What do you see on a 45 minute Kauai helicopter tour? — featuring John Warren

0:00 As we're flying around today, we're going to make a video of the flight for you. We have three cameras outside the helicopter. One more right up here. Everybody give me a shotgun a smile for the camera real quick. Now, all of you got your seat belts on low and tight. Right. Okay. Everybody watch a safety

0:13 video, right? And everybody can hear me. You're not just nodding your heads at me. Yeah. You ready to go have some fun? >> Okay. [Music] like nothing's going to come. >> All right, let's get out of here. I do have to turn the mics off for a few minutes, but once we get away from the

0:39 airport, we're going to get them right back on. Okay, here we go, everybody. Let's go have some fun. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]

1:04 [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]

1:35 Heat. Heat. in the twilight spreading out of wings. She got you jumping off the deck,

2:00 shoveling in the dry. [Music] Baby to you until you get it already.

2:26 [Music] >> All right. Everybody doing all right? Doing good. Good. Glad to hear it. So, I got a few things to go over with everybody before we really kick things off for this flight. Let's start off with a game plan for today. So, we're going to head down the Honlay River Valley here through the center of the

2:47 island and out to the southshore. On the south side of the island, we're going to look at the Hannipe Valley in the Wame Canyon and then we'll work our way out to the west side where a little thing called the Nepali Coast is at and back here towards the north shore. Okay, I'm going to do my very best along the way

3:04 to find some waterfalls for you. I might know where there's a few on the island. We're going to do a lot of turning today for the three of you in the back. Make sure we get you an equally good view of all the highlights as we're headed around the island. And we are probably going to feel some bumps flying around

3:19 today. Nothing major or scary or anything along those lines, but it is very common to feel the helicopter go up and down some as we're flying fairly close to the terrain for these tours. What we're actually experiencing when we feel bumps in the helicopter is when the wind hits the cliffs, it gets ramped up,

3:34 turns into a wave, just like an ocean on the coast. Got a rainbow going right here. So, you know how when you're swimming in the ocean, your body goes up and down with the waves? That's what the helicopter will do is go up and down with the waves. So, if we feel any bumps today, it's nothing to worry about. The

3:48 helicopter is doing exactly what it's designed to do, and I promise we are completely safe. Now, this rainbow right here signifies good luck and prosperity in the Hawaiian culture. So, that means the five of you are good luck for this flight. Right now, we're coming into Honlay here. This

4:06 valley gets a lot of water runoff. So, we're actually going to see waterfalls on both sides of the valley as we work our way towards the center of the island here. The last thing I have for everybody, let's talk about the microphone. So, there's two things with the microphones I like to tell

4:21 everybody. The first thing is please do not be bashful with the microphones. Use them as much as you would like. All right. The other thing is there's a trick to it. When you hit the button to talk, make sure you put it right up to your mouth, almost touching your lips. If it's any further away from your mouth

4:36 than that, we're going to have a very hard time understanding what you're saying. Okay. So, let's give them mics a shot. Where's everybody from? >> New York. New York. What part of New York? >> Manhattan. >> Manhattan. All right. >> Philly. >> Philly. Okay, John. >> Missouri. >> Missouri. All right. I knew there was

4:57 going to have to be one oddball in the mix. You got a bunch of East Coasters and then What part of Missouri are you in? >> West Plains, Missouri. Third generation San Diego though, dude. >> Yeah. No, I definitely get you. [Music] >> Another rainbow going. Welcome to Hawaii everybody. I hope

5:21 you're all enjoying your vacation. [Music] >> Now, the mountain out in front of us that disappears into the clouds is Mount We Ali Ali. That's the center of Kawaii and one of the rainiest places in the world. That mountain gets over 450 in of rain every single year. Broke the Guinness Book of World Records in 1982

5:41 with 714 in of rain that year. That's just over 52 feet of rainfall. So, it literally rains on the island every single day. [Music] And that rainbow is actually good enough to be uh seen on our video cameras, which they're not always that bright, but nice. >> I think the the rainbow is following us.

6:05 >> Yeah. [Music] Well, this cloud cover that we have, we're actually should be very, very grateful for that. And this little bit of rain that we have, we're going to see more waterfalls today than what we'd see on a bright sunny day. I won't be fighting the glare of the sun to show

6:23 you the the islands. We'll get rainbows like we've already had. And you're going to see the coloring of the island a lot better under the cloud cover. So all these different shades of greens and browns and stuff when it's bright and sunny they kind of melt into one shade of green.

6:46 [Music] >> Now we're almost to the Wali Ali Crater which is the remnants of the volcano that built the island. All the Hawaiian islands were built by shielded volcanoes, which means there was four walls and a lava lake down below it. We're about to go fly where that lava lake once was here on the island 3

7:07 million years ago. So, there's no chance you're going to see any lava today. You got to go to the big island for that. But, I got a hunch we'll see a waterfall or two. [Music] >> This is amazing. Whoa. [Music] So cool.

7:32 >> I agree. Well, how about uh we show you one of the highlights of the island. So here we go into the Wali Ali crater. So down below us here was the crater. Three million years ago, this was a lava lake. [Music]

8:10 [Music] [Music]

8:44 Oh. Season, [Music] >> you have a pretty cool job. >> I agree. [Music]

9:13 We are in [Music] season. [Music] We are season. [Applause] [Music]

9:42 [Music] >> I never knew something could be that beautiful. >> I'm going to tell you, you picked a great time to come flying. On a normal day, there's less than 10 waterfalls in here. We had a big rain shower that came through last night into this morning, but discounted 47 waterfalls.

10:01 So, and this morning when I flew, so we keep the helicopter in La Hoy, right out in front of us. I flew up this morning and this was completely walled off. I didn't know that we could get into it. That's why I didn't say we were going there when we took off. So, you timed your flight out literally just right.

10:19 [Music] So, how many guys are in line for jobs that have licenses? >> So, one more time, you got to put a little closer. >> How many guys are in line for, you know, try applying for jobs like this without licenses? >> Um, you know, the crazy thing is it's really hard to get people to move out

10:43 here. So, they had to actually do this. Um, honestly, I came out here. here. I was flying for a sheriff's department in southern Utah before I came out here. And I grew up on Aahu, so I was all for moving out here. Brought my wife and kids out here on vacation. Visited an old friend, also a pilot here on the

11:01 island, but uh worked with before. And my wife's like, I could live here. End up doing some job interviews while I was here on vacation. Left with competing job offers. Two months later, we lived here. So, cuz my wife and son said they were packing when we got home. I was like, well, here we go.

11:17 You ain't got to threaten me with a good time. Here we are. So, we're pushing three years. So, now my wife and I are both military children and we're both retired army. So, we logistics of moving out in the middle of the ocean was like, "All right, we know how to do this. We can do

11:34 that. >> Thanks for your service." >> Well, thank you. >> I want to do it again in a heartbeat. So, I had a blast. Well, everybody, we got the Southshore straight out in front of us. Is everybody staying on the Northshore, Sean Hotel? Yeah. Okay. Well, if you find yourself out here on the south

11:52 side, go take a look at Pu Poo Beach Park. Okay. So, then that's the best beach on the island to see green sea turtles come up on the beach, especially around sunset. Uh, so an example of this is my mom was in town last week. She just left yesterday, but we took her out there last Wednesday at 5:00 there was

12:08 six turtles on the beach. By 7:00 there was 32. Okay. So, uh, from the Princeville area, it's about a hour and a half drive somewhere in there, but there's some restaurants across the street. You can make an evening of it. There's also a great beach to just hang out, snorkel, swim if you want to make a

12:24 day of it. It's a a really good spot to go hang out. Get on the negative, just the positivity. And it's a beautiful day. And it's a beautiful day. We're always trying to satisfy these wants and needs.

12:49 Take you some time for that king of peace. When your eyes are open, you see things differently. [Music] [Applause] There's so much blue behind the reality. [Music] It's just a beautiful day.

13:16 >> We got the Hana Pepe Valley coming up. We got another waterfall in here we're going to go take a look at. It's the most famous one on the island known as Jurassic Falls. Yeah. Take a look into the sky. >> Take a look into the sky. >> Keep your head up high. Keep your head up high.

13:38 >> Look into the sky. >> It's just a beautiful day. >> Are there animals that live up here? >> Yeah. So, we have a lot of feral pigs and mountain goats throughout the island. We do have a limited number of blacktail deer here in Kawaii. And then we have this really elusive animal

13:55 that's really hard to find. Surprises everybody when they see them. We call them chickens. You haven't seen any chickens on the island, right? A couple thousand of them. [Music] >> But we have no natural predators on the island or apex predators. That's why we have so many chickens.

14:18 All right, everybody. Tracy Jurassic Falls. Waterfall got its name from the very first Jurassic Park movie. About 20 minutes into the movie, they land a helicopter right in front of that waterfall right there. Now, its actual name is Monovia Puna. And there's a few extra waterfalls in

14:37 here that I came and turned on on my way to work just for the five of you. [Music] Got another rainbow off our left here. [Music]

15:02 [Applause] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat.

15:27 [Music] [Applause] We're going to take a look at a few more waterfalls called the Apricily Falls. So, we're going to bring these down the left side for John first and then we'll

15:53 turn for everybody else. So coming down the left, these are the Cahilis. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

16:19 [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Another rainbow. [Music] Well, let's head out to the Yime Canyon. Yime is also known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

16:45 Now, are any of you celebrating anything on this trip other than just getting away on a vacation? >> We've got a honeymoon and a birthday. >> A honeymoon and a birthday. Okay. Well, whose birthday? >> Michael's birthday was 2 days ago. >> Well, happy belated birthday. Congratulations on the honeymoon.

17:04 Any other celebration? >> Also our honeymoon. >> Also your honeymoon. All right. >> 15th anniversary. >> Okay. Well, John, pass this little tidbit on to your bride. Okay. And ladies, this applies to you. This was told to my wife the day we got married. For every 10 years of marriage, you get

17:20 put in for saintthood for dealing with them for that long. Okay. Now, that is with the assumption that the guys are fairly normal. If it's if they're like me, it's double time for you. And you're welcome to make your own calculations along the way. Okay. So, John can contest. Yeah.

17:42 John, congratulations on 50. That is uh life goals for me. That's uh I'm celebrating 21 with my bride on September. Is that 55? Oh, 15. Okay. I got uh I got 21 coming up in September. It goes so fast. It's crazy.

18:10 Well, here comes the old Kelly Valley. Okay, this one's for Gabby. [Music] So, the Hannip Pepe Valley that we just came out of, Ola Kelly, which is this valley right here, and the island in Ehow, which is this island off to our left. All three of these are privately

18:36 owned by one family. They're the Robinson family. They're the largest land owners in Kauaii with about 55,000 acres. Now, all this property was purchased in 1864 by the current owner's great great grandmother. She bought the island first to start a cattle company, which she did. It's still out there today. The

18:54 island's 41,000 acres, but there wasn't enough fresh water out there to support cattle all year round. So, she bought the two valleys for the water rights so she could supplement the water on Nihow when she needed to. She paid 10 grand for all 55,000 acres in 1864. Her family still owns all of it today.

19:12 little bit of return on that investment. The going rate on the island today for a developable acre is about 2 million. So over the rainbow blue and the dreams that you dream.

19:38 Now we're about to cross over the Robinson's property line into the Y man state park. So all this out in front of us is the park. >> And John, unlike the red dirt that you're used to in Missouri, this is all rust. So there is a lot of iron in volcanic soil as that sat on the surface. It's rusted over time.

20:01 [Music] You find me oh somewhere over the rainbow. >> There's three valleys that flow in Y man. The first of the three is directly out in front of us. It is called the Wii Valley. [Music]

20:28 Now, here in just a moment, once we get over the valley, look out the right side of the aircraft about eye level with us. You're going to see the top of a cascading waterfall. >> Dream of your fantasy. So, we're going to work our way around this rain shower and

20:54 we'll head out to an area of the island that's kind of boring, but I'm going to show it to you anyway. It's called the Nepali Coast. It's only the most photographed coastline in the entire world. So, >> spread your wings. Spread your wings and fly away. Fly to that star from my waterfall.

21:17 [Music] We're going to get a better view of Niha out here. So, that's the island I was saying it's owned by the Robinsons. So, today it is still a 41,000 acre cattle ranch, but there is about 200 residents that live out there full-time. It's the people who work that ranch and their

21:37 families. The Nihow is now the last place on Earth where all of the residents are full-blooded Hawaiian, and they still speak Hawaiian as their primary language on the island. [Applause] And then the beach right out in front of us here is Poly Holly State Park. So that's the end of the road here on the

21:55 southshore. This is the beach that's considered to be a desert. But to go from here to the north side, you have to go all the way around the east side of the island to get to it. Only about 10% of Kawaii is accessible by vehicle, which makes most of what we're seeing from the helicopter only uh visible from

22:11 the air. [Music] [Music] Is this anybody's first time to Kawaii? All right. What do you think so far? You

22:37 enjoying it? Yeah. >> This is the coolest experience of my entire life. I'm so glad you're enjoying it, Mike. I think that a lot. So, and I get to do this almost every day. [Music] Dream. [Music] [Applause]

23:06 >> Sorry, I should say second to Mary. Of course, that was the assumption already, right? Fly away. Fly away. Fly away. Help me free. [Applause] [Music]

23:48 [Music] So is that like the residence there or? >> No. So this is a radar station that belongs to the Navy. So this is the furthest west radar located within the United States. [Music] They they keeping an eye on North Korea. >> I'm sure they keep an eye on all kinds of stuff. Uh the uh Chinese weather

24:14 balloons that or balloons they were picked up there. Um but all this water out over here is called the Pacific Missile Range. So the only military installation on the island is a missile testing facility. So that's one of the primary uses of that. They shoot missiles out over the water. They track

24:30 them with the radar and then they go and retrieve them and run diagnostics. It's a lot of NASA testing out here. All right, everybody. Here comes the Nepali Coast. [Music] See, like I said, boring, right? [Music]

25:11 [Applause] [Music] Now, does anybody know what Nepali means in English? Well, this will blow your mind then. It means the cliffs. [Music] Now, we're coming into the new Alolo Valley. This valley is historically

25:36 significant since this is where they found the oldest human remains in all of Hawaii. Date back to about a th000 AD. Now, Hawaiian history is very young in the grand scheme of human history, but the very first inhabitants of Hawaii were right here on the Nepali. And it's believed that this valley may be the

25:51 location of the very first Hawaiian village. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause]

26:17 [Music]

26:44 Now down on our right there's a beach. If you look down towards the base, you're going to see light coming through an arch down here on the beach. That's called the Honapoo Sea Arch. That's the largest arch in Hawaii. It's about 90 ft tall. And then the beach is sacred. The only legal way to access it is to swim

26:59 it. [Music] This is where Hawaiian kings were buried from all the islands, not just from Kauaii. But the Hawaiians believe that the power of a person resided in their bones after they passed away. And they believed that somebody got a hold of the king's bones that could use his power

27:19 against him. So they didn't want that to happen. So the very best warrior would repel off the top of these cliffs and hide the king somewhere in the rocks. Once he laid the king to rest, he would cut his rope and fall to his death. That way he could not reveal where that king was located. One of the few times in

27:36 history it paid to be the number two warrior. Yeah, it was actually a great honor for him. They were a warrior society and it ensured that their families were very well taken care of for generations after their sacrifice. [Music] That story is amazing, but it almost sounds made up.

28:02 There's a lot of the legends and stuff around here, it's just like, man, that's crazy stuff. But if you travel throughout the Pacific Islands, a lot of it is carries over. The very first people that settled here were from the Marquesus Islands, just outside of Tahiti. [Music]

28:31 [Music] [Music] I know, Mike. It looks just like the Hudson, right? So,

29:02 now [Music] >> coming down our right side is a whole bunch of really jagged rock formations called the cathedrals. That's all of this right over here. run up and down my spine. There's a vision in my mind

29:27 of some place that's been before me. Hey, [Music] hey, above a stone, sacred ground.

29:52 Hey, [Music] Earth. >> And down below us here on the left side is the Kalao Beach. Now, you can actually hike out to this beach right here if you're looking for a great way to spend an afternoon. It's only an 11.7 mile hike, one way.

30:18 I'm sensing some nose on the hike there. The only one that looked excited was Kim. So, to do the hike, you got to get a permit. That permit gives you the ability to camp on the beach for up to five nights. So, at least you don't have to go down and back in one day. But don't feel bad.

30:36 I haven't done the hike either, and I have zero desire to do so. So, [Music] >> boats and helicopters get you out here a lot easier. [Music] This is the Kalao Valley. Largest valley on the Nepali. [Music]

31:01 >> Rain comes [Music] Heyo. Love [Music] sacred ground.

31:27 [Music] May the mother. [Music]

31:55 Now, we got a really large rock face over here called Hulu Lulu. It's very popular with boat tours cuz the caves at the bottom are actually big enough for them to drive boats into. One of them is the second largest sea cave in the world. That's this right here. [Music]

32:21 And then we have a small little beach area called TwoM Beach. It got that name cuz it's a two-mile hike from Ka, which is the beach up on the corner. So, somebody got really creative with the name on that. So, you got stuff like Ka Hulu Kalo and then TwoM Beach. It's like, all right, best I can figure is at

32:37 some point in time somebody couldn't pronounce on a copy ice. So, they had to come up some level easier. I don't really get it. All these Hawaiian names are super easy to pronounce, right, Alison? [Music] All right. So, we're going to come all the way around to the left, give everybody a grand view of the Nepali.

32:57 John, you're going to be up first as we come around here, brother. Uh, you'll be able to see Hulu Lulu and Hanakapia on your side as well.

33:26 [Music] Let me say let me go. Let me reach. Let me show you. Let me let me

33:54 [Music] let me >> We're coming back around the north shore here. So this first beach coming up on the right is called K Beach. This is part of Hyena State Park. So this is the end of the road here on the north shore. So to go from Poly Holly, the beach that's a desert to this beach right

34:12 here, which is only separated by the Nepali coast, you have to drive all the way around the other side of the island. So it's kind of crazy. [Music] It's just like that one section on Maui

34:38 to Hana. >> Yeah, the road to Hana. [Music] >> We got a really large horseshoe shape uh in the waves over here that's called Tunnels Beach. Tunnels is rated one of the best snorkeling spots in the world during the summer anyways. Not that great during the winter months when the waves are consistently in the 30 to 50

35:00 foot range out here. Just makes it to where it's not real fun to go swimming. You know what I mean? But you'll actually be able to see how it got its name of tunnels as we pass by. If you look between us and the waves there on the reef, you're going to see a bunch of lines in the rocks and the

35:15 coral underneath the water. Those lines are extinct lava tunnels. The water there is about 60 ft deep. But that gives you an idea of how clear the water is. [Music]

35:40 [Music] Say away. [Music] You guys really keep the windows so

36:05 clean in here. >> We try to. >> You can see everything. >> Well, this is one of the only helicopters that was specifically designed for tours as well. So, the size of the windows and all that kind of stuff were designed for tours in mind where most helicopters were designed for utility and they're like, "Hey, we can

36:26 throw seats in these." Yeah. >> Straight out in front of us is Princeville. If you follow the shoreline to the left, you'll see another reef where the waves are breaking offshore. That's a Nini Beach, which is also another great spot to go hang out and go snorkeling. And then you got the Kilaway

36:45 Peninsula with a Kilawaway lighthouse on the far end over there. That white roof right out in front of us, that's the one. >> What was the snorkeling spot over there? beach. >> You got Honlay Bay and Honlay Town right here. I'll give you and then Hon here has got a ton of great

37:11 restaurants. The beach is super nice. The beach was rated the ninth best beach in the world by a tourism magazine at the end of last year. [Music] This ridge line right here is known as the sleeping dragon or the dragon's back. It was made famous by the song Puff the Magic Dragon. This is where

37:33 they said that song was written. So, next to the town of Honi or Hon. >> Well, unfortunately everybody, we're almost back to the airport. Uh, it's just on the other side of town here. Any questions I can answer before we get back to the airport? >> Did Puff really live by the sea?

37:54 >> Yeah, sure did. The hippie communities that were on both sides at the time the song was written, I'm sure they were seeing Puff a lot. So, [Music] >> how about we throw in one extra waterfall before we head back? Okay. We got a really big one right over here

38:20 that you can actually see from Honlay Town. We'll go take a look at. Just a heads up everybody, this area of the island is kind of prone to be a little bumpy. Like I said before, if we feel any bumps, nothing to worry about. All right, that huge waterfall is coming up right over here.

38:36 [Music] Have you felt the power [Music] crers throwing lava in the air? >> None of you look very impressed with this waterfall. >> Well, I guess it's a good thing that that's the one we're going to go see.

39:04 >> So, Nam Moama is over 2,000 ft tall. We're actually getting very lucky to see the entire waterfall. Normally the cloud layer that's at the top of the mountain is about 500 ft lower than what it is today. So [Music] >> just proving the rainbows were good luck. [Music] Nothing in the world can compare.

39:30 [Music] This is a law. This is a law. >> John, here comes no comma for you. Oh, this land of worthy.

39:56 [Music] Have you felt the power? Mountain crater throwing lava in the

40:23 air. [Music] For its green sweat beauty from each island blossoms alone. Have you felt it? [Applause] >> Now we're coming back into the Honlay

40:48 Valley where we started this adventure. Unfortunately, we're almost back to the airport. And here in just a minute, I'm going to have to turn the mics off and make some radio calls to get us back into the airport. But before I turn the mics off, I just want to say big mahalo. Thank you very, very much for flying

41:04 with me today. I hope everybody has enjoyed seeing the island from the air. And if you come up with any question, go ahead. >> This was amazing. Thank you. >> I'm so glad you enjoyed it. And if anybody comes up with any other questions, just hold on to them for me for a few minutes and we'll have a

41:20 chance to chat a little bit more once we're on the ground. Okay? So, sit back and relax. We're going to be on the ground in just a few minutes. This is a Lord. This is a Lord. [Music] This is a Lord.

41:45 [Music] land of her. Have you seen these islands? [Music] [Music]

42:15 [Music] [Music] Some folks are born made to wave the flag that red, white, and blue. And when the man wave hail to the chief that point the cannon at you and y'all,

42:40 it ain't me. It ain't me. I ain't no senator song. It ain't me. It ain't me. I ain't no f on silver spoon and hand. Y don't help himself. But when the next man comes to the door

43:05 the house over like a ring say yeah ain't me [Music] I ain't no millionaire son Yeah, [Applause] [Music]

43:37 some folks in her hair star they send you down to when you ask them How much you forgive? Don't answer all me. Yeah. I ain't no m

44:03 I know what you want me. I know what you want.