Hawaii Helicopter Excursions

[BTCJD Cruiser]

Hi: Obviously, I'm new here. So as a novice I hope my question is clear. We're taking the Hawaiian Cruise with Norwegian next April and have been a bit overwhelmed with all the excursion companies and available tours. Has anyone booked a helicopter excursion to see the active volcanoes from either Hilo or Kona and can you recommend a good tour company? Don't know if you can name names but if you can direct me to a website or give a personal account I would really appreciate it. Thanks

[Scrapnana]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

Check out the Hawaii port of call board here. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=62

 

Here are the results of a search for helicopters. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=41399187

 

Hope you have a great cruise!

[BTCJD Cruiser]

Thanks for the tips Scrapnana. Lots of good tips and info to pour through. Takes a long time to plan the excursions so I can use all the help I can get.

[bus man]

I've done Blue Hawaiian Helicopters twice now, and I loved them both times.

 

FYI, Hilo is much closer to the volcano than is Kona. Also, the heliport on the Kona side is located in Waikoloa (at least the one for Blue Hawaiian is), which is a good distance north of Kona. Whereas, the Hilo flights take off from the city's airport, which is very close to the cruise port. So you would have a good deal less "in-transit" time if you go from Hilo.

[BTCJD Cruiser]

Thanks for the info. My inital plan was to go from Hilo, but I've seen so many comments about taking the helicopter tour from Kauai, that I'm thinking of taking a land based tour in Hilo and switching to the helicopter in Kauai. Cruise Critics are saying hands down take the helicopter tour in Kauai. Now I have more to ponder, decide about!

[rwr235]

Hi,

 

Used Paradise Helicopters out of Kona this past October...Highly recommend The Volcano and Valley Landing Tour...we had well over 2 hours in the air, and an hour on the ground in a wonderful spot right on the side of a cliff, where we could walk into a valley and small waterfall, eat fruit right off the trees, or just sit and enjoy the spectacular view and sea breezes.

 

Since we were staying on Kauai post-cruise, and would be exploring the the Waimea Canyon area, and the rest of the island by car/on foot, we decided to do the helicopter tour in Kona.

 

If you use Paradise in Kona...ask for Danny as a pilot...a former USMC Aviator, and a GREAT guy !!

 

Have fun

 

Woody

[PennyAgain]

Some of the pilots who fly in Hawaii also fly in Alaska so if you have air toured in Alaska you may have the same pilot.