our Doors-Off Flight with Rainbow Helicopters
Have you ever wished that you could see the entirety of O’ahu in less than an hour? Have you wanted to catch a glimpse of the Makapuʻu Point Lighthouse without hiking the whole trail? Or, have you wanted to see the so-called ‘Jurassic Valley’ the way that fictional park owner John Hammond did, when he descended into the lush greens? Well, there is one way (and one way only) to check all of these boxes at the consumer level - and that is to book a Helicopter Tour from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport! During our recent trip to Hawaii, we decided to do just that, and booked a 45-minute flight with Rainbow Helicopters, a reputable company operating out of the Castle and Cooke Aviation building at the airport in question.
When you charter a helicopter, you’re not only paying for the pilots’ time and experience; you’re also paying for the fuel necessary to take you and your party up into the sky and around the island. This experience, therefore, can be quite expensive, and you may find yourself trying to qualify - if not justify - the cost. So, the million dollar question - was our flight worth the expense? Well, before we answer that, let’s take a look at what the experience offered us, and how our adventure was handled.
Rainbow Helicopters has an excellent, easy-to-navigate website!
Choosing a Company
Long before we landed in Honolulu for our Hawaiian getaway, we knew that a helicopter tour was something that we wanted to do. We had seen movies and TV shows showcase the busy tourism market of O’ahu, often highlighting a helicopter tour as one of the things that was uniquely Hawaiian. As adventure-seekers as well as tourists, and having never flown in a helicopter before, it seemed a no-brainer to us that we would want to take our first flight in one of the most beautiful places in the world. However, Rainbow was far from the only service provider in O’ahu, and far from the cheapest. So, what was it that led us to book with them? Ultimately, it was their stellar website that set them apart. Between the transparency, the simplicity of the booking process and the step-by-step of the experience being laid out in relative detail, we felt confident and safe that this was a trustworthy and reliable company. There was also one additional factor that drew us to Rainbow, specifically, but we’ll get to that later! With the flight pre-purchased and the receipt in hand, all we had to do now was show up in the appropriate clothing for our adventure.
An aerial view of Sacred Falls, the tallest waterfall on O'ahu!
Flight Preparation
The drive to the opposite end of the airport tarmac was an interesting one, and very industrial; but ample signage was our guide from the terminals of the main airport all the way to the parking lot. The first thing that we did after arriving at the Cooke & Castle Aviation building was to weigh in and confirm that each of us was less than 260 lbs - at the risk of facing a surcharge for additional undeclared weight that might deplete fuel faster. Fortunately, we were right on target and moved on to signing our experience waivers. After this, we were shepherded to a holding area where we were shown a preliminary safety video regarding Rainbow, the helicopter itself - a Robinson R44 - and the gear that they were providing us with. Critically, because we had requested a ‘Doors Off’ experience (no added charge) which would leave us exposed to the elements, we were informed that no loose articles of any kind would be permitted in the cabin. This included every item in our pockets, from chapstick to keychains to GoPro batteries; the concern being that these items, if mishandled during flight, could be swept upwards into the helicopter blades and cause a mechanical failure. We were, however, given a bag necklace for our smartphones, and offered a secure place to store all other items and articles until we returned from our adventure. After storing our items and finishing the safety video, we were fitted with an emergency inflation device and sent to the holding area, where we would wait to be called.
Katie prepares for her flight on the Robinson R44!
Liftoff
After about fifteen minutes in the holding area - during which we made sure to take advantage of the company restroom ahead of our excursion in the sky - we were met by a Rainbow staffer who combined our group of two with a single rider and escorted us to a golf cart outside. The Robinson R44 helicopter that we were flying in was able to accommodate up to three (3) passengers in addition to our pilot, Tobias, so the addition of one more person to our group would fill - and perfectly balance - the cabin for flight. It’s worth noting that for an additional $345, we could have bought the extra seat out and had a private flight with the pilot; but this also might have required the redistribution of our weight and we’d not have been able to sit together. In any case, we didn’t mind the company of our single rider, and in no time at all the three of us were rolling along the airport tarmac to our helicopter. Rainbow staff were more than happy to take a few photos of each of us in front of the “bird” before we boarded it, and then it we were carefully loaded (one side at a time) into the cabin and fitted with our seatbelts, our sound-proof headphones and our microphone. Tobias did a quick sound check with us before explaining weather patterns and safety gear and pointing out the air sickness bags and the turbulence handles in the event of choppy skies. He asked if there was anything in particular that we were hoping to see on this tour, and we responded ‘the waterfall that we saw on the website’ - remember we mentioned the other thing that drew us to Rainbow? Tobias informed us that the waterfall in question was called ‘Sacred Falls’, and that we’d definitely be popping in for a close look at O’ahu’s tallest waterfall during our tour. With that, it was time to get the show on the road!
Our liftoff in the Robinson R44 was smooth and without incident!
Our Flight
To say that we flew on a beautiful day, or that the island was beautiful, would likely be a pair of understatements the likes of which modern literature has not yet devised a proper metaphor to address. The water was a deep turquoise hue from one end of the O’ahu to the other, the greens of the mountains were lush and vibrant and the mountains were beyond compare. Particularly through the lens of our 10,000-foot altitude, it was easy to see why tourism booms on the island of O’ahu, and how much of the island had still managed to remain untouched and undeveloped. Tobias flew us carefully over the densely populated areas of downtown Honolulu and Waikiki Beach before moving on to the volcanically-shaped mountains and valleys of Kualoa and the Olomana Trail. We did, indeed, drift above the towering 1100-ft descent of Sacred Falls, roughly 80 ft. of which formed a singular drop into a cave system below. This experience became that much more significant when we learned that the waterfall itself was visible only by helicopter in the modern day, and that all trails to see the sight had been deemed hazardous and impassable - so the best and only way to view the falls was from the sky! We were also treated to incredible views of the Makapuʻu Point Lighthouse, the Stairway to Heaven trail, the Dole Plantation and even Pearl Harbor. It was only at one point, near the peak of a mountain surrounded by clouds, that we encountered the smallest bout of turbulence and were forced to grip the handles for stability. Through this light kick of wind, Tobias remained steadfast and unfazed, and calmly adjusted the cyclic control to compensate without even pausing his commentary on the history of the mountains in the region - a true pro!
An aerial view of Kualoa Valley, where such movies as 'Jurassic Park' were filmed in O'ahu!
Return to the Airport
Although we paid for a 45-minute tour experience, our total time in the air came to approximately 61 minutes! At the outset of this adventure, we were basking in the sun and very evenly-tempered, but by the 40-minute mark (tucked behind the mountains of O’ahu) we were definitely beginning to get a bit chilly. Still, as we made our descent back into the Honolulu area and began to settle over the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport tarmac, we both agreed that there wasn’t a thing we would have done differently. By the time Tobias had set us down gently, additional Rainbow staffers were already onsite and prepared to collect us and transport us back to the Castle & Cooke Aviation building for the debrief and the collection of our loose articles. We were offered a chance to purchase our in-flight video, which included some of the cockpit’s radio conferencing audio - though, admittedly, not in the best quality. If there is any way, shape or form by which Rainbow still has a means to improve, it’d likely be in their cockpit A/V systems - in a perfect world, that system would be updated to capture higher resolution video and clearer sound. But, frankly, this was a total non-issue for the two of us, who came armed with GoPros to capture the journey! When all was said and done, we’d committed roughly two and a half hours to the experience between getting out of our car and getting back into it, and our total bill came to $817.00 for two (2) people, or roughly $400/head including the video package and a cancellation insurance policy. In addition, we made sure to leave a nice tip for Tobias on our way out the door.
Our return to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport was smooth as could be!
Final Thoughts
So, to circle back - was the 45-minute experience worth the price tag? In our opinion, ABSOLUTELY! In addition to the experience having been longer and more thrilling than advertised, we saw some things that can only be seen by helicopter, some things that we’ve only read about online and in magazines about the island, and experienced some sensations that nobody else we know ever has. The ‘doors off’ upgrade was free of charge, and did add to the quality of our own video footage as well as to the thrill of the overall experience, but any flight package can be purchased with or without this customization and the flight can be made to feel safer, less windy and less exposed to the elements for the more cautious flyers. That said, if you’re going to visit O’ahu, particularly if you may never visit again or may have a limited amount of time to explore the island, we highly highly highly recommend splurging on a proper helicopter tour to see all the sights in one go, and we can definitely recommend the doors-off experience for a thrilling and vivid memory that will live on in your mind for months after your flight. Just make sure to follow the rules, leave loose articles behind and dress properly (see Rainbow website) for the conditions, and you will have an absolutely amazing time!
An aerial view of Honolulu from our flight with Rainbow Helicopters!
Check Out Our Flight
By now, you must surely know that we’d never ask you to take our word for it when recommending an experience to our audience. Instead, we prefer to show you what you can expect and let you decide for yourselves whether it is something that you’d want to see, do, taste or experience with your own time and money someday. To that end, we invite you to check out our vlog from the Rainbow Helicopters flight we took with Tobias in December of 2022 by clicking on the video below!
