クチコミ

Excellent tour of lava fields, water falls and whales. Pilot Tim did an expert flying job with a good running commentary. Highly recommend this birds eye tour.

I've never rode in a helicopter before so 1) didn't know what to expect 2) don't have any other companies to compare it to. Like others may have complained about, you should call to check how your weather conditions are AND if you're actually going to see what you want to see. Ex: is the lava flowing on the surface so one can see it..etc, etc. The day we went, it was rainy, soupy and overcast...but the next day was super clear! Now the service I got from the staff at Blue Hawaiian was actually very good and they were all 100% friendly. I have some minor suggestions but overall I'd suggest taking this company. Reason for my 3 star is that I got motion sick (I usually don't, as I love roller coasters etc...but a helicoprter is 100x different than a rollercoaster) and I don't think I'd go on one again. BUT by all means I do reccommend this company and it is really an awesome way to see the Big Island as you could never do via foot or land. My recap: Pros: -Very professional and friendly staff. -Very knowledgable pilot -We got to see the lava flowing in the ocean!!!! According to the pilot, we were lucky as the lava flow just broke the surface to dump into the ocean that week. -Newer, well kept aircraft Cons: -There is NO shelter right outside the fence where you board and Hilo is rainy more often than not. I didn't know why the staff brought us out to the fence to wait in the rain when our helicopter wasn't even ready yet. -The dvd burner was broken that day so we couldn't purchase a copy of our tour. BUT they gave us a complimentary blu-ray dvd of their best of Hawaii footage. -The ground staff that was in charge of getting us our floatation devices was ill prepared as he kept going back and forth about 100 yards, to get us our devices. AGAIN we were in the cold, windy rain on the tarmac. That was really dumb I thought. Unprepared and just poor planning. Ex: He brought out only 4 when he knew there was 6 of us then had to walk back 100 yard 2x to get us what we needed. Hello McFly, just count out 6 the first time!!!!

The wife and I took the circle of fire and waterfalls tour.  $220ish per person. We didn't take advantage of the advance booking because we didn't know.  This will allow you to save considerably per person if you book 5 days in advance.  Keep in mind people, you're basically taking a private flight, for at least an hour.  This isn't going to be cheap, consider what you paid to fly to this island.... With all those other people "splitting" the cost.  Also if you've been on the island and looked at the sky if you blink the weather changes.  So keep some perspective. Our initial thoughts about this tour and flight were not good, but we were turned around once off the ground.  Unless you book well in advance and have the right weight distribution between party members, and have 6 people in your party. you will be paired up with other folks.  This for us immediately was a problem.  We were paired up with people getting off a cruise ship, whom smelled like booze and cigs.  :(    also your seating is assigned based on weight.  (The aircraft needs to be balanced)   the bigger folks on our bird were placed mid ship.   Which for me meant sitting in seat "4" which was in the back in the middle.  (6'0 190lb)    I was not happy. The flight, was awesome.  Capt Eric explained the lava flows, dead lava tubes, showed us "spotlights" little bright red glowing holes in the lava, took his time to give both sides of the craft a pitch towards the sights So everyone had the opportunity for photos and to see below.  He was also a gentle pilot.  He kept checking on everyone to make sure their comfort level with the turns was OK.   The only thing I thought was meh, was the waterfalls portion of the tour. Flight time was a good length. The waterfalls were a zzzz...zzzz. I would rather have gone over to see the lava flow meet the water and get all steamy.  All in all it was worth it.   We enjoyed ourselves and have some awesome photos and a story to share.  We also got a private pilot to fly us around.

We took the 1 hour Volcano and Waterfall tour out of Hilo on the A-star.  We didn't book 5 days in advance so the price was about $20 higher than the online prices (not that big a deal) - we were able to call on a Monday morning and get a Tuesday afternoon flight!  The staff was great checking us in, doing the safety briefing, getting us on and off the plane. There were three of us in our group - I got the outer front seat and the boys were in the back seat.  We all were able to see out the windows just fine!  The other 3 people on our plane were an Argentinian/US family and they were great and helped make the trip even more fun.   We didn't have super high expectations as we knew that there wasn't that much lava flowing, but we did see the areas that were active and it was very cool.  Our pilot was SCOTT -- he was very knowledgeable and very entertaining.  The ride was very smooth and nobody got sick (unlike the crazy rides on Kauai).  They play lots of "mood" music which was surprisingly fun.   Scott was really good about circling around so that everyone got a chance to get photos/video of the active lava flows. I agree with some other folks that the waterfalls weren't all that, but they were a nice little bonus at the end of the trip.   Mahalo Blue Hawaiian Helicopters for a great time!!

Cheapest flights I could find over several other tours ($200 PP). Excellent 1 hr. flight with great pilot, Tim. Very comfortable helicopter. There were 6 of us plus the pilot and the only negative was that 3 of us did not have window seats. Seating was based on body weight. Would do it over again though.

Awesome staff and experience. Little dramanine and our family of 4 was good to go. The ride was smooth and not scary at all. fear of heights never came into play. Saw amazing views of volcano, waterfalls and the coutry side. A must do.

We really enjoyed our helicopter tour! Everyone at Blue Hawaiian was super friendly and helpful. The pilot was excellent and very knowledgeable.  We were lucky enough to see a lot of great views of the volcano and the island. My only disappointment was that we were supposed to see waterfalls and saw none. The price is definitely steep but well worth it, we have once in a lifetime pictures!

This helo adventure was amazing!!! Jeremy was our.pilot and was very knowledgeable and informative, he showed us the volcanoe and the waterfall and was kind enough to circle points of interest for all passengers to.see.  He engaged us all.in conversation and was an absolute pleasure to.have had our first ever helo ride with! Would.absolutely recommend him as your pilot.  The flight.crew and the.front.desk.staff were about a 2 (,they seemed.very "robotic" in their customer service) but overall...we got.a great tour with a great pilot!!!! Thank you Jeremy!!!!

I had never been on a helicopter before so the GF thought we should do this together.  It was a very fun experience going over Mauna Kea Volcano.  Our pilot Justin was very entertaining and knowledgeable.   We have yet to watch our DVD of our flight but I am looking forward to the show.

This will be short because I have no complaints.  The staff was all great and friendly.   Loved our guide, Greg.  Great tour!

We took a Blue Hawaiian helicopter tour on our vacation in Kauai last year and it was breathtaking so we looked forward to seeing the sites on the Big Island. However I must say, the tour on Kauai was much more interesting because the Napili coast and Waimea canyon are just so awesome seen from the air, since there really is no other way to see the Napili coast either than with an 11 mile hike or boat, it was definitely a plus. The Big Island tour we took was the Circle of Fire which took us through Hilo, some waterfalls, which weren't as impressive as the ones we saw on Kaui (think Jurassic Park) and through the Volcano. The volcano's lava flows through lava tubes which is underground so its not spewing from the top, so you're not going to see much lava unless the pilot spots some holes in the tube. However you do get to see the barren landscape and lots of smoke, and also where the lava hits the ocean, so that was pretty neat. But it's surprising to see that a lot of the Big Island was much flatter than I anticipated it to be. And of course, the volcano area is kind of smoky and gray. However our pilot, Julie, was wonderful and super friendly, and the ride was smooth. We did manage to see glimpses of Lava and since it's probably the only time I'll see Lava that close in my life, it was worth it :)

We were able to book at the last minute after being basically lied to by another company regarding the reason they had to cancel our flight.  Tim was our pilot, and was very patient - especially with a kid on our tour who kept clicking the microphone button because he thought it was funny.  Time seemed highly skilled and I felt safe flying with him. We did the volcano and waterfall tour.  I smiled for at least 10 minutes after that.  It was amazing.  LOVED IT.  The volcano part was more impressive than I expected.  The waterfall (rainbow falls) underwhelmed.  I would skip it the next time and just go for the volcano tour.   Our helicopter had the pilot and two other seats in the front, then four seats in the back.  My husband wasn't next to a window, but he said he didn't mind because he could also look straight ahead for great views.  The seating was comfortable and not cramped.  It was a smooth ride; one of the people on our tour apparently gets extreme motion sickness and didn't throw up (although she did hold the bag).  I thought the ride was more smooth than the commuter flight I took to get to the Big Island.

My husband and I recently took a 1 day excursion to Hilo from Oahu to see the volcano.  I'm very glad we were told in advance to ask if there were any recent lava flows, (apparently if there isn't the views are not as spectacular).... lucky for us, we were told a recent flow had just erupted! I am petrified of flying....and was very skeptical about doing a helicopter tour.  But I figured "hey, only live once, and I'm not gonna let my fear stop me from something Ive dreamed about doing".  Anyhow our tour guide and helicopter pilot (Jeremy) did a fantastic job of reassuring me that our tour was safe and that everything is perfectly ok!!!   Jeremy was very knowledgeable about the island and was very informative on our tour.  We got to see the last house standing (the guy that lives there must be nuts) and then Jeremy took us off the coast to see the lava flowing into the ocean.  I was a little disappointed we couldn't get closer, but I guess do to the toxic gasses we couldn't.  The views were amazing. Watching the lava flow into the ocean was magical and awe inspiring.  We were also very lucky that the weather was on our side.  We had a perfectly clear and sunny morning to see everything!  Pele the mythological Hawaiian Goddess of the Volcano must have been smiling upon us that day! I think that peoples experiences with this tour are contingent upon how active the volcano is and how nice the weather  is on that particular day.  I can see why some may have been underwhelmed or unimpressed to go all that way and have it rained out or not active.   My husband and I had a great experience....weather was perfect, lava flow was recent and our tour guide was great.  For us, our experienced rocked.

My husband & I have been to Hawaii 4 times & always wanted to see the Volcano. This trip with our best friends we did. From the moment we checked in to take off we experienced complete professionalism. Jeremy was our pilot & with his calm demeanour & relaxing tunes we had a fabulous time. We all would recommend this company for this tour had a great time. Early was better as weather changes so quickly.

Vendor Review Blue Hawaiian Helicopters Circle of Fire plus Waterfalls: We did the ecostar helicopter circle of fire plus waterfalls excursion in Hilo on the Big Island 10/2014. We got upgraded to the ecostar package through our hotel (The Sheraton) which was awesome. The computer generates your seat based on keeping the aircraft weight distributed evenly. We were super lucky to sit in the front 2 seats next to the pilot (Ethan was great! He was very knowledgable and gave us a great flight.) with pretty much floor to ceiling windows to see everything. First we went to where the lava flows. It was a very clear day so it makes the glow hard to see, but you can see the crusted over lava, some sky holes with flowing red lava, and the smoke billowing out of the holes. We also went by a string of waterfalls at the end of the tour that you could see through the rainforest. The tour lasted about 50 minutes. The turns can make you a little queasy so take some dramamine before going if you get motion sick.