I decided to take the helicopter tour, which was another first for me. This is my first time to ride a helicopter, add in with doors off and over a live active volcano! What else can one ask for, for a once-in-a-lifetime experience? Although excited, I have always been a bit wary of my height phobia but surprisingly, I was not at all worried during the whole ride. It probably helped that I had shoulder straps too in addition to the waste belts since I was sitting on the right front side of the helicopter. There was probably only one tiny second when I first looked directly below me through the open door when the chopper was turning right that I had a slight phobia attack, probably because of the strong winds too, but succeeding looks were not a problem. I even wanted to sit facing the side if I could instead to get a better glimpse of things but the type of chopper we had, had seats all facing front.
During the orientation, we were surprised to see a lot of people at the airport, and even more surprised to see that they didn't have anything else aside from their shorts, sleeveless shirts, and slippers. And here we were, looking like idiots with our long-sleeved shirts, closed shoes, and even a jacket in warm tropical Hawaii. But it turned out we were the smart ones. The couple that rode with us was not prepared since they didn't know about the doors-off option. Apparently, they booked at the last minute, so they weren't given a choice, so they had to put doors on their seats. Even if they wanted to pay extra, the staff wouldn't allow them up cause they said they would freeze without the proper clothing. So our chopper was half doors off, hahaha! Luckily they have those easily removable and reattachable doors. But it didn't matter to us cause we were in front anyway and still had the full experience of doors off.
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| Doors off Helicopter with the doors left behind |
