Maui & Molokai: Doors Off Helicopter Tour 45 Minutes

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(469 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

Trying to pull my hair into a bun with the windbreaker half-zipped, I caught our pilot—Chris, I think—grinning at my struggle. He handed me the goggles (“You’ll want these!”) and checked that my phone was clipped tight to the lanyard. There’s something about standing on that heliport in Kahului, hearing rotors thumping and feeling your own heartbeat pick up. The doors-off thing? It’s not just a line—they really mean it. My knees were knocking a bit as we climbed in.

Once we lifted off, Maui dropped away fast—coastline curling out below, green giving way to blue. Chris pointed out ridges along the West Maui Mountains where clouds snagged on the peaks; you could smell rain somewhere far off but up here it was just cold air and salt. When we crossed over to Molokai, the cliffs came into view—tallest sea cliffs in the world, he said, and I believed him because they looked like they’d never end. Waterfalls tumbled down in threads so thin you almost missed them unless you squinted through the spray. At one point my phone almost slipped (don’t worry, that lanyard works), but honestly I was too busy gawking to care.

The whole thing lasted about 45 minutes but time got weird up there—I kept catching myself grinning like an idiot every time we banked close to the edge or dipped low over a beach nobody else could reach. Chris told us stories about Molokai’s history—something about ancient fish ponds and how locals still fish there—and I tried to say “Molokaʻi” right but probably butchered it (he laughed). The wind in your face is colder than you think, even with their jacket on. I still feel it sometimes when I close my eyes at night.