20 minWaikiki 20-Minute
★ 4.9 · 33 reviews
- 20 minutes, over some of the island's sights
- Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head
- Cheapest here
- Free cancellation
$380
Check availability→ The short loop
Waikiki helicopter tour
The cheapest way into the air on Oahu is a twenty-minute loop over Waikiki, Diamond Head and Pearl Harbor. Here is exactly what it covers, what it leaves out, and when the longer flight is worth the extra.
What is the Waikiki helicopter tour?
A twenty-minute flight from Honolulu at $380 per person, doors on or doors off, covering the Waikiki skyline, Diamond Head crater, the reef and Pearl Harbor. It is the shortest and cheapest flight sold on Oahu, and it stays entirely on the island’s south shore.
The Waikiki flight at a glance
- Price
- $380Per person; the cheapest seat on Oahu
- Duration
- 20 minutesPlus check-in, briefing and weigh-in
- Covers
- Waikiki, Diamond Head, Pearl HarborThe whole south shore in one loop
- Does not cover
- The Pali cliffs, the windward coastThose need thirty minutes or more
- Doors
- On or off, your choiceDecided at check-in
- Rating
- 4.9 · 33 reviewsA modest but real sample
- Departure
- Honolulu, airport sideAbout twenty minutes by road from Waikiki
- Landings
- NoneNo Oahu flight lands
What you see
What twenty minutes actually covers
More than you would expect, because everything on the south shore is close together. You lift off, and within ninety seconds Waikiki is underneath: a thin strip of towers on a sandbar, with the reef running out in bands of jade and turquoise that end in a hard line of deep blue.
Diamond Head follows immediately, and it is the moment that sells the flight. From the beach it is a brown hump on the horizon. From above it resolves into a complete crater ring with a road spiralling into the bowl and a lighthouse on the seaward rim.
Then west along the coast to Pearl Harbor, where the harbour opens out grey-green and the Arizona memorial sits as a small white bar across a shape you can still make out in the water. The pilot usually goes quiet here. Then back over the city and down.
What you see
What it leaves out, and whether that matters
Everything green. The Koolau range, the vertical cliffs, the waterfalls that appear after rain, the windward coast with Kaneohe Bay and Mokolii — none of it is on this route. The flight never crosses the island.
Whether that matters depends on what you came for. If your mental image of an Oahu flight is Waikiki from above and Diamond Head as a crater, this delivers exactly that and lands before the morning is gone. If your mental image is green cliffs and waterfalls, this is the wrong flight and no amount of doors-off will fix it.
The upgrade path is short: $413 buys thirty minutes and reaches the Pali; $507 buys an hour and crosses the range properly.
Every tour, current fare
The Waikiki flight against the longer options
The step from twenty to thirty minutes is what gets you the green side.
Swipe sideways →
| Tour | Price | Door to door | Landings | Per minute | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waikiki 20-Minute | $380 | 20 min | None | $19.00 | 4.9 · 33 |
| Path to Pali, 30 Minutes | $413 | 30 min | None | $13.77 | 5.0 · 107 |
| Oahu 60-Minute, Doors Off | $507 | 60 min | None | $8.45 | 4.9 · 453 |
Book direct
Book the short loop
Both offer doors on or doors off. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
20 min
30 minPath to Pali, 30 Minutes
★ 5.0 · 107 reviews
- 30 minutes, on a Path to Pali tour
- Private or shared tour
- Waikiki skyline, Diamond Head, Makapu'u Point
- Free cancellation
$413
Check availability→ Common questions
Waikiki helicopter tours, answered
How much is a Waikiki helicopter tour?
$380 per person for twenty minutes, doors on or doors off. It is the cheapest helicopter seat sold on Oahu.
What does the Waikiki helicopter tour cover?
The Waikiki skyline, Diamond Head crater from directly above, the reef, and Pearl Harbor with the Arizona memorial. It stays on the south shore of the island.
Does the Waikiki flight go over the Pali cliffs?
No. Twenty minutes stays on the south shore. The shortest flight that reaches the Pali cliffs is the thirty-minute Path to Pali tour at $413.
Does the Waikiki helicopter tour leave from Waikiki?
No. It leaves from the airport side of Honolulu, roughly twenty minutes by road from the Waikiki hotels. Check whether your listing includes a transfer.
Is twenty minutes long enough?
For the south shore, yes — everything there is close together. For the green windward side, no: that needs at least thirty minutes and properly an hour.
Can you do the Waikiki flight doors off?
Yes. Doors on or doors off is offered on this flight like every other one here, and the choice is normally made at check-in.
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