Hawaii is one of my favorite places to kick back and relax during the summer. After making eight trips to the Hawaiian Islands, I must say the most beautiful spot is the Na Pali Coast on the north shore of Kaua’i. Kaua’i is the oldest of the major Hawaiian Islands and the fourth largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. The ancient age of the island and the fact that is gets the most rainfall of any spot on Earth, combine to form both dense foliage and dramatic scenery.
Carved by erosion over countless thousands of years, Kaua’i has some of the most beautiful coast lines among the Hawaiian Islands. This little island has been featured in more than 70 Hollywood movies and television shows, including the musical South Pacific, the Elvis film Blue Hawaii, and Disney’s Lilo & Stitch.
The island’s Waimea Canyon was used in filming the 1993 movie Jurassic Park. With so many dramatic views out of the cockpit, it’s not surprising that the aviation-themed film starring actor-pilot Harrison Ford, Six Days and Seven Nights, also used Kaua’i as its setting.
And there is no better way to take in this dramatic landscape than by air. I took a ride in a Waco Biplane up to the Na Pali coast to see what all the fuss was about. After departed Lihue Airport, I flew up the east coast of Kawa’i, flying in and out of the afternoon showers. The open cockpit provided little shelter, yet the rain swept over my head in the propeller’s slipstream. After the cumulus clouds cleared, waterfalls and rainbows surrounded me. What a sight!
If you want to take your own aerial photos, you should look into some of the local air-tours that operate on the island. Kaua’i is no place for renting an aircraft and launching off without local knowledge of the inhospitable terrain. The narrow canyons leave little room for a box-canyon escape maneuver and there’s no way out of the top, with low ceilings that shroud the mountain peaks most days. The daunting landscape of this jungle island may appear to be the realm of the helicopter, but I think there is no better way see this paradise than flying low and slow in a vintage biplane.
