Helicopter Tours
 

We are going to Hawaii in Sept. and will be visiting, the Big Island - Hilo, Maui and Kauai and we are contemplating taking a helicopter tour. Which island would you recommend over the others since we are only taking one tour?

I believe the consensus will be Kauai, although I'm sure all are great. Just so many beautiful areas of Kauai that you will otherwise be unable to see.

Here's a vote for Kauai. Seeing the Na Pali coast from the air is amazing. Have fun!

All the tours are expensive, but suggest you check into Blue Hawaiian.

I took the view of kauai, very beautiful. I used http://www.islandhelicopters.com/ You get a 40% discount ordering online. The guy flying is very knowledgeable about the area, and he is pretty laid back. The music in the background while he tells the tour is pretty relaxing too.

Although a fan of Kauai, if the lava is flowing well, then I would go for the BI. Make your choice closer to departure and current conditions.

My vote is for Big Island if the lava is flowing.

Hi, all - we did our flight in Kauai and thought it was amazing. If we could have afforded it, I would have loved to have done the BI as well, but no such luck. I was curious about the flights there - is the lava flow visible during the day if you fly overhead? When we hiked the park, we couldn't really see the lava until the sun went down. Thanks for any info. you can provide.

As many of you know, I don't travel often, so when I DO go somewhere, it's pretty much no - holes - barred if I really want to do an activity.
I figure I've already spent so much to get there, might as well take advantage.

In May, we did both the Big Island, and the Kauai Blue Hawaiian tours - booked online & saved about $35 - 40 pp.

They were BOTH absolutely remarkable!
I think I got more good pics out of the BI one because of the sulfur clouds emitted from the volcano - less reflection on the glass.

It's a toss up as to which was the best.

I'd highly recommend both if you can swing it!

All good points. I'd do Maui and Molokai, or BI if lava is flowing. Molokai has the highest seacliffs in the world with waterfalls draping off of it. Maui has the tallest waterfall in the world. You can go to both these spots in one flight.

Here are some resources i've used successfully.

http://www.mauiinformationguide.com/...pter-tours.php

http://www.hawaiianstyleactivities.c...pter_tours.php

www.maui-vacation.net/mauihelicopters.html

http://www.hawaiidiscountactivities....1&island=2

Last time I was there, I did the doors off helicopter tour. OH MY GOSH!! It was unreal. What an adrenaline rush. This is a lot of fun but not for the faint of heart.

Hope this all helps.

We took Blue Hawaiian on Kauai just about 2 weeks ago and it was incredible. Pilot/guide was very good and the views were amazing. Blue Hawaiian has a good safety record and reputation. A bit pricey, but worth it.

That doors off helicopter tour sounds awesome! Is it way more expensive than regular flights cause of insurance? Which islands offer them?

You can do doors-off with either InterIsland or Jack Harter on Kauai.

Here's the link for Blue Hawaiian. They've gone the extra mile, so to speak, on safety.

http://www.bluehawaiian.com/

Other than posting their website, what do you mean hf? Not seeing what your intent.

We did Kauai and it was awesome. All that you see is from a totally different perspective. We used airkauai and they were great. They also have an excellent safey rating. Our friends did the BI but we thought ours was better as the lava was not to be seen that day. There's was for 2 hours. I would rather do one hour on Kauai then 2 any where else. Good luck. I would do Maui as a second choice.

kealalani: I looked into these various helicopter services and only some of them are certified by the stricter FAA Part 135 safety protocols. (Others are Part 91; much less strict). Blue Hawaiian is Part 135 certified. They have also installed technology in their helicopters that enable their pilots to "see" the terrain if they get caught in fog or clouds say in a crater or near a mountainside (the sites of numerous accidents). And they have both floats on their helicopters and life preservers for their passengers.

diann24: The lava was not really active while we were there either. That, in no way detracted from the beauty & magnificence of the tour though.
The BH pilot flew us over and circled for us to see the red lava - you could actually see it moving INSIDE the Pu'uO'o vent. There were a couple other 'pockets' that were visible as well. It was absolutely astounding!
IMO, equal in it's magnificence as Napali is in it's beauty.
Take a look at what we saw: http://tinyurl.com/yw55v8
Look in the album dated 05/15/07, as I have 12 albums there.

I wish I could have done both islands but I tell you. Kauai totally captured my heart. It was like falling in love with someone you first lay eyes on, and you never forget it. That is the way I feel about kauai. Everything about it was better than any of the other islands I visited. I felt like I had been transformed totally to another place in time, or era. Hard to explain. It was paradise to me. Your pictures are great. Thanks for sharing. did they play music in the ear phones on your ride?

diann24; Yes, they played music & made commentary as well. We were up front. One of the couples in the back were photographing for a New Zealand travel magazine. The female kept asking the pilot to spell all the names he was throwing about....can you imagine trying to spell some of those mountains, falls etc. while flying a helicopter? After she asked a couple times, he told her to get that info later at back at the office....funny!

Yes, though I love all the islands, when we got off the airplane in Kauai I turned to my son and asked if he sensed the difference in the air...it was warm & cool at the same time - Perfect!

My fave is Kauai as well, but that doesn't mean I won't return to any of the others. We interviewed everyone we could about how to find a job, living expenses, etc. DS was even offered a couple jobs ( teaching surfing and such - they didn't know he'd just had one lesson! Ha!) He hopes to live there one day....which would be great for me - I'd visit a month or so every year!

More of the volcano pictures turned out 'good' due to the overcast of the sulphur clouds. Many of my Kauai heli pics were ruined by glare.

We don't get there much so while we were there, I wanted to see as much as I could. That's why I sprang for both tours. To me, the best way to see the volcano is in the air.

Having done it once, I probably won't do them again.

I am heading to the BI next week and i want to go on a helicopter tour of the lava flows which happen to be an outside flow right now - too cool! Thing is... Blue Hawaiian is bloody expensive and frankly I find it extremely unlikely that there is not another decent vendor on the island - there are lots of heli companies.

Can anyone recommend a company OTHER than Blue Hawaiian? The others are a lot cheaper in some cases but I definitely want to be safe!

Thanks!!

We flew BH, but here is the list in order of preference listed in the blue book:

BH
Tropical Helicopters
Sunshine H
Safari H
Mauna Loa H

Do a search on these and see what you think. Good luck!

OSB

We went on a helicopter ride over Kauai. It was unreal. We loved it. We are sorry that we didn't also do a helicopter trip over the Big Island, to see the volcanos more close up.When we had toured the Volcano National park, many roads were closed & we never got to see much of the volcanos due to a lack of time.Don't forget to tip the pilot prior to the flight for a better chance of preferred searing(even though it is based on weight distribution).

Is Volcano Air Tours the only company to fly over the volcano on Big Island from Maui, which is where we are staying? The flight from Kahului AIrport is the sunset tour and costs a whopping $335.00.

Linleedo1:
[.Don't forget to tip the pilot prior to the flight for a better chance of preferred searing(even though it is based on weight distribution).]

That would not have been possible at BH,
as the pilot was not met until we were
boarding. He was in his seat in the helicopter. Other employees took the info & assisted in the seat arrangment ( & I'm not sure who, exactly).
We did end up with front seating though.
The seating WAS actually based on weight.