Reviews

Great tour. State of the art helicopter (made me feel safe when looking at other choppers at the same heliport!) and our pilot Geoff was a very professional and knowledgable local who grew up in Hanalai and who used to fly for the army (again, made me feel safe...). Worth the cost for sure.

Beautiful, scenic flight with a great pilot. The man helping with the shuttle and check in service was helpful and friendly. I spoke to one woman who was pretty rude to confirm our reservation and almost canceled our tour. I'm glad I didn't let her change my mind, because this was an experience I won't forget and am glad we had. The helicopters were much nicer than the other companies from what I saw at the place we took off. One down side was that we purchased the in flight DVD and were told it would be a 10 minute wait. It took an hour and when we got home we found that the disc didn't work. We are waiting on a replacement DVD and hope it arrives and works.

Exciting and adventurous! Took the Eco Star Helicopter. It seats 7 comfortable with leg room and huge windows.  We got to sit in the front next to pilot! The chopper is seated by weight so if you have low body weight you'll most likely be in front. Take Dramamine! Half way through the tour you will feel the motion sickness. Take a jacket if the AC is too much for you.  We got the DVD but the recording wasn't a very good quality. Our afternoon tour was on a partly cloudy day. The waterfalls were not raging due to low rain fall season. The sights were very epic and while in the air you hear the theme music to the kinds of movies filmed in parts of the island. Jurassic Park, Raiders of the lost arch, to name a few.  You don't get as close to the trees or the falls as they do the movies but the experience is one to remember.

To be honest, there are few things you can see or do on Kauai that will cost more than a trip on a Blue Hawaiian helicopter. However, in the same vein of honesty, I assure you that it is worth every penny. In a tourism-driven place like Hawaii, helicopter tours are a dime a dozen and many are very, very inexpensive. However, with such low fares I have to wonder how much money those companies invest in maintenance, safety and pilot training. There is no doubt with Blue Hawaiian as we were whisked into the air above Kauai in a state-of-the-art helicopter piloted by a 20-year veteran helicopter pilot with the U.S. Army. Needless to say, we were in safe hands. The tour lasted about an hour and included everything of Kauai you could imagine seeing. In truth, so much of the island is inaccessible by land so unless you take a helicopter tour, you'd be lucky to experience maybe 20% of Kauai. Blue Hawaiian takes you along the shoreline, weaves in and out of the Na Pali coast, cascades over waterfalls and into a dormant volcano crater and still has a few surprises up its sleeves. If you're visiting Kauai and even just considering taking a helicopter tour, don't hesitate and do it. Just make sure it's with Blue Hawaiian...

Jimmy was our pilot and very versed in all of the movie lore on the island of Kauai. We saw so many sights that would just not be possible on the ground or in the weeks time we were there on the island. Jim answered all of our questions and everyone enjoyed the trip. Very good instruction on what to do while in the helicopter and a very safe outfit. I would say 50 minutes is plenty of time. There are other tours out there with much more time in the air but if you have any turbulence I would say 50 minutes might be tops; as it were two people on the previous flight had "comfort bags".  Also plan some down time after the trip just incase you aren't feeling regular; i.e. jumping in the car to go see the canyon that you just saw might not be the best! Thanks blue hawaiian!

Do it! It's worth every penny! We booked through our hotel concierge and saved 10% and received a free gift. It was truly an amazing experience and the only way to see the island. We had a toddler with us and our pilot Shea was fantastic by talking to him a lot. It's a little loud but with the headphones it's no problem. Best experience of our trip!

This helicopter tour is as good as it gets. Its expensive yet worth every dollar. I booked the 'Big Island Spectacular' which tours the volcano and the gorgeous north Hawaiian valleys from the Waikoloa Heliport in about 2 hours. I'm a pilot and aviation enthusiast, so lets start with a few geeky details. The 'Eco-star' is a state-of-the-art French-built Airbus Helicopter EC-130. 6 Of these metallic blue helicopters departed in short intervals for the 7:00am tours, which is an impressive sight. The helicopter I flew in was brand new, and the interior and windows were absolutely spotless. The seat assignment is based on your weight and height, because with 7 on board and fuel the plane is near its limits. I was lucky to get the best seat (#2, right front), and managed to shoot some excellent photos and videos. Rear middle seats do not have the unobstructed visibility of the front seats. Front seats generally go to lighter people due to the weight-and-balance constraints. There are Bose headsets with fitting music. The interior is very comfortable and quiet, and the ride was smooth. Boarding is friendly and professional. Pilot Scott doubles as tour guide and camera operator, all jobs he performed brilliantly well. The first leg is up between the 2 big volcanoes to the active caldera of Kilauea for lava-spotting. Then on to Hilo airport for a refueling pit stop. And then up the Hamakua coast for a joyride in the valley. It was spectacular, absolutely gorgeous flight into the middle valley with the many waterfalls. The pilot took care to provide views from both sides. The entire ride and conversation is recorded in HD using 4 cameras and for sale on a USB stick afterwards ($40). Overall this was a very positive experience that I can recommend. Blue Hawaiian appears well run. At ~$550 is the experience worth it? yes. Is it overpriced like the other tourist stuff? no. With 6 passengers Blue Hawaiian makes $3100 per 2 hour flight. The EC-130 burns ~1 gallon of fuel per minute. 2 hours of operating cost including fuel, maintenance, interest and depreciation runs at approx. $2000, which leaves $1100 to pay the pilot, ground staff, airport facilities, insurance, sales and marketing. Compare that to a $13 cocktail that takes just next-to-nothing to make, or a $25 T-shirt that is made for $4.

This was my first helicopter tour and I couldn't be more impressed! The tour guide, Kiwi, was so personable and knowledgable. The entire staff was so nice and the site was clean and comfortable. We got to see everything from live lava flow, to mile high waterfalls and everything in between! I would Highly recommend this experience to anyone staying in Hawaii!

I haven't even taken off and I'm already impressed with the staff they have been really nice and helpful........The flight was awesome, unbelievably smooth. I was assigned the front seat which I would recommend if you can make it happen but they weigh everybody and put you where they need to to balance out the helicopter. Some passengers were taking picture after picture, I decided to take fewer pics and enjoy the ride which I thought was better than spending 45 minutes by my camera. I did get some good Shots anyway

This is the best way to see the Big Island when getting your 5-0 on. Our Captain, James was a very cool guy from Conneticut and he told great stories about the history of the island and the tour was super. Flying over the lava was very chill considering it was 2,000 degrees. We took the long tour, which is the best, but if you only have time for the shorter version, you'll still be psyched bc you get to see the canyons and the waterfalls that are impossible to see by car. The whole experice was totally worth it and is must when in Hawaii. The helicopters are very well maintained and very stable and if you even a little nervous, their professionalism should take that away immediately. We've done this in other parts of the world and have to rank BH up there as the most professional operation around. It might be cool if they painted one of the helicopters like TC from Magnum, but overall this is a top of your list thing to do when over here. Mahalo...

Best tour ever! Very fun and the pilot was super nice and knowledgable about the island. He answered all the questions everyone threw at him.

Blue Hawaiian Helicopter! Dave / Darin/ Roda and our pilot Noah you guys are golden! You made our TRIP! I'm still speechless of the experience. There is no words that can explain the beauty of nature and the volcano lava experience, the Wapio valley. Holy cow! Worth it!

Truly a great experience! The pilot was skilled at flying and also taught us a lot about the Hawaiian islands, their culture, history and people. I recommend the eco star helicopter as it has more windows for everyone to look out of. Must Go!

An unforgettable experience!  Our pilot, Ian was fantastic!  He was informative, friendly and took us on an incredible tour.  We saw amazing views of Kilauea, the active volcano, lava fields, breathtaking coastlines of the Kohala Coast, lush green valleys and waterfalls.  The helicopter was comfortable and everyone could see from where they were sitting.  Highly recommended!

Nate, you rocked it tonight, the Mauna Kea sunset tour was spectacular.  We are going to share and recommend this experience to many others. Thank You for an intelligent thought provoking evening!  John & Kate