Starting on the island
If you are already on Kauai, three of the twelve listings are not for you: two fly over from Oahu for the day and one is a combined Oahu-to-Kauai trip. That leaves nine, and this page is about those. A Kauai Waimea Canyon tour that starts on the island runs from $155 for 65 minutes in the air to $1,085 for a private nine-hour day, and the nine of them carry 1,333 reviews between them. Below: what each one is, and which town its listing departs from.
Quick answer
The short answer. Nine listings are a Kauai Waimea Canyon tour in the strict sense: they start on the island. The cheapest is the $155 air tour out of Lihue, and it is also the most reviewed on the island at 1,115 reviews and 4.9. The cheapest day on the ground is $187. The only listing that departs from the north shore is the $539 flight from Princeville; the rest are listed out of Lihue or island-wide.
Where each one starts
Three depart Lihue, one departs Princeville, five are filed island-wide.
GetYourGuide files each listing under a town, and on a small island that is the closest thing to a pickup point you get before you book. Here is how the nine split.
Lihue. Three listings depart from the town with the airport: the $155 air tour, the $425 private flight, and the $189 seven-hour road day. If you are staying on the east side, these are the short-transfer options.
Princeville. One listing, the $539 flight, departs from the north shore. It is the shortest trip on the island at 45 minutes, and its description promises Manawaiopuna Falls, Waimea Canyon and the Na Pali Coast with narration on board.
Island-wide. Five listings are filed simply under Kauai: the $449 helicopter flight and four road days — $187, $190, $231 and the private $1,085. For those, the meeting arrangements come with your booking rather than off the listing card, so read the confirmation carefully.
Whichever Kauai Waimea Canyon tour you pick, the canyon is on the west side of the island and the road days are built as loops, so a start on the east or north coast is normal rather than a problem.
One by one
In price order, with the town each listing departs from and what its own description names.
The cheapest Kauai Waimea Canyon tour and the most reviewed: 1,115 reviews at 4.9, against 73 for the next. Its description has you soar through Waimea Canyon, along the Na Pali Coast and past roaring waterfalls. It is a plane, not a helicopter — the operator sells it as a deluxe air tour.
A small-group day to Waimea Canyon and Koke’e State Park: scenic lookouts, a nature walk, lunch at your own cost at the lodge in the park, and a coffee plantation stop. Rated 4.2 across 20 reviews. At $20.78 an hour it is the cheapest day out on this page.
A shorter day built around the best-known viewpoints, with Spouting Horn on the south coast. The description is about the guides: the stories of the past, present and future of Kauai as you drive. Rated 4.2 across 17 reviews.
A panoramic day tour that adds Hanapepe Town and a photo stop at the Kalalau Lookout. Rated 4.6 across 26 reviews, the best-rated of the seven-hour road days. Its listing also carries a dated closure note for the canyon, so read the current description before booking.
The longest day that stays on the island and the most reviewed road listing here: 73 reviews at 4.7. Waimea Canyon, Old Koloa Town and the Wailua River, with a cruise to the Fern Grotto built into the afternoon.
A private flight with doors-off or doors-on options, rated 5.0 across 14 reviews. The description names the Napali Coast, Waimea Canyon, Hanalei Valley and the waterfalls of the Mount Wai’ale’ale crater. It is the cheapest way into a helicopter on this site.
The best-rated helicopter by review count: 5.0 across 47 reviews, in a small group. Manawaiopuna Falls, Waimea Canyon and the Na Pali Coast from the sky, in under an hour.
The only listing that departs from the north shore, and the shortest trip on this page. Manawaiopuna Falls, Waimea Canyon and the Na Pali Coast with expert narration. Rated 4.5 across 15 reviews.
The top of the price list on the island: a private day at Waimea Canyon and the Nā Pali Coast, with the rainbow cliffs and Waipo’o Falls named in the description. Rated 4.9 across 6 reviews.
Every trip, current fare
The three Oahu listings are left out of this table. Cost per hour is the price divided by the listed duration.
| Tour | Length | Price | What is included | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kauai: Air Tour of Na Pali Coast, Entire Island of KauaiFixed-wing plane, not a helicopter | 65 min | $155 | Fixed-wing plane, not a helicopter | $143.08 | 4.9 · 1,115 |
| Kauai: Eco Adventure Helicopter TourHelicopter over Waimea Canyon | 50 min | $449 | Helicopter over Waimea Canyon | $538.80 | 5 · 47 |
| Kauai Private Doors Off Helicopter Tour: Ultimate WaterfallsPrivate helicopter, doors off or on | 60 min | $425 | Private helicopter, doors off or on | $425.00 | 5 · 14 |
| From Princeville: Discover Kauai Helicopter TourHelicopter from Princeville | 45 min | $539 | Helicopter from Princeville | $718.67 | 4.5 · 15 |
| Kauai: Full-Day Waimea Canyon & Wailua River TourCanyon lookouts and the Wailua River | 9.5 h | $231 | Canyon lookouts and the Wailua River | $24.32 | 4.7 · 73 |
| Kauai: Waimea Canyon and Waterfall Adventure Day TourCanyon lookouts and waterfalls | 7 h | $190 | Canyon lookouts and waterfalls | $27.14 | 4.6 · 26 |
| Kauai: Waimea Canyon and Koke’e State Park TourCanyon and Koke’e State Park | 9 h | $187 | Canyon and Koke’e State Park | $20.78 | 4.2 · 20 |
| Kauai - Journey to Waimea Canyon, Spouting Horn & MoreCanyon and the Spouting Horn blowhole | 7 h | $189 | Canyon and the Spouting Horn blowhole | $27.00 | 4.2 · 17 |
| Kauai: Waimea Canyon & Kokeʻe State Park Private TourPrivate day on the canyon rim | 9 h | $1,085 | Private day on the canyon rim | $120.56 | 4.9 · 6 |
Only interested in the days that drive up to the rim? There are five of them here.
The road day tours→Air or ground
Once you are on the island the choice narrows to a real one, because the transfer problem disappears and what is left is time against price.
An air tour Kauai visitors book most often is the $155 one, and the review count is not close: 1,115 against 73 for the next best-documented listing of any kind. Sixty-five minutes, the canyon and the coast, and your afternoon still free. The three helicopters cost between $425 and $539 for 45 to 60 minutes, and two of them are rated 5.0.
A road day costs less per hour and buys a different thing. You stand at the rim rather than fly over it, and the canyon arrives with a coffee plantation, a nature walk, a river cruise or a blowhole on the coast attached, depending which listing you take. Seven hours at $190 is the short version; nine and a half at $231 is the long one.
Waterfalls appear in both halves. If what you really want is a Kauai waterfall tour, the flights name Manawaiopuna Falls and the crater waterfalls, and the road side has the $190 day and the Waipo’o Falls on the private listing. Nothing here is sold as waterfalls alone.
Plenty of people do both, and the order that makes sense is the flight first: an hour in the air early in the trip tells you what the island is shaped like, and the road day after it stops being a list of viewpoints.
Fitting it in
If you are here for three days. Book the flight. A Kauai Waimea Canyon tour from the air costs you one morning and $155, and it is the listing with 1,115 reviews behind it rather than 20 or 47. Short trips are where an hour beats nine hours on arithmetic alone.
If you are here for a week. Do both halves. One flight and one road day is the combination most of these listings are quietly designed around, and the two together cost less than the single most expensive listing on the island. The order that works is flight first, road day after.
If you are travelling with people who do not fly. A Kauai Waimea Canyon tour on the ground is the whole answer: five road listings, $187 to $1,085, seven to nine and a half hours, no aircraft involved at any point in the day.
If you are staying near Princeville. The 45-minute flight at $539 is the one listing that starts on the north shore. Everything else on this page will have you moving south or east first, which is worth knowing before you pick a Kauai Waimea Canyon tour by price.
If you are booking for a group. Two listings are sold as private: the $425 flight and the $1,085 day. Both are rated above 4.8, and both on a handful of reviews rather than hundreds.
Book direct
The air tour, the three helicopter flights, and the two most reviewed road days. Live listing prices and ratings.
★ 4.9 · 1,115 reviews
★ 5 · 47 reviews
★ 5 · 14 reviews
★ 4.5 · 15 reviews
★ 4.2 · 20 reviews
★ 4.7 · 73 reviews
Common questions
Nine of the twelve on this site. The three that do not are the two 14-hour day trips from Oahu and the combined Oahu-to-Kauai listing, all three of which are filed under Honolulu.
The $155 air tour from Lihue, 65 minutes. On the ground, the cheapest is the nine-hour state park day at $187.
Three listings depart from Lihue, one from Princeville, and five are filed island-wide under Kauai, which means the meeting arrangements come with the booking confirmation rather than off the listing card.
One: the $539 helicopter flight from Princeville, 45 minutes, rated 4.5 across 15 reviews. Everything else on this page is filed under Lihue or island-wide.
Several do. The $190 day tour pairs the canyon with waterfalls and Hanapepe Town, the flights name Manawaiopuna Falls, and the private day names Waipo’o Falls. Which waterfalls you see depends on the listing, so read the description.
Between 45 minutes and nine and a half hours. The four flights are 45, 50, 60 and 65 minutes. The road days are seven, nine or nine and a half hours, which is a full day once you add getting to the meeting point.
Two listings sit at 5.0: the $449 helicopter flight with 47 reviews and the $425 private flight with 14. The $155 air tour is rated 4.9, across 1,115 reviews.
Go deeper
Every tour that reaches Waimea Canyon, by air and by road, with price and length.
By roadThe day tours that drive up the canyon rim, and how long they take.
On your ownWhat a self-guided day at the canyon costs against a guided one.
PrivateThe private options: a doors-off flight and a private day on the rim.
Kauai: Air Tour of Na Pali Coast, Entire Island of Kauai
★ 4.9 · 1,115 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h