Helicopter Maui tour motion sickness?
 

We will be going to Maui in June for our anniversary. My husband wants to take the helicopter tour, but I get motion sickness quite easy,(the flight over will be challenging) but would like to do the tour if I can. I've never flown in a helicopter before. Is there more motion sickness with a helicopter as opposed planes, or cars? Any feedback would help. I don't want to waste the money and be really sick, but I want to have fun! Any advice? Thanks, Deb

I don't know how helpful this will be but we passed on the Kauai helicopter tours this summer because two family members are prone to motion sickness. I had heard it IS a problem on the helicopter tours. But hopefully you'll get some feedback from people who actually did such tours.

my bf got a lil motion sickness on our Kauai heli tour. He had the front seat and about halfway through he started feeling it. It was a great tour and not rough, and he has no problems on planes but does get motion sickness on small boats and as we have now found, helicopters. Nevertheless, he's glad he took the tour because we both felt it was the experience of a lifetime, but he's also glad he won't have to do it again. If you call the tour company maybe they can recommend something to take.

This probably varies a lot from one person to another. I get motion sickness from time to time, but have never had a problem with it on a helicopter, and my ex is a heli pilot, so I've been on quite a few flights. I think they are much easier than small planes.

Haven't experienced it personally but a friend is very prone to motion sickness (can't ride in the back of a car) and was very sick...don't want to discourage you but I'd hate for you to spend all that money and not enjoy it.

My Mom gets very motion sick, and she spent the entire helicopter tour with her eyes closed because she was about to be sick. Somehow, we managed to convince her to try a fixed-wing tour, and she was a little better, but not much, even with Dramamine.

Tell hubby that he can go on the tour by himself and you'll pick him up afterwards! ;-)

We did the West Maui/Molokai helicopter tour. My boyfriend and I both started feeling it about half to 3/4 of the way out. I would definitely take a motion sickness pill before getting on a helicopter again.

I just posted my trip report here, which you might find helpful.

I too am prone to motion sickness (except on trains)and always wear 'travel bands' which work on accupressure points on the wrists. They have never let me down on helicopters, boats, planes, cars, coaches etc.

The one time I didn't have them (having stupidly packed them in my luggage) I spent three hours throwing up on a transatlantic flight. It was so bad the attendants had to get me s sleepsuit from 1st class to wear as I needed a change of clothes.

They could be worth a try.

Not to be discouraging, but even reading the title of this post made me woozy!

Hi Deblynn,

My husband and I went on a helicopter tour in Kauai last summer and I am also very prone to motion sickness. However, I took some Bonine (similar to Dramamine) and did not find it to be nearly as bad as a car or bus. I know it would have been a lot harder without the medication!! The ride was definitely worth it and I am very glad that we went!! Have fun!

I am probably the world's worst passenger - getting motion sickness very easily. Before we took our 3 week trip to Hawaii I asked my doctor for a prescription for TRANSDERM SCOPE - a small patch you wear behind your ear (I got the suggestion from this message board). I was able to do ANYTHING w/o motion sickness during my trip - I even rode the road to Hana and was able to read the Maui Revealed Guide while riding in the car (an amazing feat for motion sickness people). We went on boat excursions and a helicopter tour (the one w/out the doors) and I never got sick once. Try it - it gives you a lot more freedom to do the things you want.

A few years ago my husband and I tried a helicopter ride in Kauai. He's NOT prone to motion sickness, and I only had problems with boats. It ended up being the worst 45 minutes of our lives. Granted, we didn't think to take any medication prior. When we landed, I crawled out on the ground, and spread out on the grass for quite some time. My husband was drenched in sweat. I envy those w/out a problem. From what little scenery we managed to see, it was beautiful.

Thanks so much for all your input! After reading all these posts, we may just decide to pass on the helicopter tour. I do suffer from motion sickness and take dramamine for that. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't especially on boats. Not knowing if the feeling of the helicopter will be like a boat, sounds like I should pass! Don't want to waste time & money, if I'm sick. Thanks again, Deblynn