Vacation in Kauai !! (READ PLEASE) !!!

Joined
Dec 10, 2015
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Age
28
Hey everyone ! Im a semi-begginer in drones cause i had it for sometime now... Anyways Im leaving to Kauai, Hawaii on saturday going to be there for 7 days ! I got 3x PolarPro Filter pack with me & I was just wondering, Which is the best filter to use on a daily basis ? Also any Locals from there, What do you reccomend are beautiful places to get a ariela footage off ? Because I can tell the entire Island itself is beautiful !!! Anyways thanks for your guys time !
-Andy

P.S I have a DJI P3S
 
Here's what Polar Pro recommends for their filters:

PP.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: jointeffort
LoFor flying over the ocean. Polarized filter for sunny days to to reduce glare and get depth beyond the surface. Use the recommended above based on conditions. As for locations. Napli coast, waimea canyon, Polihali state beach. Keep in mind and be on the look out for helicopter tours flying at or below the canyon or ridge line levels. If you are going to film the canyons I would hike down in the canyons and keep your altitude to a minimum. Plenty of sugar cane and coffee fields but have a pass for those areas and seek permission when taking off from private property. The waimea river, the only navigable river in Hawaii would be another spot. Someone here posted a video off of poipu beach with humpback whales and dolphins playing together. When filming whales make sure you read the federal laws on "taking" a whale to insure you do not violate the "harassment" clause. NOAA has recommendations which are out of date where small uavs are concerned. A somewhat local place to get cool aerials would be Kipu falls. You can jump off the falls and there is a rope swing.
 
Last edited:
You might want to even contact one of the tour companies and ask them were to avoid any conflict with their tours and restrictions. In the canyon if you were to launch from common view points I will tell you the helicopters fly well below the places tourist go to visit the canyons.
 
LoFor flying over the ocean. Polarized filter for sunny days to to reduce glare and get depth beyond the surface. Use the recommended above based on conditions. As for locations. Napli coast, waimea canyon, Polihali state beach. Keep in mind and be on the look out for helicopter tours flying at or below the canyon or ridge line levels. If you are going to film the canyons I would hike down in the canyons and keep your altitude to a minimum. Plenty of sugar cane and coffee fields but have a pass for those areas and seek permission when taking off from private property. The waimea river, the only navigable river in Hawaii would be another spot. Someone here posted a video off of poipu beach with humpback whales and dolphins playing together. When filming whales make sure you read the federal laws on "taking" a whale to insure you do not violate the "harassment" clause. NOAA has recommendations which are out of date where small uavs are concerned. A somewhat local place to get cool aerials would be Kipu falls. You can jump off the falls and there is a rope swing.

Hey Helijoc Thanks for this advice Im already adding some locations you mention as I already had some that you mentioned ! :) But for the Waimea Canyon I will be visiting but was told and read alot online that it is restricted to fly there because it is a National Park so I was kinda bummbed about that or is it possible? & I did see that whale/dolphin video you were speaking about ! I am also excited about that and hope to just catch that even with my own eyes because I am taking a boat tour !! Im crossing my fingers the weather on Napli coast will be okay because I read its often restricted on rain days cause of waves and stuff. Also for the pass you mention, do you mean just verbally asking the owners if it is okay to take off from the certain property I am in ? Thanks again !
 
I am heading there myself, too soon. I was concerned not only about the helos but also the 5 mi radius around airports. Any others have advice/suggestions on how to stay out of trouble flying on Kauai? I assume flying in any state/national parks are blocked?

I would also like to know how windy is it over there? All the time? no more than any other location? I'm still trying to decide if it's worth taking my P3A over for my week vacation.
 
Hi- see this video. The locations I filmed are in the comments. Avoid the lighthouse during business hours as security told me I couldn't fly here due to "federal property". But it was after I got my shots :)
PM me if you want some more tips. There are no restrictions for state parks, but just avoid going during busy times so people don't complain. You'll want to use PP ND8-16 for shots throughout the day except high noon. That may require ND32. I rarely film during that time.
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
I am heading there myself, too soon. I was concerned not only about the helos but also the 5 mi radius around airports. Any others have advice/suggestions on how to stay out of trouble flying on Kauai? I assume flying in any state/national parks are blocked?

I would also like to know how windy is it over there? All the time? no more than any other location? I'm still trying to decide if it's worth taking my P3A over for my week vacation.

Hey teaman, im actually here already I landed yesterday and pretty much there is alot of open space to take off ! As I was told by some locals just avoid driving into small private property roads and stuff ! But so far I got some small clips but it is beautiful. and for the state national parks Idk yet I havent attempted to fly yet but will soon :)
 
Hi- see this video. The locations I filmed are in the comments. Avoid the lighthouse during business hours as security told me I couldn't fly here due to "federal property". But it was after I got my shots :)
PM me if you want some more tips. There are no restrictions for state parks, but just avoid going during busy times so people don't complain. You'll want to use PP ND8-16 for shots throughout the day except high noon. That may require ND32. I rarely film during that time.
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Holy **** that is beautifulll !!!!! Damm I don't think mine will come out this nice just because I only have about 3 months flying :( hahah But I will be using the intelligent flight modes to help on it ! hahaha Im so hyped now ! & Thanks alot of the advice for the filters !! Question, Those mountain shots did you hike up for those ? And what trail was it ? Thank you ! Also for the video settings do I leave everything on Auto ? I only have ND4, ND8, Polirizar so those should work ?
 
I did not hike anywhere. Was able to drive nearby and just take off. I use Log mode and custom settings as I correct in Post. The green mountains (kalalau valley) is deep inside Kauai. Watch out for winds. I lost my first P3P there due to a wind gust shift and batt cell issue. Ordered another quickly to capture the shots shown in the vids (1:25 min mark). Pu’u O Kila Lookout
Pihea Trail, Kapaa, HI 96746
Google Maps

The red Waimea canyon (1:06 min mark) is on the way up there. I took off just outside the state park from one of the highway lookouts.

There are also some canyons and coastal mountains accessible from the west side of island at Polihale state park. It's a dirt road for several miles at the end and Rental cars insurance isn't covered. But it's beautiful, quiet and you can get great shots where I have yet to see drone footage. Most of mine was lost due to a damaged gimbal, but you can see one shot at 1:16min mark.
Polihale State Park
Hwy 50, Waimea, HI 96796
Google Maps
 
I did not hike anywhere. Was able to drive nearby and just take off. I use Log mode and custom settings as I correct in Post. The green mountains (kalalau valley) is deep inside Kauai. Watch out for winds. I lost my first P3P there due to a wind gust shift and batt cell issue. Ordered another quickly to capture the shots shown in the vids (1:25 min mark). Pu’u O Kila Lookout
Pihea Trail, Kapaa, HI 96746
Google Maps

The red Waimea canyon (1:06 min mark) is on the way up there. I took off just outside the state park from one of the highway lookouts.

There are also some canyons and coastal mountains accessible from the west side of island at Polihale state park. It's a dirt road for several miles at the end and Rental cars insurance isn't covered. But it's beautiful, quiet and you can get great shots where I have yet to see drone footage. Most of mine was lost due to a damaged gimbal, but you can see one shot at 1:16min mark.
Polihale State Park
Hwy 50, Waimea, HI 96796
Google Maps

Im heading to Polihale State Park in a bit Im going to see how the weather is like in wind wise ! Thanks alot for all your information Im screen shoting all of these and keeping it with me at all times. I dont wanna to lose mine since I dont think I have the money to replace it ! hahaha But Im going to take it easy as I am a beginner :) Waimea Caynon is my goal to get a shot I'll be there Wednesday early in the morning to make it happen but yes Im crossing my fingers !! haha
 
andeeec, thanks for the updates on your adventures going on now. 2nd2non thanks for the tips. I welcome any additional suggestions and tips you might have on where to go and where you can't go. I know what you mean about state parks and avoiding people, as I had a bad experience at a state park in Oregon. Hikers thought the drone was a swarm of bees and chewed me out stating the park prohibited drones. I hadn't seen the signs on my way in but on the way out I did see them. Fortunately, the park service people didn't come after me. But makes me more careful about where I go.

Also concerned about private property and people taking pot shots with a shotgun or something. It seems you could waste a lot of time running around trying to find owners of property.

I can imagine wind being a problem on the island. Hearing of your loss doesn't put that concern to rest. Helos flying low in the canyon sounds challenging. Guess it pays to keep eyes and ears alert.
 
Last edited:
Im heading to Polihale State Park in a bit
Would love to see any raw video from here. Most of my footage was garbage due to a damaged gimbal. Was only able to salvage a small clip. Try to fly north along the coast or east into the red canyons. Will be beautiful. Be careful when driving out there as there are lots of potholes in the dirt road.
 
Would love to see any raw video from here. Most of my footage was garbage due to a damaged gimbal. Was only able to salvage a small clip. Try to fly north along the coast or east into the red canyons. Will be beautiful. Be careful when driving out there as there are lots of potholes in the dirt road.

Hey 2nd2non, So I am back from my vacation sorry for the late response I was enjoying it as you can see haha, But overall experience flying it there was amazing. I learned that you can almost pull over anywhere and send the drone off to get some nice footage. Unfortunally I had alot of tweaky footage because my camera decied to mess up on me in this trip I was constantly getting "gimbal overload" and my camera would get stuck ! I am
sending it to DJI this week ! I was able to get a couple seconds of the Polihale but compared to your shots I know they are not as well :( haha But I will leave a link here as soon as I edit some clips and put it up I am all new too this so go easy on me lol I appreciate all the helpful tips tho honestly ! And the road to that beach was horrible !!! hahahaha But lucky we had a suv that was all wheel drive :) ! So no biggie ! I wish I was alble to fly it in a couple more spots but our days were filled with tours so on my next trip I will find more
time for drone shots :)
 
Having lived and worked on different Hawaii islands over the years and before drones came out I loved all of them but preferred Lanai because of the high and steep cliffs which allowed me to sit on a cliff's edge and watch humpbacks swimming and breaching, which is totally awesome. Regardless of island, rent yourself a jeep or any suv with four wheel drive so you can go and drive those lost roads and find out of the way spots and then send up your drone if your not sure where the hell you are and have a bird's eye view. Remember to record every bit of your flights, from beginning to end, from takeoff to landing and everything in between and then download that to your laptop and get a clear SD card. Never know what you might record.
 

Recent Posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,352
Members
104,933
Latest member
mactechnic