Reviews

This is not a cheap experience. However, you will not see some of these things any other way. The Kohala trip to view the waterfalls is fantastic - and relatively short at only 45 mins (I did this in Feb 2012 because the weather prevented us from doing the BIG Island Spectacular). However, on 3 of my previous visits I did the Big Island Spectacular (all 3 times). Every experience is different and you just cannot get sick of seeing the waterfalls, volcanos and terrain around Hawaii. And, Blue Hawaiian is a top-notch operation. I've also flown with them on Maui.

This was a remarkable experience. In fact, I think I need to just sit for a while and consider what just happened. The volcano was amazing. We actually saw lava flowing like a river. Spectacular. After leaving the volcano we saw waterfalls and more amazingness in the Waimanu Valley. Our pilot, Toshi, knew everything about everything and really added an element of humor that made this a fabulous trip. I've seen it all. Time to leave the island.

This was the third time we've done a helicopter tour with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters and will definitely book with them again. The day that we went up there wasn't much to see as far as the lava floes go but it was still a fun trip. The pilots are all very professional and knowledgeable. We had a great time.

Our guide, Dave, was FANTASTIC. Highly recommend the trip - flew from Kona to Hilo and back, took us over 3 hours but it was worth every moment. Amazing views of the live volcanoes along the southern Hilo tip then up along the coast lines to view the beautiful waterfalls.

We flew the full 2 hour tour around the big island in the Ecostar helicopter. The trip starts over the mid part of the desert/lava fields and goes to the active volcanoes, showing active lava if present. Then you take a break in Hilo, and then relaunch up the coast into the steep valleys/waterfalls. The Ecostar is worth the extra money for more room, more view, and quiet ride. The staff are top notch. There's nothing else like it for an excursion on vacation.

Actually I used Hilo location to see lava flows. This is cool attraction but if you plan to enjoy the views it's pretty high and you do not spend to much time at the nicest spots. I'm sure hiking would be much rewarding. Still cool if you wonna spend 200$. We also went to see waterfalls but again to high. Not like they show it in pictures.

My family is visiting me here on the Big Island for a week, and we decided to do a helicopter tour with Blue Hawaiian. It was great! Very professional staff, easy-going yet informative pilot (thanks, Ethan!), beautiful cliffs and waterfalls and valleys. Excellent view for all onboard (5 of us), thanks to my Dad splurging on the extra-roomy Eco-Star model helicopter. (My Dad is 6', so the extra space helped!). Be prepared when you weigh in to already have your "dark shirt" on (to avoid distracting reflections), and your purse/backpack OFF, as they don't let you take anything onboard the craft except for: a camera without its case, a bottle of water, and sunglasses. We opted for the Kohala coast tour, as the volcano is not pouring tons of lava right now, and got to see some amazing cliffs, huge waterfalls, and lush greenery. Territory that you can *not* see from a car ride! And we learned a lot from Ethan's interesting narrative... Like, fish and shrimp that live in the fresh-water pools in the waterfalls, and have adapted to climb UP (yes, up) the waterfalls. After the flight, the ground crew even asked us if we wanted a picture of all of us in front of the helicopter. Yes! Thanks to everyone at Blue Hawaiian for a great experience.

We went on a helicopter ride from kona to hilo, around the volcanos and back up the coast of big island and it was truly breath taking. Our pilot was very friendly, informative, professional and I would highly recommend this trip.

Four of us from MI were visiting the Big Island and spent time/money (well worth it) for a 2 hour tour of the saddle, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Kileaua (active volcano), Hilo, and valleys: Waipio and Waimanu , an uninhabited valley. The bird's eye view is amazing; the DVD is worth the price. Our pilot, Scott, was fun, informative and you can tell, he enjoys his "job" which made our flight the BEST.

Picked up at hotel and transferred to heliport Fantastic two hour trip with a great narration by pilot saw lava and close ups of volcanoes Expensive but worth every penny

We weren't going to be on the Hilo side, but wanted a Helicopter tour & to see the volcano, so we went for the Big Island Spectacular. It's pricey (and I'm a big guy, so had to pay the 50% weight penalty), but does give you both the volcano and the coast / waterfalls. Both are really fun to see and worth a helicopter tour, but the ~30m of flying time before getting to the volcano, and then between volcano and the coast, are pretty dull (even with an enthusiastic pilot giving you info on how the island formed, how it's still moving, etc. etc.) I think if I would have taken either the "Kohala Coast" from Waikoloa or the "Circle of Fire + Waterfalls" from Hilo, I would have rated this a 5 star. Eco-Star helicopter is great - we saw in back-seat and still had really good views 90% of the time.

We were originally supposed to go on Monday, March 19 on the Island Spectacular but the weather was horrible and the flight was cancelled. This was disappointing for my mother-in-law because she was leaving the next day. She was fully refunded for her tour and given a DVD of the Island Spectacular. We were rebooked for the following Saturday and it could not have been a more perfect day. Our pilot was Justin, and he is very knowledgeable about the Big Island. Justin encouraged questions and offered up all sorts of information. When we did ask questions, Justin always had the answer. He was very careful to make sure everyone on the helicopter got a good view of all the sights by circling back and around. We did have the opportunity to see the lava glurping away at the volcano, and he showed us where the most recent flows were. Justin also spoke individually to all of the passengers, four in our family and another couple, to make sure everyone was included in the conversations. He was an excellent tour guide/host. This was truly a once in a lifetime, wonderful experience and I highly recommend it.

We were scheduled for a 10 am flight, but after taking off and flying about 5 minutes, the pilot learned that it wasn't going to be a good trip due to weather, so he turned around. They offered to either refund our money or reschedule. We were only going to be on the big island for one day, so they added a flight at 4 pm and put us on that one. We were so glad we did that, and didn't have to miss out!! The flight was about 45 minutes, and our pilot, Jeremy, talked to us the whole time, pointing out areas of interest on the way to the volcano. Once there, he took us over the active area, bursting with hot lava. He also showed us the fresh lava flows. Throughout, he was careful to show each site to everyone, rotating and hovering so that we could all see. Awesome activity that we'll always remember!!

My friends and I took a trip with Blue Hawaii on June 3 with Pilot James. We booked the 45 minute volcano and waterfall tour on the larger helicopter. The ride was awesome. He flew us over the Puu oo vent and we were extremely delighted to see that lava had started spewing from the vent on that very day. He actually brought us back to the vent a couple times since it was such a unique event to see. The ride also brought us along the coast to view all the lava flows that has previously happened. James was extremely knowledgeable about the activity that had previously happened and provided alot of great insight into the history. Afterwards we were able to buy a DVD of our entire ride for $25. I highly recommend you to this. We've already watched ours a couple times. James also flew us over Hilo to look at the waterfalls before we landed back at the airport. The waterfalls were beautiful but honestly we did not spend alot of time there. I would very much recommend this tour but you should be aware that lava is not always present and you cannot expect to see it every day. The vent can go back to quiet at any time and flare up at any time so if the only reason you want to go on this tour is for lava, you should probably check with the volcano visitor center before you book to make sure you will see it.

My family and I took the Circle of Fire Plus Waterfalls tour on the Big Island. The weather was misty and rainy, but they took us up anyway. Our pilot/tour guide, James, was friendly and knowledgeable, and we learned a lot about the lava flows and the volcanic activity on the south end of the island. However, we did not see any flowing lave, the top of the volcano, or ANY waterfalls. When we got back down and talked to customer service about being disappointed with the tour, we were told that the waterfalls part of the flight is "weather dependent" and that we didn't see the most active areas because it was raining. I read nothing about this on the website - in fact, all the pictures and advertisements that I saw for this tour was shooting red lava and beautiful waterfalls. We felt ripped off, and were told, after lots of arguing with customer service for 15 minutes, that a manager (who, of course, wasn't there) would have to review our DVD to see if our tour was, in fact, not as described. Fortunately, we got a call on our way out of HIlo from the manager saying she reviewed the video and was going to refund the cost of our entire tour. This is the only reason I'm rating this tour 3 stars. I'm sure the tours are normally spectacular, but don't head up if the weather isn't great.