And the answer is, that depends.

A concierge or an activity agent can be really helpful if you are not sure which activities would suit you best.  They are very knowledgeable regarding things to do on the island, and if they are good they will really work with you to try to find the things you might enjoy given your age, health, time constraints or overall enthusiasm!

But, the concierge and the activity agent all work for a commission, about 20 to 30% of your ticket price. So, unfortunately sometimes that means they are trying to sell you the highest priced ticket regardless of your personal interest.  Fortunately that does not always happen.  We work with many excellent agents who sell our tour, even though it is so much less than the helicopter tour which means less commission for them, but they sell it anyway because they know their client will enjoy it!  In this regard I would particulary like to thank Expedia and Tom Barefoot's Tours - their agents have really gone to bat for us!

And the best news is that in the past five years the customer forum sites on the internet, such as Trip Advisor and Yelp and Cruise Critic have really changed things dramatically for small vendor operators such as Wings Over Kauai!  Now many, if not most, visitors to the islands have researched and read forums and learned directly from honest and legitimate customers what is good and what is not so good.  Because reviewers to these sites have nothing to gain, such as a commission, they are giving the most honest and direct opinion of everything on the island, including air tour operators.  And somehow we just got really lucky and our reviews have been incredible!

So here is my suggestion.  If you already know of an activity which you would like to do, or a company which you would like to use, then if possible just book direct.  That way you might get a better price, a discount, or something and you will also know that all of your ticket price is going to the vendor.  If you find a web site which is selling Wings Over Kauai tours for less than my advertised price please let me know, as I am trying to end that practice, and I will match any price that you find. They are just taking it off of their commission and then underselling me, not a very nice thing to do.

One more amazing consequence, I think, of these forums, is that the increase in direct bookings because of the forums allows us, the vendor, to keep our prices low as we pay very little for print advertising and we pay very little on commissions.  So a win win for all!  You review us, others read it, prices stay low!  Bruce and I have said many times - Hallelujah Trip Advisor!

After couch surfing for about a month, relying on the kindness of college buds, he has his own place again.   Fortunately it is only temporary as he will be home for the holidays and has opted to stay in Hawaii rather than return to the bitter cold winter weather of Montana!  At some point he must move to LA, where all film makers must migrate to sooner or later, and look for more permanent work.

But thank you again for all your kind words, meant alot to all of us here at Wings!

Aloha,

Ellen

This is a video of our son, Carter's, house in Montana on fire a couple of days ago!  Yikes!  I am in Montana now to help him regroup and Bruce is holding down the fort on Kauai.  I'm still on the computer and phone answering any questions you might have and working to make your bookings in a timely manner. 

Missing Kauai alot as the temperature drops to 46 degrees tonight!  I haven't seen that temp for a long time, and believe me I am not prepared!  Can't wait to get back to the warm sunshine back home.

Aloha for now, Ellen

There were six of us there that morning: David Griffiths, Sophia Senter, Royden Kabazawa, Mimi Olry, Steve from Surfrider Foundation Net Patrol and myself.  And quite honestly we could have done with six or seven more!  Whew, it was hard work.  We spent hours in the hot sun sawing through nylon cargo nets, fishing lines, fishing nets and gear, all knotted up and wrapped around unidentifiable chunks of plastic trash.  And what did we find to be the best tool of trade? Plain old steak knives, just like ones you would use to sit down to dinner, but this was a dinner like no other!  We had to cut bits of rope one at a time, with one person cutting, and one pulling, sweat pouring off our brow, just to get a small handful free, then cut some more, pull some more, finally get a chunk free, and haul it further up the rocks to get it out of the surf, then dig in again, wrangle and cut, until finally, hours later as the sun hit full noon, we had hauled about 1000 pounds of net off of that reef.

We were able to get the entire pile off of the coral just before the tide came up and washed over the site.  And we were then so lucky because as we got all of the ropes to the top of the cliff onto the walking path which circles the resort, Royden found one of the security guards from The Point, a young boy named Daryl Martin who came to our aid with a golf cart pulling a wagon.  He helped us load the pile into his cart and drove it to our truck about a hundred yards away in the nearby parking lot.  Good thing too, because honestly we were so exhausted by that time I really don't think we were gonna get it any further without him.  Once we got it into the truck, Steve, drove it up to Anahola.  Surfrider Foundation's Net Patrol ships them over to Oahu, and there they are incinerated, since they are plastic, and used for fuel by the power company.  A win-win all the way around!

We then followed the path along the shore and walked to the next large cove, not far, maybe 10 or 15 minutes away, to a similar sized bay, with no one there at all.  We planted ourselves in the sand and almost right away a juvenile monk seal came up and plopped down beside us.  With a broad smile on his face he rolled on his back and fell asleep basking in the warm spring sunshine.

We later snorkeled from south heading north and pretty much covered the entire bay.  There were enormous coral heads in the bay, but the waters were murky and there was a great deal of coral degredation due to sediment.  The north end of the bay was clearer and the coral healthier so if you didn't want to swim that far you might just walk up to that side and jump in.  There was a bit of a current heading from north to south so it took us no time to get back!

All in all a lovely day and I have to thank my friend Sheila, of Hale o Nanakai, for sharing it with me.

Many folks like to take it easy and do just the air tour with us on their day in port, particularly folks who are on the Golden Princess or other ships that only dock for one day here.  And we make it as easy as possible by picking them up down by the ship and bringing them up to the airport.  Our 65 to 70 minute Grand Deluxe tour gives them a great overview of this truly spectacular scenery.  And altogether the excursion takes two hours.  And when we return folks to the ship we can, if they would like, drop them off at the Marriott entrance so they can have a lovely stroll through the gardens and along the beach as they head back to their ship.  The walk is about 30 to 40 minutes and alot of folks seem to enjoy it.

Alot of folks want to combine the air tour with another activity while they are here.  Many will rent a car and cruise up to the north shore to stop at the lighthouse and enjoy the beauty of Hanalei or maybe even go all the way to the very end of the road at Kee Beach.

If you want to leave the driving to someone else then you can take a land tour with one of several companies. I have met Ephraim who owns Aloha Discovery Kauai Tours and he is the nicest guy and the most reasonably priced.  You will see the Waimea Canyon from the plane but his $45 land tour gives you another aspect of it.  He doesn't do a north shore tour to the light house but others do, such as Polynesian Adventure Tours.  

If you want to do ziplining or atv rides or tubing down the old ditch system, the contact Tom Barefoot's agents via his web site.  They have done everything over here and really know how to set you up for the day, and we often work together to help you figure out transportation. 

I hope this helps and I know there is more.  Please if you have any questions post them on the Talk Story page and I will get to them right away, or shoot me an email or give me a call.  Glad to try and help. 

Well we knew that wouldn't do because Danny and Jayne needed to get a bit spiffed up at their hotel, the KuhioShores which abuts the BeachHouse, or at the very least they needed to change out of their bathing suits before dinner!  So Shane quickly changed gears and rushed them into the smaller plane, the Cessna, and immediately took them up for a beautiful, private, and romantic tour of the island.  They landed with only minutes to spare, rushed to their room, changed, and made it to dinner on time!  But.....then the next day Jayne sends me this photo.

In all the hubbub and running around Danny was sitting on an engagement ring, waiting for the right moment to propose to Jayne on the grassy lawn fronting the restuarant and overlooking the lovely Lawai bay as the sun was just setting into the ocean.

Thank you Jayne for sharing this, and thanks to Danny for letting us be a part of this incredible day!  Good luck and best wishes from Ellen, Shane, Maren and Carter.

It is best described as an underwater Jurassic Park, because I have a fascination with evolution, and particularly marine organisms.  And it is set in Hawaii, which also sits near to my heart.

I'd be happy to tell more if anyone is interested.  Just post a comment or go to Talk Story page and post a comment there.  It is available on Amazon and I will also shortly have it available for sale here in our office.

Check it out, I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Mahalo,

Ellen

After many years away, Andrew Collier, a research geneticist, returns home and although he plans to leave his work behind, he cannot, and instead puts together a makes-shift lab in one of the run down outbuildings on the ranch.  Unwittingly, he sets off a chain of events resulting in underwater action not seen since Jaws!  For a truly remarkable thriller which unfolds against the idyllic backdrop of Hawaii, this book is a must read.

I'll keep you posted as to when it's available.

Ellen

Our web host provider is ipower.com and I really need to find a better one.  Am open to all suggestions please because at least three times a year, or more, something goes really, seriously wrong with my web site and I have had enough!

We have fixed it now, but yesterday the host provider suddenly dropped my re-direct and sent you all back to my old site, which is not secure because I no longer use it.  I do apologize if you tried to book with us and found it to be too difficult, and please do feel free to send me an email anytime if you feel more confident booking direct.  We do not require credit cards to hold reservations, as we have learned that folks are really honest, and they always honor the booking unless something comes up and they can't make it and we would never have charged them anyway.  Bruce says I am too nice and will get burned, but so far you have proven him wrong!