At our friend's suggestion, my wife and I went on the 2 hour Big Island Spectacular tour. Unfortunately, ~25min into the flight as we approached Hilo, the Hilo tower said a coming storm was so bad we should head back and we did. Pouring rain. So we landed 50min into a 2 hour flight, 100% refund no questions asked. They offered to re-book for the next day, but unfortunately we were flying off the island early. Will definitely choose Blue Hawaiian Helicopters next time!
My husband and I took the Big Island Spectacular tour in one of the EcoStar helicopters on May 2nd. It was one of the best experiences of our lives! Our time on the Big Island was fairly short (only four full days) so this tour made the most of our precious time while giving us a tour of the best sights on the island, including seeing lava in the caldera of Kilauea, towering sea cliffs, and 2,000+ foot waterfalls that you can't see any other way than by air. Our pilot Steve was incredible -- very knowledgeable, friendly, and an awesome pilot. If you can request a pilot, ask for Steve! We hesitated a bit about the expense -- it is pretty expensive to take the 2 hour tour -- but after having the experience we felt it was a bargain and would do it again in a heartbeat. There are multiple cameras in the helicopter to film the tour and you can buy the DVD of your tour immediately after landing. We bought the DVD of our flight and enjoyed watching it last night. It was interesting how many cool sights we saw on the DVD, but I didn't remember seeing while on the helicopter -- i think mostly because I was overwhelmed by the jaw-dropping splendor of the sights I was seeing (there were so many, you couldn't take them all in). All I can say is, do it! You won't regret it!
This was our first time on a helicopter and it was amazing!! I was speechless most of the ride, such gorgeous scenery. Don't miss this!! I wish we had booked rides on the other islands too.
You just cannot get the true majestic view of the valleys and wat falls and coast line unless you take a helo ride. We toured the north en do the island and was amazed at the massive valleys. Glad we did this as driving doesn't cut it if you want the real views. Our pilot was awesome and did an awesome job. Take the trip and you will be glad you did.
Everyone should take a trip on Blue Hawaiian helicopters while visiting Hawaii. The scenery is breathtaking! Definitely a bucket-list activity. I'm so glad I did it!
Thanks to our wonderful and passionate pilot Steve and Blue Hawaiian for a great tour of the waterfalls. It was not only a fun ride getting close to the huge waterfalls but to also learn a bit about the area we were flying over. The new helicopter is amazing! My husband and I were lucky enough to be in the front of one of the new helicopters Blue Hawaiian designed and the windows are expansive. You can see everything! Normally I do not get to see as much on heli rides because I am small and short which means I sit in the middle and larger people are all around me blocking my view. This time I was in the middle but the windows allowed me to see! This heli also has raised seating in the back so the people in the back also had great views. When you pay as much as you do for helicopter rides it is nice to actually see. I really can not say enough about Steve; friendly, knowledgeable, very experienced heli pilot and passionate. Thanks Steve!
We have an Autistic son whose main focus in life is Helicopters. He watches helicopter videos on YouTube. He sleeps with a helicopter magazine under his pillow. He has hundreds of helicopter toys all over the house……I could go on and on, but the “easy version” is: he eats, sleeps and breathes helicopters. However, arranging and paying for an actual helicopter ride where we live is not the most cost effective thing in the world. However, as I am sure you can imagine, the market in Hawaii is a little different and it’s a tad more feasible. We made the decision to make our son’s dream a reality while on vacation on The Big Island. Literally, this is his dream and naturally we wanted the “perfect” experience for our family’s first helicopter ride, so I did quite a bit of research. It seemed like most roads led to the same place and that place was Blue Hawaiian. Add to that, their heliport was very convenient for our stay in Waikoloa and it just made sense to go for a ride with them. After all the research and all the anticipation leading up to the “big day”, I don’t think there is any way that it could have been more perfect and there is certainly no possible way that Blue Hawaiian could have been more professional. The entire crew there was so spectacular from the moment we walked in the door to the moment we left. Every person that worked there seemed to be genuinely interested in making sure that we had a great experience, both on the ground and in the air. Our pilot for the ride was Shane and from my stand point, he was pure class with a great sense of humor. He also seemed to have this amazing ability to know when to talk about what we were seeing and when to not say anything at all. I am sure there a people out there that would love to have someone at the controls who can/will tell them every last detail about what they are seeing, the history of it, what it’s named and why it’s named that way, etc. Shane did quite a bit of that and we all really appreciated it very much when he did. However, I also really enjoyed the fact there were times we could go with radio silence and just take everything in and enjoy the beauty that was surrounding us. To everyone at Blue Hawaiian Helicopters: Thanks for a great experience, I’m sure we will see you again someday!
Noah was a great pilot very informative about not only the volcanoes but also the whole island and the economy of the island in general. It is very easy to tell that Noah is very passionate about his love of flying and his job. No question we asked posed a problem for Noah. We all felt very safe and comfortable during the flight Thanks Noah & Blue Hawaiian Helicopters for magnificent memories of the Big Island and our experience today. The Paynes. Mahalo
Great flight. The pilot got us in great position for photos. Nicest helicopters we saw. Great service.
We had visited Hawaii several time but never by helicopter. You definitely want to do this! Our Island Spectacular trip was truly spectacular. Jason was a great and informative pilot. The scenery unbelievable. We felt safe and there was never a scary moment. Top notch outfit.
WOW- great flight, very smooth, saw lava I am in heaven! After the flights around the lava field we did water falls. Pilot was very accommodating, circled around via the left and then the right until all 6 passengers were happy and got their fill of photos.
Picked up from resort and mobility catered for in such a kind way, that I didn't feel different. Saw heaps, and what a remarkable helicopter pilot we had. He was awesome. A great experience and can't wait to receive dvd.
We ran into a little rain, but the pilot took it like a pro. The view was great, unfortunately the volcano wasn't doing much. We took the quieter helicopter, but it was still loud with the headphones on. Not much you can do about that! The waterfalls weren't much to look at, but it was interesting to see the macadamia fields. Loved that our pilot had some history of the volcanoes.
I was very hesitant to shell out the bucks to do the full island tour from Blue Hawaiin Helicopters base from the Waikaloa heliport. This trip is not cheap, with taxes and fuel surcharges this tour for my wife and I wound up just under $1,100.00. When we got off the chopper at the end of the trip, the first thing I said was "That was worth every penny". We had driven to Volcanoes National Park on Monday so we knew that there was no significant lava flowing but decided to do the trip anyway. Our pilot, Toshi, was very informative and made it a true inter-active experience. We flew directly over the Army base and got to see a BlackHawk getting ready for take off. We got really close to the main crater and could seeing the lava bubbling and the cracks of flowing lava in the crater floor. We were then taken to the vent of the most recent flow and there were several spots active is this area. Toshi then told us the best was yet to come. We where then wisked away to the coastline to see numerous waterfalls coming off of the cliffs into the ocean followed by several low level passes into gigantic canyons where the waterfalls just took your breath away. At one point we were about 200 feet (estimating) above the tree tops when we entered the next canyon. As we went over the canyon wall the ground literally disappeared under our feet to a depth that honestly shook me a bit. It was really a moment where you fely weightless. I would say this was one of the top highlights of our ten day stay, and we bought the video of our own trip which they record as you fly. This is definitely a must do while on the big island. Even without the major lava flow is was amazing.
Although not cheap this is the best way to see the Big Island. Very professional, go early on the 7am flight to avoid clouds. Our pilot Shane was very good pilot and guide. You can get a video of your actual flight. Highly recommend this.