Helicopter volcano or Kauai?

[Benjispa]

We're going on POA in March and want to take one helicopter tour. Which would be better? Kauai or the volcano tour?

[jkloni]

We took the Kauai tour in October 2002. It was unbelieveable. I must have taken 100 pictures. I highly recommend it. We were on the Star.

 

While waiting in line to get back on the ship on the Big Island the people in front of us went on the volcano helicopter tour and were somewhat disappointed. And they had taken there entire family!

 

I guess it's what you want to see and how the weather is that day.

[spleen93]

I think that they're both really good so unfortunately, you'll need to go with your instincts as to which you want to see more by air. More of Kauai is inaccessible and so, you'll see parts of Kauai that are otherwise not viewable at all. Whereas, with the volcano tour, you'll probably get a chance to see flowing lava which is pretty hard to do on foot (depending on lava conditions). Also, both tours are highly dependent on the weather and visibility that day so your mileage may vary. Go with your gut!

 

Spleen

[jkloni]

Spllen93 is right; weather conditions are everything. The people I spoke about in my previous post did not see any lava (it was not promised) and were disappointed...and there was a lot of steam/smoke which distorted the view of the volcanoes.

 

We were actually able to go into the crater because conditions were so good. We were told that they are able to do that less than 25% of the time on the Kauai tour.

[ukbballfan]

We did Kauai on Safari Air last month and it was awesome! While the opportunity to see flowing lava is rare ...it is basically a flight to see one thing. Theres also the possibility of hiking to the flow. The tour over Kauai offers many things you won't be able to see otherwise. We were also fortunate to get to go into Mt. Wai'ale'ale. I have some nice pics from the chopper ride if you would like to see them.