Helicopter tour on Big Island?

[jonhall]

We went from Kona over to Hilo one morning and did the helicopter ride from there. $378 for 2 people - about 50 min. to an hour ride. Stayed mainly east, flew around Mauna Loa, and south coast. That was 2012 and we didn't know if we would ever go back to Hawaii.

We did go back last year to Kauai. Helicopter ride out of Lihue, two of us for $368 and about a 50 minute ride. It is literally the only way to see the island.

No comparison as Kauai by far is the better ride for what you will see (and the thrill) between the two. There is one company that actually lands in a valley near a waterfall in Kauai (we didn't do that one but saw them.)

My take is this: if you are pretty sure you'll visit the islands again, mainly Kauai, wait and do the ride. If you aren't sure, do the ride on the Big Island.

 

[Hoag]

I haven't done the one out of Kona before, but I did do a "Lava Flow & Waterfalls" doors off ride out of Hilo in 2009. It was expensive, but worth every penny!
When I did it, I was on a Hughes 500 and there were only 4 + the pilot.

 

[flyboy08]

As exciting as it sounds and being a pilot, I advise all family and friends to never get in a helicopter...especially in Hawaii...

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

As exciting as it sounds and being a pilot, I advise all family and friends to never get in a helicopter...especially in Hawaii...

I personally think helicopters are cool and have flown as a passenger in many, but @flyboy08 has a point. As a former fixed wing pilot I always looked tongue-in-cheek at helicopters as a bucket of bolts with zero reason to remain in the air if one of those bolts broke. Moreover, flying machines in general in tropical environments don't fare as well as in dryer climates. No offense meant to the many well built helicopters out there and the folks that fly them. My late father-in-law was head of maintenance for American Airlines for 35 years and a pilot. He would take a DC10 up empty just to figure out what the odd noise was that pilots were reporting in flight. He was an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force stationed in Libya for two years in the late 1950's. Worked on his fare share of helicopters. However, he refused to step into a helicopter that wasn't sitting in a hanger. When I asked him why he refused to fly in helicopters his response always was, "I know things."

 

[driftwood]

My wife won a trip to Vegas through her work and we had enough money to take a flight around the strip/downtown. Asked one of our taxi drivers, and his response was "Fall down all the time".

Love flying in helicopters and wouldn't miss the chance to do so in the future.

 

[Damselfish]

I agree with the general sentiment to skip it on the Big Island, especially at that price. Maybe if the volcano is erupting, maybe if you think you'll never get back to the other islands, but maybe not.

We did one one on Maui, and it was great. Our pilot was some ex-military who flew into canyons with the blades seemingly a few feet from the walls. That was almost 30 years ago, and I suspect that would not be done now. Given the general sentiment on helicopters, and that we cheated death once, I'm not sure I'd do it again.