Hawaii Helicopter Tour Recommendations

[TwoNbliss]

Any one care to share your experiences with Helicopter tours and companies. We are thinking of booking flights on Maui and Kauai? We plan to book these ourselves.

 

We will be there the week of 12/3 on Pride of America. Please sign in on the roll call. (I dont know how to post a link. We dont have kids to teach us)

[AmyinVail]

We used the ship heli tour in Kauai (I highly recommend viewing this island by the air) and the company they use is Heli USA. I can tell you that it was great, but Blue Hawaiian had helicopters on the same flight area and their choppers looked newer and nicer. I've read where Jack Harter won't refund your money if the ship doesn't dock, so we didn't use them and instead just booked w/ the ship to be safe. I just got off the POAm and I am so glad we choose Kauai, as Maui just wouldn't be all that "green" from the sky. We saw about 60 waterfalls during our 45 minute heli tour. breathtaking!

[CSloan]

Any one care to share your experiences with Helicopter tours and companies. We are thinking of booking flights on Maui and Kauai? We plan to book these ourselves.

 

We will be there the week of 12/3 on Pride of America. Please sign in on the roll call. (I dont know how to post a link. We dont have kids to teach us)

 

We used Interisland in Kauai and it was the highlight of our trip! We did the Waterfall Tour. You fly in a helicopter with no doors (great for photos). At about the 1/2 way point, you land at a private waterfall, where you can swim and have a nice picnic lunch (provided). It was really amazing. Here are some pics if you want to take a look...

[CSloan]

Along the same lines... any suggestions for a helicopter tour to fly over the volcano/lava in Hilo?

[Aloha Me]

This may belong on the Princess board but there's not much helicopter conversation there. Does anyone know the actual name of the company used by the Island Princess in Kauai. Think it may be economically safer to go through their excursion but would like to check background of company they use first.

[flashdog_1]

http://www.safarihelicopters.com/kauaitours.html

 

I haven't used them because my trip to Hawaii has not as yet materialized, but I believe they go to more than one island. Yes, just checked the web site. They go to the Big Island, also. Internet rate can't be beat.

[cruisefrk]

We just returned from a 14 night cruise on the Infinity (amazing may I add). I had booked a tour for four of us in Kuaui with Island Helicopters I found on the Internet. They were amazing. They picked us up at the pier in our own van right at the time they said they would. Took us directly to the airport near by, after about 10 minutes we were in the air for a spectacular 50 minute flight. Then brought us right back to the pier. Our pilot was very experienced he used to do rescue missions in Alaska! He was great. You must do Kuaui by air - there is so much to see that you will miss unless your high above. We also paid $100 less a person than anyone on the ship and did not have to wait an average of 2 hours while everyone else did their tours. Which gave us plenty of time to do the beach thats within walking distance of the ship.

 

In Oahu we used islandseaplane and tried something different. Its a nice family owned business with a ton of flying experience. The plane is pretty old but added to the experience. It was great - just not as much window space as the helicopter and my girlfriend started to feel a bit quesy in the way back.

[Fiddlemama]

Hey cruisefrk!

 

What company did you use? Any website or phone number?

[bob278]

Fiddlemama,

 

I am hoping he is talking about http://islandhelicopters.com/.

 

I found them on the interenet and booked with them for March when we will be there on the Celebrity Summit. They were certainly easy to deal with and flexible. We filled up the helicopter so they let us pick a time rather than a range and said they would pick us up at the pier and return us there.

 

Our flight is about $95 p/p less than the one offered by Celebrity and the web site says it is about 50-55 minutes (the ship's tour is 45).

[lhall85917]

We went with Island Helicopters a couple of years ago and they were wonderful to deal with. Everything was well organized, they did a great job making sure we could see all of the sites and narrated our tour and interacted with us a lot. I'm sure you'll enjoy them! Have a fantastic trip!

[bob278]

Sharon,

 

Thanks. It's always good to get some personal references when booking something so far from home. These boards are a wonderful resource for cruise planning.

 

Since we've discovered CC, we have booked some really great excursions based in large part on information I got here. We have had outstanding times in Rome, Nice, Barcelona, Lisbon, Alaska and Vancouver that we would have missed out on if not for this site. In each case, our excursions were better/cheaper/longer/more personal than the closest thing the cruise line offered.

 

We usually book independent tours about 75% of the time now. We have a couple of tours booked in Hawaii and in London and St. Petersburg on our Baltics cruise next year.

 

I always try to answer questions on ports where I have been successful as a way to pay back for help I've gotten. It's only fair.

 

Thanks again for confirming that Island Helicopters is a good choice.

[cujosmom]

Just back from Hawaiian cruise on the Infinity. We booked Safari Air through the internet for Kauai. It was a good price and they would have picked us up at the pier but we had a rental car and drove to their office.

 

The flight we took had 6 passengers and it was very crowded. The pilot and two people sit in the front seat (excellent seats and views for front seat passengers) and four people sit in the back. I was seated on the left hand side in the back next to the window but because it was so crowded, it was very hard to take pictures. I could not see out the front as I was seated directly behind the pilot. Also, because of the route taken, only the person on the right hand side of the helicopter in the back gets to see the really good sights, like the waterfalls, Napali coast line, and North Shore. I got ocean views, and glare from the sun. The pilot took a "clockwise" flight around the island which I was told was "normal". I voiced my complaint when we were taken back to the office and later by telephone but I don't think they cared whether my flight experience was a good one or not.

 

I purchased the tape for our flight (must be done prior to flight) and when we returned I felt at least there would be a DVD of everything I missed. Turns out there was a "glitch" and our flight tape did not come out. They did offer to send me "someone else's flight" and refund what I'd paid and we did receive the DVD in the mail shortly after returning home. It was interesting to hear on the tape the pilot was always saying "on your right hand side is the .........."

 

Be aware if you use Safari you are given a "number" for boarding and #1 is back seat next to left window (directly behind pilot), #2 next to #1, etc. Passengers #5 & 6 get the front seat and the best views.

 

Although we probably will not be back to Hawaii, if I ever did a helicopter tour, I would pay more and be in a 4 passenger helicopter where you would have better views and more shoulder space.

[daWoods]

We've done helicoptor tours on Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. We did Sunshine (Black Beauties) on Maui, Blue Hawaiian on the Big Island, and Safari on Kauai. Since then, Blue Hawaiian has added service in Kauai. I highly recommend Blue Hawaiian out of Hilo for the volcano. The flight on Maui was hampered by bad weather over Haleakala, but he flew us into a valley on the side of the mountain that had 23 waterfalls. Spectacular. They also have a route that does West Maui and across to Molokai. And you don't get to see much of Kauai unless you do a helicoptor tour because so much of the island is inaccessable. It's a must.

[stever]

The way you are seated is by weight. You have no choice in the matter. Now what we did is since we had 4 people we chartered a tour from safari for ourselves. Price for 4 through internet for entire helicopter was about the same for 4 people with other companys(and you would have 2 other people on you tour). It was great in the back seat left side for me, since I could lean over and see just about as well as my wife. Very comfortable ride. Just tell the pilot you want a smooth ride with no sudden turns and he will fly the way you want. Also, all the tour companys fly the same route, could you imagine if they didn't.

[Snorkel Dawg]

We've done helicoptor tours on Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. We did Sunshine (Black Beauties) on Maui, Blue Hawaiian on the Big Island, and Safari on Kauai. Since then, Blue Hawaiian has added service in Kauai. I highly recommend Blue Hawaiian out of Hilo for the volcano. The flight on Maui was hampered by bad weather over Haleakala, but he flew us into a valley on the side of the mountain that had 23 waterfalls. Spectacular. They also have a route that does West Maui and across to Molokai. And you don't get to see much of Kauai unless you do a helicoptor tour because so much of the island is inaccessable. It's a must.

 

I echo these same comments as we used Blue Hawaiian & they were great, make sure you buy the personalized video!

[CSloan]

Why do you recommend Blue Hawaiian in Hilo? How many passengers do they take? I'm looking for a company that takes only 4 passengers so we can all have a window seat. Otherwise, I'll get stuck in the middle!

[bob278]

Cathy,

 

Almost every helicopter seat configuration has at least 1 center seat. The typical 4-passenger helicopter will have one person next to the pilot and 3 on the second row. The typical 6-passenger type will have 2 next to the pilot (but even the one in the middle has a front "window") and 4 on the second row.

 

You could look for one that takes 6, charter the entire helicopter and take only 4 people. But you will pay more per person that way. Or, get a group together to fill up all the seats and, as group organizer, insist on a window seat.

 

You could contact all the companies mentiond on this thread and ask what their seat confirguration is and maybe there is one with the pilot in front alone with two rows of 2 seats.

[CSloan]

Thanks Bob. There is just the 2 of us. We flew Interisland in Kauai last year, and they put 2 passengers in the back, and two in the front with the pilot, so everyone had a window. Even though one is in the middle in the front, they still have the view out of the front. That's the max they take. I'm hoping we can find something similar in Hilo.

[kryos]

You could look for one that takes 6, charter the entire helicopter and take only 4 people. But you will pay more per person that way. Or, get a group together to fill up all the seats and, as group organizer, insist on a window seat.

LOL ... I'm sure the group would love that. :)

 

Or, it's a shame you can't book a tour where the chopper lands somewhere mid-way, and everyone could then switch seats ... so that the people stuck in the middle on the first leg, get window seats on the way back. But, from a realistic perspective, I don't think this is possible because from what I was told at Blue Hawaiin in 2001, all seats are assigned by computer ... after punching in the weight of each passenger on the flight. Apparently, weight and balance is much more critical with helicopters than it is with fixed wing aircraft.

 

Of course, I got stuck in the middle in the back and every picture I took had a nice view of the nose of the girl at the window seat. :( Basically, I didn't get one decent picture on that flight and I considered it a total waste of money ...

 

Now contrast that with the fixed wing aircraft tour I took on the same island (Maui, in this case). For not much more than my ticket on the helo, I basically rented a Cessna for two hours. This was with an outfit called Pacific Wings and the actual tour was billed as a "U-Fly" experience ... meaning, you get to fly the plane ... no pilot's license necessary (obviously a licensed pilot/instructor is with you). :) You also basically charter the plane, so the back seat is empty and, depending on weight, you can bring one or two guests as passengers.

 

I was attending a writer's conference on Maui that year, and brought along a fellow writer as my guest. We took off from the General Aviation portion of Maui's airport, flew around for a while so that I could get comfortable with the controls, and then we landed at Lanai for a rest break. During all the time we were flying, the instructor was pointing out sights of interest down below, so it was actually a tour too.

 

After about half an hour, we took off from Lanai (the instructor made me take off ... with his help, of course ... lots of help ... :) ) and we flew over the ocean some and then finally landed back at Maui. My buddy in the back seat had two digital cameras and he was snapping off picture after picture which he later presented to me on a Zip Disk as a thank you for bringing him along.

 

I felt that although that fixed wing flight cost me about $100 more than a helo flight of approximately the same length, I got my money's worth and more from it. I learned somethnig about flying a small plane (before that time I had only jumped out of them) ... :) and I got some awesome photos of Moliki and Lanai and the island of Maui from the air. The helo ride left me feeling cheated. In fact, I'd bet the fixed wing flight would have cost no more than the helo if it had been strictly a flight and not an "interactive experience."

 

Just my take on it ...

 

--rita

[CSloan]

Tropical Helicopters has a "feel the heat" tour, where they take you over the vocano out of Hilo. No doors (we did this type of thing in Kauai and it's the only way to go). They only take 4 passengers, so everyone has a window seat.

 

I'm going to post a question re: this company on the Hawaii Board as a new topic. Has anyone here heard of this company?

[CSloan]

Tropical Helicopters has a "feel the heat" tour, where they take you over the volcano in Hilo. No doors (we did this type of thing in Kauai and it's the only way to go). They only take 4 passengers, so everyone has a window seat.

 

I'm going to post a question re: this company on the Hawaii Board as a new topic. Has anyone here heard of this company?