Reviews

We had taken a helicopter tour with another company while in Kauai and really enjoyed it. The price of the Big Island Spectacular was a lot more than what we paid for the last trip but found it be well worth the price and the trip was longer. We booked the Eco-Star which was more than the A-Star but I think it was worth it. The Eco Star has bucket seats, more space and more viewing area than the A-Star with bench seats. I drew the line when it came to paying additional to book the front seats. When we booked, we requested the front seats but were told it was not guarranteed since we didn't pay to upgrade. We were really lucky that we ended up in the front seats next to the pilot based on weight distribution and nobody had paid to upgrade to the front seats. Shane was an amazing pilot and did a great job narrating the trip. You could tell that he thoroughly enjoyed his job. We were disappointed that there was not a lot of lava flow, but we did get to fly over a field and see the lava flow glowing and burning vegetation in its path. We were told that it is illegal to fly directly over the caldera. I think the views on Kauai were more beautiful since the Big Island has a lot of the land covered with lava but there were several waterfalls and beautiful valleys that we flew into on the Big Island. Do not wait until the last days of your vacation to book the trip just in case it gets re-scheduled due to weather like our trip did because of high winds. Keep in mind that despite the price, the flights fill up quickly. Remember to wear dark colored clothes to avoid the reflection in the helicopter windows when taking photos. Of course the video of your flight is for sale following your flight. I would definitely recommend Blue Hawaiian!

This was our first helicopter ride and it was fantastic. The pilot was an excellent tour guide. It was like magic. We mention seein lava flow and there it is. Mention seeing whales and there they are. We took the two hour trip and it was so worth it. We say so much of the island and learned about volcano and lave.learned about trees, animals, flowers. I don't think there was anything Hawaiian that he missed.

Took the Big Island Spectacular tour from Waikoloa. Wow!!! Got to see all of the landscape highlights the big island has to offer. An amazing land of contrasts. We took the EcoStar helicopter option - slightly more expensive but added comfort worth it. Ground staff were friendly and welcoming. Our pilot Marco was brilliant - very knowledgeable and very considerate in making sure everyone on both sides of the helicopter got to see everything. Once in a lifetime experience!!!!!!!!

Are you kidding me!? What an amazing trip with incredible views of sweeping valleys, glowing lava, and fascinating landscapes. Jason, our pilot, was a pro and gave a thorough, easygoing tour. He answered every question we had, without chatting our ears off. What a trip.

Our party of 6 ( 4 adults and 2 kids) chose the private charter tour of Oahu the tour lasted approximately 45 to 60 mins which toured the whole island, our pilot Julie was very knowledgeable and gave us great photo opportunities and point out interesting facts. On certain parts of the island she turned the helicopter around so that both sides of the helicopter could get the same great photo opportunities.I have no issue with recommending this tour to all people.

Our first full day in Honolulu we decided to take a chopper ride so we could get a perspective of the island before deciding what other sightseeing we were going to do. It's a great way to see the island. We sat at the front of the chopper, however it didn't matter where you were sitting they turn the chopper round so everyone has a chance to see the sights. This is a very professional operation,approximately 50 minutes in the air. Our pilot was very informative and knowledgeable, answering lots of questions. It was exciting. The flight,the sights amazing. We thought this was truly value for money and would highly recommend it. We also bought the video of our flight so we could show our family and friends a taste of what Honolulu has to offer.

We did the big island tour. Our pilot was excellent. The usb with the video of our flight was great.

Blue Hawaiian offers many options for guests that accomodate most budgets and schedules. Shorter, less expensive flights are available out of the Hilo airport, but if you can swing the heftier price tag, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the Big Island Spectacular tour on the Eco Star out of Waikoloa. From the very start, I was blown away by the views and thrill of hovering over the Kilauea Volcano as surface flows were right underneath us! As amazing as that was, the valleys and waterfalls literally took my breath away. A truly emotional and amazing experience that filled my heart with gratitude for the opportunity to see places on this island I would not have seen otherwise. A once in a lifetime experience for sure! Now, a little extra information that everyone should follow! It is made perfectly clear several times during the process of booking the trip that all guests should wear dark colored clothing as light colored clothing reflects off the windows and can obstruct photos, and also to please not use "selfie sticks" on your GoPro. Unfortunately for us, the gentleman sitting up front with the pilot did both. I forever have his white shirt and shorts in all of my videos and photos. He might not have cared that his reflection is in all of his photos, but I sure did. It is called courtesy folks. There is a reason BH asks these things. For yourself and other passengers, please abide by these requests.

I would do this all over again and again! I have never been on a helicopter in my life. We both enjoyed this very much. Julie our pilot, did an awesome job of giving us the tour of the island. If you do nothing else while you are in Oahu, please experience what we did. Well done!

The pilot was knowledgeable and it was certainly an interesting way to see the island, but at $250/person it wasn't worth the time and money. At best, we can say "been there, done that"

This is the 2nd time I've flown with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, and I enjoyed it as much as the first. The pilot was very knowledgable and showed us parts of the island we hadn't seen by the road. I really loved flying over the southern end of the island and seeing the parts of north shore where we had been . He flew over top of the AZ Memorial and the Missouri, a view I thought I'd never see. I enjoyed the whole time. If there were two things that I would have to dislike, the first is that I thought we would see more of the far northern part of the island. We really didn't see any of that. And the price. It's a tad expensive. But I enjoyed it so much, I decided it was a fair trade.

My daughter and I did this trip on our second day on Kauai. From start to finish it was professional with a focus on safety. Our pilot was Michael. He did a great job explaining the sites and engaging everyone on board. The flight was comfortable and smooth and the sites we were able to see were truly breathtaking. Some of these areas can only be seen by air so we felt very fortunate to have this experience. I also recommend doing this early in your vacation so you can get an overall picture of the island and get ideas for places to visit later in your trip. It is an expensive trip but well worth it to us.

Wonderful views, great commentary, fantastic pilot and terrific ground crew and support staff. A professional service that shows the very best of Kaua'i.

Our first experience was with Blue Hawaiian out of Hilo in September 2011 and remains one of our best travel experiences. In June 2014 we flew out of Lihue and had a slightly mixed experience: Advice Fellow Travelers Before your flight: Pre-flight experience at Hilo is much more laid back compared to Lihue. During your flight (If I were rating the flight alone it would be 5 stars) Blue Hawaiian’s pilots are outstanding and they provide you with unequalled views to some of the most beautiful places on Earth. After your flight I highly recommend purchasing the DVD of your flight for several reasons: -There is so much to take in you won’t see it all the first time -The price of the video is inexpensive in comparison to the ride itself -High-quality video has allowed me to even create pictures from the recording Advice to Blue Hawaiian Lihue Facility Here is some free advice, some of your ground crew is making a common Customer Experience mistake in thinking that all passengers have the same drivers of customer satisfaction. Yes, you have received a few comments from your “Photag Enthusiastic” customer segment regarding glare in pictures. However speaking as a member of your “Live in the Moment” customer segment the experience is more important for us compared to the pictures. Because of the number in our group, I purchased the entire helicopter and had to explain to the same employee numerous times in a 20 minute span that we were not interesting in wearing another layer of clothing in the form of an oversized black t-shirt* to eliminate glare. Again, yes some of your customers are concerned with glare (per your online reviews) however we were: -Not concerned with glare for pictures (we purchased the video) -Purchasing the entire helicopter for our group (not impacting others) -Suffering from particularly warm day and did not want to add another layer of dark colored clothing to weigh us down The number of times and the level of aggressiveness from one employee pursuing us in wearing the t-shirt from one employee in particular was surprising and clearly in conflict with the normal laid back Hawaiian experience we had at the Hilo location. In the end we did not wear the t-shirts, enjoyed our flight and video purchase—but the pre-flight experience was very uncharacteristic of our other interactions with the Blue Hawaiian Helicopters brand and the reason that I cannot once again give you 5 stars this time out. I would suggest that perhaps you explore the idea of segmenting customers during the purchase process to keep those concerned with photographs together, when possible. Perhaps this could be a point of differentiation for your experience and a means to help your employees cater to customer needs in the short period of time that they are at your ground facilities? In the interim I would also suggest that you perhaps revise you policies in terms of the tone/manner in which employees approach the issue of glare with customers. *To be clear before passing on the t-shirts I was very careful to verify that doing so would not create a safety issue, they provided to prevent glare for picture taking only.

We enjoyed this experience so much more than words can describe. Our second helicopter ride (first one out of Vegas over the Grand Canyon). The first ride was amazing. This was WAY better than that. The ground crew were warm, funny, friendly, and respectful of the safety element. Our pilot was smart, informed, and knew everything he needed to know as it related to what we were looking at. The ride into the crater of the extinct volcano was undeniably the coolest thing I've ever seen with my own eyes. For the rest of the trip to the Island, every time I saw a Blue Hawaii copter overhead, I smiled.