Reviews

My wife, two daughters, and I recently flew the Blue Hawaiian Helicopter tour of Kilauea volcano. Greg, our pilot, was fantastic. Smooth flight, terrific views, and great information. We highly recommend that when on the Big Island you take a flight.

we took a helicopter 2 hour flight over the island..Hawaiian Blue. They were excellent. Our pilot had been a black hawk pilot and we had confidence in him. Good focus on safety.We opted for the Eco Star helicopter with individual seatsHe was very knowledgeable and took us right over the volcanic areas, including the active crater of Kilauea, pointing out lava hot spots as we flew over the lava field. We put down at Hilo for fuel then progressed into the deep valleys of the wetter part of the island. We flew very close to 2000ft waterfalls, in and around the hidden valleys that are inaccessible by car.The 2 hours went so, so quickly. Amazing to see the difference between the 2 sides of the island..the lush growth, greenness and high waterfalls of the Hilo side where they get 250 inches of rain and the comparative desert of the Kona side. Suggest the early morning flights are best because the volcanic haze distorts visibility later in the day Not cheap, USD495 per person, but well worth it.

I and my wife took this trip and our main aim was to view active Lava and we did see it ! The pilot was very knowledgeable and we had a 2 way communication with him throughout the trip. We saw active lava , black areas where lava had flown earlier and then we went to see waterfalls which were not accessible by land. The pilot turned the helicopter 2-3 times so that everyone can get the view. We felt very safe throughout the journey. The only negative point is it is very very pricey .

Wanted to see fresh trail of lava so jumped on a helicopter and sure enough there it was ... just $178 (+$100 extra seat) because was over their weight limit of 250+... Pilot was great and knowledgeable

First time in a helicopter and Nathan calmed my nerves! Fantastic ride !! :-) Smooth flight, terrific views, and great information.

Today, we took an Eco-Star with Coleen as our pilot. And let me say she was absolutely amazing. As a pilot, she is outstanding! I personally do not fly well, yet the entire ride was unbelievably smooth and was not a problem. As a tour guide, she was even better. Coleen is obviously passionate about what she does, for every detail of everything she narrated was just as interesting as the ride. The way that she includes everyone on the helicopter really makes you feel welcomed, especially for the younger people on board. With such a wonderful pilot, it is impossible to give this experience anything less than 5-stars. Truly an experience to remember!! On another note, I was lucky enough to have window side in the front. The scenery was beautiful and today the weather was near-perfect. Overall, the experience was better than I could have hoped!

Gregg was a very knowledgeable tour guide and provided good views to all sites. He was engaging and answered questions. Would definitely recommend this to others!

What an AWESOME ride! We took the volcano and waterfall, Circle of Fire helicopter tour, and it was breathtaking. Eric was a very fun, and entertaining pilot, but it sounds like all the pilots are going to make your tour enjoyable.

First of all " Two Thumbs up Coleen". Great pilot and tour guide, job well done. Our family enjoyed the tour very much. Smooth ride. Very informative and engaged with the group. Highly recommend getting the DVD or SD card.

Our helicopyer ride in a brand new EcoStar machine in Hilo was oreat. Our pilot , Tim, was very knowledgeable and took us over watetfalls and then up to Kilauea to see lava. The landscape looks like another world and can only be sern and appreciated from the air. We saw the red lava moving down the slope ever so slowly. He showed. us old lava flows and new ones too. All in all, money well spent.

It's hard to compare companies as we only did 1 helicopter ride and it was our first ever. Since everyone we spoke with up front recommended Hawaiian Blue and since many news networks and National Geographic work with them a well, we also went with them. The reception staff is not the friendliest by the rest of the staff is great. To void reflection in the cockpit they recommend to wear dark clothes (blue/black) and my wife had brought nothing like that to hawaii. They gave her immediately a clean blue loaner shirt. No regrets of taking the investment in this tour, in contrary we had the most amazing once in a lifetime experience on the Big Island Great Spectacular 2hr tour. Professional staff, very safety oriented, great and highly experienced pilot (Shane), gorgeous 'Ecostar' helicopter with great views in each direction and at the highlights (so many highlights) the pilot ensures that all sides of the helicopter had great views of the sights. He explained a lot and answers all questions fired at him. I easily get air/car/seasick so I took medication for that and had no issues. The helicopter maneuvers smoothly and the little noise is filtered greatly due to. Noise canceling headphones. We were extremely lucky with the clear and calmest weather we had! Also the other 4 tourists who flew with us stated it was their best experience ever as they all had done helicopter flights before. The interaction between pilot and the tourists is phenomenal and the personalized DVD is a must. Very well organized and safe trip - one we will never forget. We recommend to do this experience early on during you vacation as it might alter the plans for the rest of the week as suddenly you understand the island much better and new highlight will be added to your further on ground experiences. Big Island-spectacular it is!!!

We took the Circle of Fire and Waterfalls Tour, and absolutely LOVED it. The Computer balances and seats people according to weight, so you cannot choose your seats. Fortunately, both our grown sons had the front two seats with obviously the best view. They were next to the Pilot and were able to capture some incredible shots. We were also extremely lucky to have had clear and calm weather, too. The flowing lava, the hidden waterfalls, the coastline, and the scenery were all superb. Our pilot Ethan kept all the passengers engaged and comfortable. He explained all the sights as we passed by them, and even made few passes and circles around the important areas, so everyone could get good views and photos. We bought the SD card of our trip at the end. The three cameras of the Helicopter featured all of us and captured all the incredible sights. One recommendation is to wear dark clothing to avoid window glare and get good photos. They will tell you this anyway. Everyone from the ground crew to the pilot were helpful, polite, personable and professional. The seemed to go out of their way to make us all feel at ease. This was our first Helicopter Tour over an active volcano. We recommend that you save up for it and definitely try it. You will not go wrong.

To see the volcanoes on Big Island, a helicopter tour is a must, and this one didn't disappoint - amazing views! Our pilot (Coleen?) was very knowledgeable and like many guides working in Hawai'i, passionate about her job - a real plus to any such experience.

Booked a Circle of Fire helicopter tour through Blue Hawaiian. Their website was easy to negotiate and all the information was great. We paid for a seat and a half each because we are heavy, and it was worth it. Our pilot Brett was astounding in his welcoming and making us feel comfortable and in his knowledge. The guy seriously knows his stuff. We had headsets and microphones to be able to ask questions and talk to each other. We saw the devastation of the current lava flow towards Pahoa town and learned the history of the island. Mt. Kilauea was stunning and we were treated to a lava window where we saw the molten flow. He threw in some pretty waterfalls for fun and we left feeling that this helicopter tour was likely the highlight of our entire vacation. The benefit of paying for extra seats was being able to both have window seats and enjoy those incredible views. Amazing! Thank you Brett and Blue Hawaiian!!!

My 2nd time to the big island and this is a must.We booked this thru our cruise line and had an amazing time. We took the long tour and it was the trip of a lifetime. Spend the $ it's worth every second. You really get to enjoy more then the average person. Saw multiple rainbows and lava flows.