クチコミ

I was contacted at the hotel because of a cancellation by another person. When I arrived the flight was full and I proceeded to embark on what I perceived later as an overpriced tour. I had been to the volcanoes on foot several times before, so when flying over the same, I was not overly impressed. It was bad day for lava flow. I have had more scenic choppero rides in Vietnam, courtesy of Uncle Sam. I think the thing that really ticked me off about the tour was the CD that was provided was pretty much blank when I proceeded to play it for friends and family after returning home from my vacation.

Our flight was also canceled when we got there. Seems this must happen a lot especially in the rainy season. I'm glad however that they take safety so seriously. And since the lava is no longer flowing into the ocean, it wasn't as big a disappointment.

Timing is everything in this. On the cloudy, rainy scheduled date of our helo tour, the flight was cancelled at the last minute due to weather. We rescheduled for the next day. By that time, a new eruption had begun at Kilauea, which stopped four days later. Couldn't have worked out better. Our pilot was James. His commentary was very informative and he flew over the eruption twice - going to the coast and returning. Smooth, quiet flight. Seating in the back is cozy, but not too uncomfortable for a 50-minute flight. Only a couple things were less than perfect. They offer a DVD of your flight for sale. The helo has four cameras. One of ours had something dangling in the corner of the lens. That's something they should check on preflight. And, although they recommend dark clothing to limit reflection in photos, I wish they would stress that even more. A good time to do so would be during the reminder phone call the day before.

We decided to see the volcanic landscapes by air after reading many disappointed reviews of ground tours. We also knew not to expect much spectacle as the volcano had been relatively quiet up to our visit. (Have continued watching webcams and USGS website and wow - spectacular displays in early March). We were warmly welcomed at Waikaloa heliport for our two hour Circle of Fire and Waterfall flight and after a short wait, form filling and safety-briefing it was time to climb aboard. We chose an eco-copter and were not disappointed. My son and I were very lucky to score front seats and my husband had a rear window seat. He said he couldn't see that well but judging from his photos the side view was still pretty awesome. Our pilot (sorry - can't remember his name) was highly informative and far from boring - many interesting stories involving geological, natural and human history of island. He made sure that each side of the helicopter had plenty of time to view sites. We firstly skirted northern side of Mauna Kea (could see snow-capped summit and observatories) and then swung down to volcanic landscape. Could see lots of steam and smoke venting from cracks. Then flew around Pu'U'O'o vent - spectacular - could see a fumerole and a small lava trail perhaps indicating an active lava tube. (Note that the floor of this vent collapsed spectacularly a week or so ago - check out video on USGS website).We also saw parts of a subdivision still in existance that was evacuated years ago due to lava flows. As we had two empty seats we did not need to refuel at Hilo and so flew along east coast of island. Spectacular scenery and wow-Kohala waterfalls. Waimanu Valley was jaw-droppingly awesome (it is a mile deep). We flew right through it and because conditions favoured it, flew over back of valley, entered another amazing valley and circled upwards at end of valley till we burst out over plateau that led back to heliport (Waikoloa). We purchased the DVD of our flight and have enjoyed sharing it with friends and family. Be prepared to leave most belongings in your car or locked away in Blue Hawaiian's Office (for safety). Also good to wear dark clothing to minimize cabin reflection. The staff were all welcoming and friendly and gave good advice for our driving tour later that day.

First off: Blue Hawaiian seems a very professional outfit, our 50-minute "Circle of Fire" tour went smoothly and our pilot, Pam, was delightful--calm, collected, funny and informative. The aerial views of Pu'u O'o crater were impressive even though the volcano's been quiet for a while. I think I had a better view in the front than those seated behind me. I wasn't that comfortable in the A-Star (a bit bumpy, headphones uncomfortable for me) so I was glad we took a short tour. One of our party experienced some motion sickness, so take your dramamine beforehand if that's an issue for you. It's very pricey--for people who have mobility issues or don't like hiking, this is a great way to see the landscape, but next time I'll just spend more time on the ground exploring Volcanoes National Park.

I took the Big Island Spectacular tour that left at 12:15. I am an airline captain for a major airline based in Chicago. The ground support staff was friendly and attentive. Safety seemed to be a very high priority. The helicopter pilot was very friendly and informative. The aircraft was clean and well kept with the latest radio and safety equipment. The our itself was very exciting and professionally conducted. It was by far one of the highlights of my vacation here on the big island! Thanks for the great hospitality!! Nice Job!!

We took the Big Island Spectacular Helicopter Tour out of Waikoloa. This is a tour not to be missed if your on the Big Island! Shane was the pilot. He was fantastic. He was very knowledgeable and personable. The entire tour was breathtaking. I have taken other helicopter tours...this one was unquestionably the best ever. Don't miss the volcanoes!! Worth every penny!! Thank you, Shane!

Did the two hour Big Island Spectacular. Volcanes are not very active right now so mostly smoke and small amounts of "leaking lava" seen, but quite interesting. Pilots are very knowledgeable and answer questions. The whole thing is filmed and you can buy a video of it for $25 once you land. After going over the lava fields stop in Hilo for gas and a short break then up the coast and into valleys to see waterfalls and back around to the other side.

We were on the Eco-Star helicopter and chose the afternoon Big Island Spectacular tour. It was money definitely well spent! I had traveled all over the Big Island and it was amazing to see parts of the island you would never be able to see without being in the air. Our pilot, Toshi, made the tour even better with his knowledge and humor. If you decide to go on this AWESOME tour, ask to see if Toshi will be your pilot. For those who are mildly scared of heights, if my friend who has that fear LOVED the ride could do it, you can too! The location of the helipad is on the Kona side of the Big Island near the Hilton Waikoloa and is approximately 20-30 minutes from the Kona International Airport. So either before or after the ride, you can go shopping and get some food at the Queen's Marketplace on the Waikoloa properties. When you arrive for your tour, they will check you in and weight you. Yes ladies, you will have to be weighed. They need to balance the helicopter and you will be assigned to a specific seat. On our helicopter, all the seats are good, but I think for picture taking, being in any of the side seats, front or back, was better. I got to sit next to the pilot and it was hard to take as nice pictures compared to those sitting on the sides. In any case, after you get weighed, you wait for others who will be joining you. Once everyone arrives, you go through a safety briefing. After that, you walk out in a single file line and head to the helicopters. Our tour took us in between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa and that was awesome! You get to see Saddle Road in another light. The size of these volcanoes is just so magnificent. After you pass that area, you are brought to the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. The park has closed park of Crater Rim Road because of the volcanic activity from Halemaʻumaʻu crater. So for those of you who didn't get a chance to see that cool crater, this is the way to go. There was active lava flowing when we were there, so we got to see that. That was awesome. We could see the vents from the lava traveling underground. You could also see the old lava flows that crossed paved roads. There was one lone house that was surrounded by lava flow. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of it. After breathtaking views of the volcanoes, we headed to the Hilo area. We took a pit stop there so people could stretch their legs and use the restrooms. Depending on the other passengers, you may not have to make this pit stop. From Hilo, the tour continues along the Hamakua coastline. You'll get to see some of waterfalls on the Hilo side of the island i.e. Akaka Falls, Rainbow Falls. The more you look, the more waterfalls you will see. You also get to see some of the beautiful homes and farmlands. As you head further north, you head towards Kohala. The valleys here are just AMAZING. You'll get to see the mouth of Waipi'o valley. They can not fly into the Waip'o valley since the land is considered scared by the native Hawaiians. Plus there are people who live in Waipi'o valley so you don't want to be disrespectful to them either. There are other valleys to the north of Waipi'o valley that the helicopter tours are allowed to enter. Toshi took us into Waimanu valley and WOW. There were SO many waterfalls along the valley walls. It was just breathtaking. Words aren't enough to describe what we saw. The pictures don't do justice to how beautiful it was. There's a keyhole in the valley that's in the back and the weather permitted us to go into the very deep aspect of the valley. That part of the valley actually connected to the back part of Waipi'o valley. That was super cool to see. After those breathtaking waterfalls, you travel to the northern most aspect of the island and fly over Parker Ranch. It's quite a sight to see the transformation of the lush farm land to the dry area south of Waimea. After you leave the Waimea area, you're brought back to Waikoloa. If you don't have a lot of time to explore the Big Island, which I think you need like at least 4 days to do, then go for this tour. It was just AWESOME! It's totally worth the money!!!! Start saving!

Blue Hawiian Helecopters specializes in first time flyers. The staff is very savvy gauging the comfortability of their passengers and adapting their style to suit the anxiety level. That said, they are extremely friendly and anenable, as ia the island way. Out pilot, Greg had a expert knowledge of history and terrain, making a point to alert us to the whales that we were fortunate enough to encounter during our 45 minute flight. We had a perfect flight on a perfect day and felt like we had made some news friends as well.

This was the only way that we got to see a lava flow. We had to reschedule our first flight because the VOG was too bad to fly. It is probably best to schedule this early in your trip in case you encounter the same thing. Also: it is best to go first thing in the morning and if you are coming from the mainland you won't mind getting up early. We took the big eco star tour. We saw the island, Valley's whales in the ocean and lava flows. I think that we had an especially good day. It was a lot of money, but worth it. We decided that if we bring our 4 kids back we would save money taking them by leaving from Hilo airport.

This is not a cheap experience. However, you will not see some of these things any other way. The Kohala trip to view the waterfalls is fantastic - and relatively short at only 45 mins (I did this in Feb 2012 because the weather prevented us from doing the BIG Island Spectacular). However, on 3 of my previous visits I did the Big Island Spectacular (all 3 times). Every experience is different and you just cannot get sick of seeing the waterfalls, volcanos and terrain around Hawaii. And, Blue Hawaiian is a top-notch operation. I've also flown with them on Maui.

This was a remarkable experience. In fact, I think I need to just sit for a while and consider what just happened. The volcano was amazing. We actually saw lava flowing like a river. Spectacular. After leaving the volcano we saw waterfalls and more amazingness in the Waimanu Valley. Our pilot, Toshi, knew everything about everything and really added an element of humor that made this a fabulous trip. I've seen it all. Time to leave the island.

This was the third time we've done a helicopter tour with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters and will definitely book with them again. The day that we went up there wasn't much to see as far as the lava floes go but it was still a fun trip. The pilots are all very professional and knowledgeable. We had a great time.

Our guide, Dave, was FANTASTIC. Highly recommend the trip - flew from Kona to Hilo and back, took us over 3 hours but it was worth every moment. Amazing views of the live volcanoes along the southern Hilo tip then up along the coast lines to view the beautiful waterfalls.