Reviews

Although very pricey, this is one of those experiences that you will remember for a lifetime. Blue Hawaiian was very professional, they even bumped us up to an Eco Star helicopter for no additional charge for simply taking an earlier time slot. It worked out much better for us!!. The pilot, Ethan, gave us good information over the course of the flight and really tried to give everyone good sight lines whenever possible. At $230 US for A star or $280 US for Eco star start saving your pennies! Also bought the video at the end. Good HD quality and gives you whole flight.

We did the Circle of Fire ride. Everyone with Blue Hawaiian was very kind and professional. This ride lasted around 50 minutes. Our copter held 6 people. It's starts going out over the coast then right up to the rim of the volcano. Pilot was very informative and circled around so all sides could get photos. It's expensive, but everything in Hawaii is.

Our pilot was Flyin' Brian and with a slightly southern Tennessee drawl made for a delightful adventure. We thoroughly enjoyed a great ride and commentary around the lava devastation of southern parts of Hawaii (The Big Island), through the residential areas of past and present, and on towards active burning/flowing sites of lava. After scenic touring in the Helicopter over the devastated areas, we continued on towards the more fertile river valley west of Hilo and enjoyed the waterfalls of the Wailuku River. This was followed by a flight over Hilo, over our cruise ship, and back to the Heliport at Hilo Intl Airport. Thanks to all the people, not just Brian, who did a great commentary, but all for making this such a memorable and exciting experience for all of us. Well worth the money and adding it to your life's adventures. The Pros: Safety, Comfortable, Entertaining, Fascinating and Exciting! The Cons, if you purchase your flight video: The video contained too many views of the passengers and pilot in the helicopter and not enough of the beautiful scenery we viewed. No further Cons: But watch the weather closely!

Blue Hawaiian was very professional, safety conscious and the pilot outstanding with our two children (under ten). Very informative and wonderful tour.

Totally worth every dollar spent. Only nit-pick is that the windows are very reflective, so don't wear any bright colours if you don't want your reflection to come up in all your shots! Our pilot was fantastic, he knew a lot of the area and was able to answer all our questions. He's particular music selection was also very fitting and made the ride itself that much more entertaining.

Not many places can you fly over a live volcano, what an experience. The ground crew takes good care of you before the flight. the pilots are very knowledgeable & informative during the flight. It's a little expensive but more than worth it for the experience. Don't miss this trip

Family of four had a great 50 minute tour from Hilo over live volcanic areas. We had great views of smoke, steam and small lava bursts. This part of our 5 week trip was for our 14 year old son, and he wasn't disappointed.

My husband and I took the Circle of Fire & Waterfall tour for Valentine's Day. We've lived here our entire lives and finally was given the opportunity to do it. We had Pilot Brian on the Eco-Star helicopter. He was absolutely amazing and super friendly. He's originally from Tennessee, but has been living here for about 2 years.......but to us, he's a local with the southern accent. He shared his experience with us and it was awesome. Being able to FLY over the main vent of Hawai'i's most active (and youngest) volcanoes, Pu'u O'o was the best experience.......not to mention the lava lake coming from the lava tube of the Pu'u O'o vent. *Bonus: we flew over our house too! We definitely recommend Blue Hawaiian in Hilo.

I took the tour of Big Island with Blue Hawaiian and was blown away. I'm no stranger to heli tours, and this was my favorite by far, I highly recommend it. Tour guide/ pilot was well informed and entertaining and the views of the island and volcanoes in particular were astounding. Well priced too.

Helicopters are a great way to see volcanos and waterfalls and our pilot Wesley did a great job of showing us both. Very well organized and pleasan ground staff enhance the experience.

Taking a helicopter tour to see spewing red lava from one of the most active volcanoes in the world should be on everyone's bucket list. And when you take Blue Hawaiian for the ride, you can happily check that off your list with no regrets! There are several tours around the Big Island itself, including a waterfall landing - will have to use that as an excuse to come back to Hawaii and do the Big Island Spectacular tour for that one. They have tours on every island, so this really is a great way to enjoy Hawaii from the air. We experienced the Circle Of Fire Plus Waterfalls tour from Hilo. Staying in Maui, we took a quick flight over for the day just for this! Paying a little more to fly in the Eco-star helicopter is worth it because it has bigger windows! I like that you can speak back to the pilot if you have any questions. They're very informative and friendly. Have fun up there!

We flew with Blue Hawaiian yesterday -- it was simply amazing. We are from East Tennessee, and our pilot, Brian, is too! He was so informative and friendly, and we now understand the concept of the difference in volcanic eruptions. Flying over the lava tubes and vents, complete with simmering red fire, was the experience of a lifetime. The waterfalls and river portion were also interesting and informative. Brian educated us in the different shades of black in the lava rock -- silver being the most recent, and taught us that the only trees that burn are those touched by molten lava. There is simply no other way to see the raw beauty of this island! Book with Blue Hawaiian on one of their Eco Star copters, do the Circle of Fire and Waterfall Tour, and be sure to ask for Brian. His passion for his job Is readily apparent, and his enthusiasm is contagious.

We have been to the Big Island several times and one of the most important stops is to see the volcano. This time we took the air tour and it was better than anything we have seen before. The vantage point was great, and you can actually see the Lava boiling and running down into the trees. These are things you can't see any other way unless you just luck out.

A trip of 3 30 something ladies chose to go island hop Hawaii and decided to take 2 helicopter rides: 1- Circle of Fire and 2- Na Pali Coast. We first planned to take the Circle of Fire in Hilo which exceeded our expectations!!!!!!!!! We saw the craters, lava, and the crew was terrific! The waterfalls were not much to see nor be amazed by but we were blown away with the volcanoes in itself. The second in Kauai however was disappointing as the flight was canceled due to a tropical storm rolling in and it was indeed. Rain was blowing sideways. However, we still had to go to their location for them to tell us it was canceled 15 minutes before departure. We planned the trip only to fly into Kauai from Kona in the morning and depart later in the afternoon to Oahu. So going there for this excursion was a one shot deal and the rain ruined it. My suggestion would be to stay on Kauai for longer days to be reschedule if possible. Because to fly to the island, baggage fee's, then change flight fee's is a bit much to pay with no experience. All in all, I would recommend everyone to experience circle of fire in Hilo! Mahalo!!!

The weather was very rainy in the morning so we were worried that we may have poor view but we were very wrong. Wife, 5.5yo, 5month old and I flew with Blue Hawaiian in the eco star chopper. Was an awseome trip with Scott as our trusted and very informative pilot. Take off and landing were smooth and we felt safe the entire time with baby in wifes lap. My wife and I sat in the rear 4 across and in the middle 2 seats and we had a great view of everything, as Scott would pass the highlights as many times as we liked to get views and pictures. The front 2 seats would be the best view. Seeing the old lava flow from above was awesome. The barron rock it leaves behind having wiped out forests and towns is incredible. The Pu'o'o vent was bubbling away with flashes of lava being thrown in to the air. We made at least 4 passes by it to get a good view and could still smell the sulfur. We passed over lava tubes with skylights to see the lava flowing below. There was a large area of lava that had broken out of the ground that morning, and was still cooling with its silvery red sheen on the surface. The active lava flow front mowing down forests were also seen with tree fires. Really something that I could not imaging being safe to hike to now, so only safely being able to be seen from the air. The views are not like the advertisements as the activity is not like April 2015, and we were not expecting that. Rest assured that the pilots will take you to where the view is best for the day and they were still amazing today. This is our first time to Big Is and not sure when we will be back so this trip was a priority for us and we highly recommend blue hawaiian. You will not regret the experience. We also enjoyed the waterfall and Hilo bay view as part of the return to airport. Morning flight probably better visibility with the current weather. Scott was a great pilot. I would have loved to do a doors off heli flight, but young kids prohibits this. Baby is not strapped in at all and sits on lap with noise cancelling headphones. The airport is around the corner from richardson black sand beach park. Consider an early tour and back it up with a picnic lunch/swim/snorkel, or visit the beach park 1 or 2 before Richardson, which is shallow, better protected, and much safer for kids to swim. You will know it when you see it. We were visited by 2 green sea turtles on our swim who swam right up to us to check us out. Both have hot water springs in the bay. A magical half day, and back in time for an afternoon nap!