Reviews

Took off from Hilo airport for this 45 minute tour. Our pilot Jeremy was great, very informative and interactive with us. Although there wasn't a flow out of the volcano the day we were there, we were still able to see the red lava trying to bubble out of the crater. It was surreal to see the devastation caused by the eruptions, wiping out entire towns and flowing right down to the ocean. Well worth the money.

Our pilot Ethan was a riot! He was fun, engaging, and a great pilot. We took the tour from Hilo over the volcano and saw waterfalls too. It was a great experience. I recommend the Eco Star helicopter as it is newer. Also they offer a video recording of your tour for $15 or so that is well worth it.

Blue Hawaiian offers a few different chopper tours on the Big Island, and our group/family of six was determined to see active lava flow! We flew with Justin in an Eco-Tour chopper first riding up Kilauea, finding the crater and he gave us a generous multi-viewpoint flight over the lava, allowing ample time for shock/awe, as well as pictures and video. Then, we took off for the other edge of the island, declining the offer to touch down at Hilo airport for a break. We were taken in and out of steep valleys for some of the longest lushest waterfalls in Hawaii. Again, ample angles and views of the waterfalls and landscapes, courtesy of Justin. The company also has a video/DVD recording of our whole flight, one of which we purchased for $25 after the tour, which takes the pressure off us to be videographers the whole time. Great tour!

We chose the Big Island Spectacular tour. Our pilot was Shane, he was very knowledgeable and very nice. We flew over the volcano with different viewpoints of the lava, so everyone could get a great picture of the lava shooting up and away from the volcano. Then we flew over the town of Hilo and the coastline to waterfalls. It is a 2 hour tour. Shane told us to feel free to ask any questions and my child sure took advanage of it. He even answer my questions about how much it cost ot live on the island. This tour was worth every penny!!! Make sure you buy your DVD of your tour.

My wife and I took the "Big Island Spectacular' tour which is a 2 hour tour covering a large part of the Big Island with a focus on the volcano and waterfalls. We opted for the Eco-Star helicopter as it seemed to offer better viewing and would be a quieter ride but for extra cost of course. Our pilot, Justin, was a very nice chap and an informative guide throughout the tour and most importantly gave us a very smooth and safe ride. For the first hour of the trip we started off by heading to the volcano and Justin did his best to find us some lava but we only managed to see a small spot of orange. A little disappointing but we understand that this is something that Blue Hawaiian has no control over. You do see some very interesting landscapes still and after heading past the Macadamia farms we headed to Hilo airport to refuel. I was concerned at first that this stop was coming out of our 2 hours but we ended up out for 2 1/2 so no worries. After refueling we headed along the coast and where we missed out on lava we more than made up for in waterfalls. There had been a fair bit of rain recently so the waterfalls were very full and plentiful - we saw tons! The highlight here was being taken into a valley with a number of extremely high ones at the end of it and we circled for a while so everyone got good pics. After this we made our way further along the coast and then eventually back to back their heliport in Waikoloa. All in all it was a very memorable experience indeed but I still find it difficult to be able to justify that the very high cost and that stops me from giving this 5 stars.

We're first time helicopter passengers and our pilot, Greg, made us want to learn how to fly! We had a great trip over the Kalapana area and would go for the 2 hour trip if we were doing it again. Super service from the whole team at Blue Hawaiian!

This was our first helicopter ride ever, so we were a bit apprehensive. It was amazing! Pilot Greg gave us an awesome journey with an informative narration. We flew the Circle of Fire tour and were thrilled to see an active volcano.

This was our first time on a helicopter. It was so worth the money! Our pilot was Justin. He was very informative. We got to see the volcano and it was active. Definitely worth the price just to see that! We flew out of Hilo. I would highly recommend Blue Hawaiian Helicopters. They were very professional.

We took the "Circle of Fire plus Waterfalls" tour and we were quite glad we did. Just to see the molten lava in the parts of crater and river of lava flowing down the volcano slope was very exciting. After seeing the lava flow and areas affected by the volcano we went to see number of waterfalls near Hilo. This part was much less exciting than flying over the volcano. The waterfalls looked rather small from large distance and I felt it was added to the itinerary for marketing purposes. I also didn't like the fact that the "fuel surcharge" (to be paid at the airport before the flight) was revealed to me after I already paid for the trip. Overall the tour was very good with interesting comments from our pilot and really exciting volcano route.

This is one thing you must do while you are on the big island Kona. The two hour tour takes you to the active volcano's to see the lava flowing and then to the tall cascading waterfall's. They have an amazing soundtrack that goes along with the entire ride that really adds to it all.

Zack was our pilot and he was great. The helicopter was very comfortable.

We took the Circle of Fire and waterfalls option from Hilo. We had assumed that as a family of 4 in a 6 seater helicopter we would have the back 4 seats but our children were delighted when on being told seats were allocated "by weight" that they had the front two seats, altho saying that no seat had a bad veiw and the pilot was very good at ensuring everyone saw everything. . Our pilot Ray was very entertaining and we were lucky in that the day before our flight the wall of the crater had collapsed and so we were able to see flowing lava. You have the option to buy a dvd of the flight, which not only includes the sights seen but shots of inside the cabin and also the conversations, so you can really relive the flight. It's not a cheap excursion but well worth it.

Jeremey was our Pilot, he was very imformative and made us feel comfortable. we really enjoyed the trip over the volcanoe and learning about the surrounding areas.

Our family spent a memorable hour with pilot, Jeremy, from the Hilo base flying over the active lava field near Volcano National Park. The experience was a highlight of our week on the BIg Island. The ride felt safe, the views were spectacular, and the service excellent. We were able to see a lava lake bubbling and small pockets of lava amidst the solid flows. Jeremy explained the series of slow eruptions over time and the impacts on local communities. We flew out over the coast line for a glimpse of the volcano's past work to form the island. A great adventure.

We had a great sight seeing trip. Our pilot was Jason. We did the two hour Big Island Spectacular. My son and I were fortunate to get the front seats of the Eco-Star. Their computer program determines who sits in what seat. Jason shared a lot of information with us about the island, the various volcanos, etc and engaged all of the passengers. He did a great job of flying in different directions over the various sites so that everyone could get really good visuals and pictures. Be advised that you can not bring a backpack into the helicopter etc. due to safety reasons but they have a storage area behind the counter.