All twelve trips
A Waimea Canyon tour comes in two shapes, and the gap between them is the whole story. From the air it is a 45 to 65 minute flight over the canyon and the Na Pali Coast, and it starts at $155. By road it is a seven to nine and a half hour day that climbs to the lookouts on the rim and stops at a string of other places on the way, and it starts at $187. This page puts all twelve bookable listings side by side — price, length, rating and what each one names in its own description — so you can see in one screen which kind of Waimea Canyon tour you are actually buying.
Quick answer
The short answer. The cheapest Waimea Canyon tour is also the most reviewed one: $155 for a 65-minute flight, rated 4.9 across 1,115 reviews. It flies a fixed-wing plane, not a helicopter — the operator calls it a deluxe air tour. If you want a helicopter specifically, three listings fly one, from $425. If you would rather spend the day on the ground and stand at the rim, the road tours start at $187.
The two kinds of day
Five listings fly, seven drive. Decide which one you want before you compare prices.
Read the twelve descriptions in a row and they split cleanly. Five of them fly. Seven of them drive. They cost different money, they take different amounts of your holiday, and they show you different parts of the same island.
The flights run 45 to 65 minutes and pair the canyon with the coast. The descriptions name Waimea Canyon, the Na Pali Coast, Manawaiopuna Falls, Hanalei Valley and the Mount Wai’ale’ale crater. You see the canyon whole, from above, and then keep going to places the road does not reach at all. What you do not get is a single step outside the aircraft.
The road days run seven to nine and a half hours and build the canyon into a loop of the south and west of the island. Their descriptions name the lookouts, Koke’e State Park, Wailua River and the Fern Grotto, Spouting Horn, Hanapepe Town, Old Koloa Town and a coffee plantation stop. You stand at the rim and look in, which is a different picture from looking down on it, and you get a day out rather than an hour.
So the honest way to choose a Waimea Canyon tour is not by price alone. An hour in the air at $155 and a nine-hour day at $187 are close in money and nothing alike in kind.
Grouped
Prices, durations and ratings below are the live listing figures, read in September 2026.
The cheapest listing on this site and the most reviewed by a wide margin: 1,115 reviews at 4.9, against 73 for the next one down. Its own description says you soar through Waimea Canyon, along the Na Pali Coast and past roaring waterfalls, and it is sold as a deluxe air tour on a fixed-wing plane. It departs from Lihue.
A 50-minute small-group flight at $449 rated 5.0 across 47 reviews, which names Manawaiopuna Falls, Waimea Canyon and the Na Pali Coast. A private hour at $425 rated 5.0 across 14 reviews, the one listing that offers doors-off or doors-on, adding Hanalei Valley and the Mount Wai’ale’ale crater. And 45 minutes from Princeville at $539, rated 4.5 across 15 reviews, with narration on board.
The most reviewed road tour here: 73 reviews at 4.7. It runs Waimea Canyon, Old Koloa Town and the Wailua River, with a cruise to the Fern Grotto. It is the longest of the days that stay on Kauai and the one that pairs the canyon with water rather than with more lookouts.
The shorter way to do the rim. One is a panoramic day with Hanapepe Town and a photo stop at the Kalalau Lookout, rated 4.6 across 26 reviews. The other is built around the best-known viewpoints with Spouting Horn on the coast, rated 4.2 across 17 reviews, and its description leans on the guides telling the story of the island as you go.
The cheapest road listing and the one that spends the most time above the canyon: a small-group day to Waimea Canyon and Koke’e State Park with 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, and it works out at $20.78 an hour, the lowest figure on the table.
Three listings sit well above the rest. A private nine-hour day on the rim at $1,085, rated 4.9 across 6 reviews, which names the rainbow cliffs and Waipo’o Falls. Two 14-hour days at $576 that fly you over from Oahu in the morning and back at night. And the combined Oahu-to-Kauai day at $1,249, which is new and has no reviews yet.
Every trip, current fare
Cost per hour is the price divided by the listed duration. It is the fastest way to see why an hour in the air and a nine-hour day on the road can carry similar price tags.
| 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 |
| From Oahu: Kauai Waimea Canyon and Koke’e Adventure TourFlies from Oahu for the day | 14 h | $576 | Flies from Oahu for the day | $41.14 | 4.8 · 4 |
| From Oahu: Kauai Waimea Canyon & Wailua River TourFlies from Oahu for the day | 14 h | $576 | Flies from Oahu for the day | $41.14 | 3.7 · 8 |
| 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 |
| Oahu to Kauai: Napali Coast Helicopter Tour & Waimea CanyonHelicopter, starting from Oahu | $1,249 | Helicopter, starting from Oahu | — | New |
Staying on Kauai and want only the trips that start there? Nine of the twelve do.
Tours that start on Kauai→Before you pay
This is the one thing worth checking on any Waimea Canyon tour sold from the air, because the listings do not all mean the same machine.
The $155 trip is a plane. The operator sells it as a deluxe air tour and its photographs show a small fixed-wing aircraft. That is why it costs a third of what the helicopters cost and carries more reviews than anything else here. If a window seat over the canyon and the coast is what you want, it is the obvious buy. If you pictured a helicopter, it is not that.
Three listings are helicopters. The 50-minute small-group flight at $449, the private hour at $425, and the 45 minutes out of Princeville at $539. The cheapest way into a helicopter here is $425; the most reviewed helicopter is the $449 flight, at 5.0 across 47 reviews.
The $1,249 listing carries no reviews at all. It is marked as a new activity and it is the most expensive thing on the table, so there is nothing yet to judge it by except its own description.
Book direct
The air tour, the two cheapest helicopters, and the three road days that stay on Kauai. Live listing prices and ratings.
★ 4.9 · 1,115 reviews
★ 5 · 47 reviews
★ 5 · 14 reviews
★ 4.2 · 20 reviews
★ 4.6 · 26 reviews
★ 4.7 · 73 reviews
Choosing
If you have one morning. Take the flight. Sixty-five minutes at $155 gives you the canyon and the coast and hands the rest of the day back to you. It is the cheapest Waimea Canyon tour here and the one with the longest review history behind it.
If you want to stand at the rim. Take a road day. The nine-hour state park listing at $187 spends the most of its length up top; the seven-hour days at $190 and $189 get you back earlier and pair the rim with the coast.
If you are buying the once-in-a-lifetime version. The doors-off private hour at $425 is rated 5.0 and is the only listing here that mentions flying with the doors off. The private nine-hour day at $1,085 is the ground equivalent, at 4.9 across 6 reviews.
If you are based on Oahu. Two 14-hour listings at $576 fly you across for the day and back. They are long and they are not cheap, and their ratings are the widest apart on the whole table — 4.8 across 4 reviews for one, 3.7 across 8 for the other. Read both descriptions before you choose between them.
Whichever Waimea Canyon tour you land on, the prices on this page are the live listing prices, and the ratings are the counts the listings were carrying in September 2026.
Common questions
From $155 for a 65-minute air tour, which is the cheapest listing here. Road day tours start at $187 for nine hours, helicopters start at $425 for a private hour, and the top of the table is $1,249 for the combined day from Oahu.
They show you different things. From the air you see the canyon whole and carry on to the Na Pali Coast in the same 45 to 65 minutes. On the road you stand at the lookouts on the rim and get a seven to nine and a half hour day that takes in the state park, the coast and several towns. Price per hour makes the flights look expensive and the road days look cheap, which tells you nothing about which one you would rather have done.
By volume, the $155 air tour: 1,115 reviews at 4.9, where the next best-reviewed listing has 73. By score, two listings sit at 5.0 — the $449 helicopter flight with 47 reviews and the $425 private flight with 14.
No. The $155 trip is sold as a deluxe air tour on a fixed-wing plane, and that is a large part of why it costs what it does. The helicopter listings are $425, $449 and $539.
Between 45 minutes and 14 hours. The flights are 45, 50, 60 and 65 minutes. The road days that stay on Kauai run seven, nine or nine and a half hours. The two that start on Oahu run 14 hours, because a flight to Kauai and back is built into the day.
Yes, on three listings. Two are 14-hour road days at $576 that fly you over from Honolulu in the morning, run the canyon and the state park or the Wailua River, and fly you back. The third is the $1,249 combined listing, which is new and has no reviews yet.
Reading the descriptions: Koke’e State Park and its lookouts, the Kalalau Lookout, Wailua River and the Fern Grotto, Spouting Horn, Hanapepe Town, Old Koloa Town, a nature walk and a coffee plantation. No two of the seven road listings stop at the same set, which is why it is worth reading the description rather than the price.
Go deeper
Tours that start on Kauai itself, and where each one picks you up.
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