Big Island Spectacular!!

[Kalena]

Has anyone done this helicopter tour? And is it really worth the money? NCL offers it on their shore excursions in Kona. But I think its through Blue Hawaiian.

[lougee1043]

we took a helicoptor tour on kauai and i cannot believe it would be any less spectacular on kona

[xpcdoojk]

we took a helicoptor tour on kauai and i cannot believe it would be any less spectacular on kona

 

We flew with Blue Hawaiian in Hilo and they do a nice job. Good helicopters.

 

jc

[RET_REF]

We flew with Safari Helicopters in Hilo and our pilot Capt. Brad was great!

I booked directly on-line and you can save some $ doing it this way.

[daWoods]

The island spectacular flies only out of Waikoloa heliport, so Kona is the port for you if that's the tour you want. It is more expensive, but is a much longer tour, covering the whole island, not just the volcano. We did Blue Hawaiian out of Hilo because we were only interested in flying over the volcano. You should check their prices online to compare with the ship's fees.

[Kalena]

I did check the prices directly with Blue Hawaiian and with a "guess" taxi ride to get there and back its about $10.00 chepper (not much) but I liked the idea of covering the whole island but of course the part over the valcano is the main reason.

 

So I was just trying to see if anyone has done this tour to get an opinion of what they thought and if anyone did it through NCL was it with Blue Hawaiian company?

 

Da Woods & REFOREE & xpcdoojk Did you guys see flowing lava?

[RET_REF]

Yes, we actually saw lava flowing into the sea during our flight. We also saw some small lava flows right below the crater base. When your pilot flies over the volcano you may catch some glimpses of lava bubbling in the lava tubes.

 

Also FYI, if you are seated in middle of the back seat on the helicoper where I happened to be placed sometimes its difficult to take quality photo shots from this seat location. You are much better off being in the front seat or by the door if you can get it. However, weight restrictions determine your seat location in the helicopter so as to help balance the load.

[daWoods]

Lava? Flew over a brand new breakout and got a clear view of the crater with all vents visible. Impressive. Also saw a lava falls a couple of days earlier at the entry site, and got to within a few feet of pahoehoe toes.:D

[Kalena]

Wow sounds like you both had a great flight. I think we are just going to do it. If I dont Im sure I'll regret it! Is it a smooth ride in a helicopter?

 

REFOREE- I noticed you live in Irwin PA. We arnt to far from you we live in Pitcairn PA!!

[RET_REF]

Actually we live in North Huntingdon, but people outside PA don't know where that is. When you take your ride in Hilo you may encounter a few bumps, but they aren't nearly as bad as in an airplane. The ride to and from Hawaii is far more bumpy. I'm sure you'll not regret doing it whom ever you use on the Big Island.