We booked with Hawaiian Blue on the main island and couldn't do the volcano portion of our trip because of the weather. We decided to drive out to Hilo with our rental car and managed to book the Circle of Fire tour of the volcano. Great experience!
Excellent helicopter tour. We did the 45 mins Circle of Fire tour from Hilo. Great views over the currently active lava flows. Our pilot Jeremy gave use a good narrative and made sure he circled both ways so that everyone had a great view. Safety was obviously very important to the company. Allow 3 hours in total for safety briefing, flight and waiting for DVD of trip to be burned.
Took off from Hilo this morning. Pilot Eric was superb: professional, personable, knowledgeable -- and seriously adept with that helicopter. Up close and personal with the volcano and I enjoyed every minute of it. A well organized operation that clearly represents the best of the Big Island. Would most favourably recommend Blue Hawaiian Helicopters.
You can't go wrong with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters. From the check in, safety review, loading, tour and unloading - you can tell these guys have ironed out all the wrinkles through years of experience. The booking process (via phone) is recommended - they can address any questions and will make recommendations of which tour/aircraft based on your group's need. They also send confirmations with all the necessary information and a courtesy call 24 hours before departure - a nice touch. Our pilot - Jeremy was great. He was personable and knew every passenger's name without introductions. The take off and landing were incredibly smooth and the overall maneuvers through the volcano-waterfall tour were easy on a very nervous group of travelers. Jeremy also had a lot of useful information and continually checked in with everyone to ensure they were comfortable. You could tell this was a seasoned professional. I can't think of anything that requires improvement - just wish I had more time/money to take additional tours. Thanks for a great flying experience Blue Hawaiian!
Blue Hawaiian Helicopters were very professional and we felt very safe. Their office is clean, nicely decorated, and we knew we were in good hands. Their safety presentation was well done and they were very organized with their logistics. Once in the helicopter, the pilot was polite, friendly, humorous, and knowledgeable. The flight included great music which added to the beauty of whatever we were seeing. We liked it so much that we just booked my sister and parents on the same flight for next week.
Blue Hawaiin Helicopter ride with Jeremy our pilot was outstanding with wonderful views of the volcano and lava fields. Jeremy was knowledgeable and entertaining. Loved his choice of in flight music. Don't miss it!
Firstly I would like to start by saying we would definitely use this company again. However, I do want to mention our experiences with the company - , my daughter and partner flew with over the volcano on the Big Island, and came back raving about what an exceptional trip it was. the pilot (think it was Scott), was so good and extremely knowledgeable. We had a group of 9 (2 helicopters) that went over Oahu. I was in 1 of the helicopters and had an amazing flight with our pilot Julie, who was extremely professional, informative and made us all feel very comfortable. Unfortunately our other group of friends didn't quite have such a great flight - the pilot was obviously a bit more adventurous and would possibly be great for a group of people who have strong stomachs, and maybe even adrenalin junkies! (3 of our 5 guests came back sick, all 3 had flown in helicopters before)! We would definitely recommend people to fly with Blue Hawaiian as we would use them again - but I would also recommend that you make a comment when booking, if you are either nervous or don't have a stomach that can take swaying, so that you would like to fly with someone like Julie - or Scott. From the time we booked on line, to the time we got on the helicopters, this company was exceptionally professional, friendly and helpful - its a bit disappointing that 1 of their pilots possibly needs a bit more training in tourists' expectations.
We had an excellent experience - we did the Volcano/waterfalls tour from Hilo and found everything to be extremely well organized. Our pilot was fantastic and she did a great job talking to everyone in the helicopter and really engaging my two daughters. We loved it. Flying in a helicopter is expensive but I have to say, if you are going to consider spending a lot of money on an experience, this is one that is well worth it and you will never forget it. Flying directly over the top of the volcano to see the activity was a highlight. Loved it! Do it!!
My first helicopter flight and what an experience! The sites were amazing and the pilot went out of his way to make sure everyone had a good view of everything. Pilot was SO knowledgable! All questions were answered in depth and he went out of his way to point things out and provide details / history! Great flight! Well worth the money! Would highly recommend! Will be returning for another flight
This tour was booked through the NCL excursions. The company is first class...very professional. Office area is quaint, but adequate. You start with a safety briefing and video. Then divided into groups based on weight (?)....We were assigned to one of the smaller helicopters with Jeremy as our pilot. He was excellent. Love flying in a helicopter...& the course he took was great. Excellent volcano info & 2 trips over the smoking..lava bubbling crater was both exciting and a little scary. Would use the company again.
We chose the 50 minute tour over the volcano. Blue Hawaiian is ver well organized good safety instruction and our pilot was the best. We've had a few helicopter flights sofa, but this ride was very smooth an the information given by our pilot was interesting and good and he had a great sense of humor.
As this seemed like a bucket list type of tour, my fiance and I decided to splurge and do the Big Island Spectacular tour in the EcoStar helicopter. The helicopter was impressive, huge windows and lots of space for us to sit comfortably. They assign seating on the helicopter based on weight of the passengers. I was lucky enough to sit in the front next to the pilot! The views were amazing, and the flight was incredibly smooth. I am not a good flier in general, but our pilot Steve was experienced and made the journey around the island very enjoyable. Steve flew us into the deep valleys so we could get up close to the massive waterfalls, it was truly a unique experience. We also flew over the coast near Hilo and Steve spotted whales for us. The Volcano was amazing, Steve was excellent at pointing out the red lava hot spots and the "goats". We had so much fun, it was well worth the money. Steve mentioned to the ladies in the gift shop that we had recently become engaged in Hawaii and they treated us to a complimentary copy of our flight video. It was a really nice gesture by Blue Hawaiian, we would recommend this company to anyone looking to do a great helicopter tour!
This was my first time in a helicopter and it was awesome. We took the Circle of Fire plus waterfalls tour and it was well worth the price that included flying from Honolulu to Hilo for the day. By far the highlight of the day and week. I am looking forward to going again when we next visit Hawaii. Thank You so much for the awesome trip.
My daughters absolutely love the helicopter tour of the waterfalls but it pales in comparison the the lava fields. Colleen did an amazing job of pointing out the changes as well as some of the impact of recent events in the area. Would strongly recommend to anyone able to make the trip!
The "Circle of Fire plus Waterfalls" trip on Blue Hawaiian was a highlight of our trip to Hawaii (the "Big Island"). The pilot, Jeremy, was great. He clearly knew both the area, and how to maneuver the helicopter. He took us in close over Pu'u O'o crater, and took effort to make sure that everyone could see the bubbling magma in the "skylight". It did not matter which side of the helicopter you sat on, he made sure that everyone saw everything. The waterfalls were great as well, then for an added bonus he took us over Hilo bay because he had spotted a whale. It turns out there were over a dozen whales, and the view from above was simply amazing. We cannot recommend this trip highly enough. It was worth every penny. Expect to arrive 45 minutes early for the safety briefing, and stay a little longer to purchase the video of your trip...that's right you get to see you and the sights on your DVD or BluRay. Take it home and smile all over again...we did.