Waimea Canyon

The Grand Canyon of the Pacific: Waimea Canyon

The great gaping gulch known as Waimea Canyon is quite a sight. This valley, known for its reddish lava beds, reminds everyone who sees it of the Grand Canyon. Kauai's version is bursting with ever-changing color, just like its namesake, but it's smaller -- only a mile wide, 3,567 feet deep, and 12 miles long. A massive earthquake sent a number of streams into the single river that ultimately carved this picturesque canyon. Today, the Waimea River -- a silver thread of water in the gorge that's sometimes a trickle, often a torrent, but always there -- keeps cutting the canyon deeper and wider, and nobody can say what the result will be 100 million years from now.

You can stop by the road and look at the canyon, hike down into it, or swoop through it in a helicopter.

The Drive Through Waimea Canyon & Up to Kokee

By car, there are two ways to visit Waimea Canyon and Kokee State Park, 20 miles from Waimea. From the coastal road (Hwy. 50), you can turn up Waimea Canyon Drive (Hwy. 550) at Waimea town; or you can pass through Waimea and turn up Kokee Road (Hwy. 55) at Kekaha. The climb is very steep from Kekaha, but Waimea Canyon Drive, the rim road, is narrower and rougher. A few miles up, the two merge into Kokee Road.

The first good vantage point is Waimea Canyon Lookout, located between mile markers 10 and 11 on Waimea Canyon Road. From here, it's another 6 miles to Kokee. There are a few more lookout points along the way that also offer spectacular views, such as Puu Hina Hina Lookout, between mile markers 13 and 14, at 3,336 feet; be sure to pull over and spend a few minutes pondering this natural wonder. (The giant white object that looks like a golf ball and defaces the natural landscape is a radar station left over from the Cold War.)

Kokee State Park

It's only 16 miles from Waimea to Kokee, but the park is a whole different world because it is 4,345 acres of rainforest. You'll enter a new climate zone, where the breeze has a bite and trees look quite continental. You're in a cloud forest on the edge of the Alakai Swamp, the largest swamp in Hawaii, on the summit plateau of Kauai. Days are cool and wet, with intermittent bright sunshine, not unlike Seattle on a good day. Bring your sweater and, if you're staying over, be sure you know how to light a fire. (Overnight lows dip into the 40s [single digits Celsius].)

The forest is full of native plants, such as mokihana berry, ohia lehua, and iliau (similar to Maui's silversword), as well as imports like Australia's eucalyptus and California's redwood. Pigs, goats, and black-tailed deer thrive in the forest, but the moa, or Polynesian jungle fowl, is the cock of the walk.

Right next to Kokee Lodge (which lies on the only road through the park, about a mile before it ends) is the Kokee Natural History Museum (tel. 808/335-9975; www.kokee.org), open daily from 10am to 4pm (free admission). This is the best place to learn about the forest and Alakai Swamp before you set off hiking in the wild. The museum shop has great trail information and local books and maps, including the official park trail map. We recommend getting the Pocket Guide on Native Plants on the Nature Trail for Kokee State Park and the Road Guide to Kokee and Waimea Canyon State Park.

A nature walk is the best introduction to this rainforest; it starts behind the museum at the rare Hawaiian koa tree. This easy, self-guided walk of about a quarter mile takes about 20 minutes if you stop and look at all the plants identified along the way.

Two miles above Kokee Lodge is Kalalau Lookout, the spectacular climax of your drive through Waimea Canyon and Kokee. When you stand at the lookout, below you is a work in progress that began at least 5 million years ago. It's hard to stop looking; the view is breathtaking, especially when light and cloud shadows play across the red-and-orange cliffs.

There's lots more to see and do up here: Anglers fly-fish for rainbow trout, and hikers tackle the 45 trails that lace the Alakai Swamp. That's a lot of ground to cover, so you might want to plan on staying over. If pitching a tent is too rustic for you, the wonderful cabins set in a grove of redwoods are one of the best lodging bargains in the islands. The restaurant at Kokee Lodge is open for continental breakfast and lunch daily from 9am to 3:30pm.

For advance information, contact the State Division of Parks, 3060 Eiwa St., Room 306, Lihue, HI 96766 (tel. 808/274-3444); and the Kokee Lodge Manager, P.O. Box 819, Waimea, HI 96796 (tel. 808/335-6061). The park is open daily year-round. The best time to go is early in the morning, to see the panoramic view of Kalalau Valley from the lookout at 4,000 feet, before clouds obscure the valley and peaks.

Helicopter Rides Over Waimea Canyon & The Na Pali Coast

Don't leave Kauai without seeing it from a helicopter. It's expensive but worth the splurge. You can take home memories of the thrilling ride up and over the Kalalau Valley on Kauai's wild North Shore and into the 5,200-foot vertical temple of Mount Waialeale, the most sacred place on the island and the wettest spot on earth. (And in some cases, you can even take home a video of your ride.) All flights leave from Lihue Airport.

Taking to the Skies -- It's More Than Just a Helicopter Ride -- The light on the floor-to-ceiling windshield sparkles dazzlingly. Only the sound of traditional Hawaiian music wafts through the noise-canceling headset as I relax into the plush, comfy seat. Staring at the ground, I notice that it begins to move away, almost like magic, as the helicopter effortlessly rises straight up.

Defying gravity, the high-tech aircraft smoothly glides through the air, like some kind of modern magic carpet. There really is nothing else that can compare to the helicopter's serene motion of floating. It's not a rocking sensation like being on a boat, nor the high-speed forward velocity of an airplane, but a gentle drifting.

Helicopter rides over Kauai are more than just a "ride," but a tour of the island. In fact, the only way to truly see a large percentage of the island is to sail the skies in a helicopter.

"On Kauai, a helicopter is really the only way to see two-thirds of the island because of the remote nature of the terrain," says Casey Riemer, of Jack Harter Helicopters. "You just can't see it any other way."

One of the first questions Hawaii's helicopter tour operators always get asked is, "How safe is flying in a helicopter?" To which most of them respond that statistically, it is more dangerous driving in your car than it is flying in Hawaii's helicopter tours.

"Hawaii's [helicopter tour's] safety record is quite frankly phenomenal," states Riemer. In the past decade, Hawaii has only seen a handful of helicopter accidents despite the hundreds of thousands of hours that helicopters are in the sky touring the state.

In addition, the industry not only meets federal safety standards, but most helicopter companies go beyond federal requirements to ensure the safest ride possible.

Safety, as well as the entire helicopter touring industry, is a pricey business. Helicopters are expensive aircraft (costing from $1 million to nearly $2 million); maintenance is very costly (several parts must be replaced every so many flight hours); and the number of personnel necessary for the air-touring business (from the pilot to the mechanics to the dispatchers to the ground personnel to the people who book you) is immense.

The cost of a helicopter tour varies. Yes, it is expensive, but worth every penny for an experience you will remember for a lifetime.

However, don't choose a helicopter tour company based on price alone. Remember that you get what you pay for, and if you are going to pay a few hundred dollars, you might as well get your money's worth. (Cheaper is not necessarily better.)

There are ways to save money. Check the Internet. Generally if you book 7 days in advance on the Internet, you can get 10% to 15% off. One company has an Internet discount as high as 37%.

This is one time that you might want to do the investigative work into the tour yourself -- if you go to a booking agency, they may just book the helicopter company that gives them the best commission (and may not have the "right" tour for you). Also beware of timeshare presentations offering greatly discounted rates for helicopter tours only if you first sit through a lengthy presentation.

Tour operators all agree that you should book early in your trip, just in case weather cancels your tour. You will then still have several days remaining in your trip to re-book.

If a tour operator is unable to fly due to weather, then you are not charged for your trip. Some operators tell stories about taking off and then deciding that the trip will not be comfortable for their passengers, so they return them to base without charging them.

However, if you cannot make your flight, you must cancel 24 hours in advance or you could be charged for the flight.

There really is no such thing as a perfect time to fly. Conditions change. On Kauai, the east end of the island gets light early, but the Na Pali Coast, on the west side, gets light later in the day. And yes, helicopters fly when it is cloudy because it nearly always is cloudy somewhere on the island. But remember: With a helicopter, it is possible to fly over the rainbow.