Reviews

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

If you are coming to Hawaii and only have the time or the budget to do one activity I strongly recommend that you take a helicopter tour with this company!! We took our first helicopter tour on Oahu today and it exceeded our hopes and expectations. They truly care about the satisfaction of their customers and the employees are very friendly, professional and welcoming! Thank you to our pilot Julie, she took the time to wish our son a happy birthday during the tour and was very informative and friendly. Their helicopters are very comfortable to ride in with great views and air-conditioning. Julie made us feel safe and comfortable during our flight and we were able to relax and enjoy the beautiful tour. Thank you Blue Hawaiian Helicopter Tours! We'll be back.

This is the best money we spent on our vacation! If there is one thing you should do first on your vacation to any of the islands, it's take a helicopter tour.  Seriously! I had so many ideas of where we wanted to spend our time on Ohau, but after we finished our helicopter tour I knew the places I wanted to concentrate on.  Thank you to Vincent in the office and Adam as our guide - both made this a great experience.

Excellent company!.. Pilot (Bush) is  a true professional very knowledgeable and makes everyone feels safe and welcome from the very beginning. Awesome tour for a very good price, make sure to do it on the first days of your stay so you'll get a better orientation of the Island. Tip: Wear darker color to minimize the glare on the windows.

What an amazing time this was!! When we were in HI , my wife says to me - we should do a helicopter tour around Oahu. I was shocked because usually I'm the one that initiates these little excursions ! So we call, make reservations & we go. Keep in mind their base is in the back somewhere of Honolulu Airport - even the taxi driver had a hard time finding it. Haha. The one downfall of this is that the times of the tours conflict with rush hour traffic - so yes, prepare yourselves. Upon checking in everybody seemed very professional, showing a video of safety issues & doing little demonstrations of safety as if you're on a plane. We board the helicopter - which I was anxious , excited yet nervous , never riding in a helicopter. The helicopter is huge. Seats 4 people in the rear & 2 passengers besides the pilot in the front. Comfortable seats with a great amount of leg room!!! The helicopter is nothing but Windows so no matter where you sit you have perfect views of the gorgeous Hawaiian sights. Once I found out the pilot was a retired US Army Blackhawk Pilot I was a little more at ease. So we put our earphones on, music comes on consisting of  Hawaiian music to add to the ambiance & we take off. Smooth , comfortable rides with amazing sights. On this tour they take you all around the entire island. Seeing every sight! AMAZING!!! To go to certain places is great but to see it from above. PHENOMENAL!!! I strongly suggest taking the adventure !

My fiance and I went on a tour this morning (were from the bay are) and words cannot describe how amazing and beautiful this was. He has never been to hawaii before and neither of us had done a tour like this before ever. But WOW! Julie was our pilot and she was a ton of fun and quirky. We loved her jokes. Everyone working here were just great. We cant wait to go to another island to do another tour!

Great trip. Well worth every penny.  I don't think you have a chance to choose your own guide but "Go Go" was awesome.  We took the two hour trip and saw everything.  Got lucky and saw lots of lava.   The waterfalls and the valleys are truly incredible, especially from a helicopter.