Pictures from helicopter tour on Big Island (LOTS of pics - beware dialup!)

[spleen93]

As some of you know, my DW and I were gone for 4 days on a trip to the Big Island - mostly to recharge our batteries and to get some studying in. The big splurge was taking a helicopter tour of the Big Island. I've done one before as a kid but my DW had not and she had been wanting to do this forever. We took Blue Hawaiian out of the Waikoloa Heliport (can't say enough nice things about them) and had a BLAST with some great photo ops. I started this thread to give people that are doing helicopter tours on the Big Island (whether in Kona or in Hilo) an idea of what they might expect.

 

First off:

Our helicopter - the EC130-B4 ECO-Star - advertised by Blue Hawaiian as the best tour helicopter in the business. As one of the members of the back seat, it's decidedly roomier back there than other helicopter tours I've taken in the past (particularly Alaska). Bose noise-cancelling headphones did a nice job of muting the noise.

 

Going up on the Saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa - you see Mauna Kea there in the background with open dried up lava tubes visible in the foreground.

 

In Volcano National Park, an overview of the Kilauea Caldera and the Halema'uma'u Crater. Kind of looks like a strip mine, doesn't it?

 

An overview of the Pu'u O'o vent - this is the source of the majority of the current flow

 

And inside one of those vents:

See the lava churning away

 

(to be continued ... )

[spleen93]

(continued part 2)

 

And another view of one of the vents:

Once again, see the line of lava inside - this is a crack in the cap of cooled lava sitting on top.

 

In the middle of this shot, you can see fingers of lava spilling down the hillside. This is the Campout breakout currently going on in early July 2006. To give you perspective of size which is hard to estimate in the picture, the green tufts you see on the right side are eucalyptus trees, each approx. 10-20 feet high which are being killed by the flow

 

And a close up of the flow itself

 

Farther down towards the coast, we get to see the lava bench:

This is where the lava flows into the sea and continues to grow the Big Island.

 

A close up of that action taking place:

 

After this, we took a short break and flew to Hilo to refuel, stretch our legs, and for a quick bathroom break.

 

(to be continued ... )

 

Spleen

[spleen93]

(continued part 3)

 

After Hilo, we flew to the Hamakua coastline to see the greenery that had been so lacking on this tour to date.

 

This is the entrance to Waipio Valley - notice the waterfalls freely flowing down the side of the cliffs - they're everywhere along this coastline.

 

And then inside Waipio Valley itself:

This waterfall seems to fall for hundreds and hundreds of feet.

 

The next valley over - Waimanu Valley.

Very lush and green.

 

And at one end of the valley:

The rainfall had been a little wimpy before we got there - but can you imagine what this would have looked like with all of those waterfalls going full blast??

 

The final photo:

Does this look familiar to anyone? No??

 

Remember the first Jurassic Park movie when the helicopters arrive at the island? They swoop first between two small islands before entering the valley?

 

Those are those 2 islands, LOL

 

Hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did in reliving the adventure!

 

Spleen

[kml1211]

Spleen- VERY COOL! Thanks for all the great pics!

 

KML

[RunningDeer]

Thank you Spleen! You are such an asset to these boards! We are planning on taking Heliocopter out of Hilo in Oct - Safari tours.......know anything about them. They are the cheaptest. After seeing your pics I can hardly wait!

J

[kapoho2]

Mahalo Spleen for posting the pics. Living here on the Big Island, we have never done the helicopter tour...but my husband just surprised me a Blue Hawaii Helicoptor tour to the volcano for my birthday. We have not done the tour yet....but your pics are really getting me jazzed for the adventure. We see the copters over our house every day as they fly along the coast on the way to the volcano....so we are also hoping for an aerial view of our place while on the flight!!!

[G&L in WPG]

Spllen,

 

Great pics, some really fabulous shots. Can I ask the details of the heli trip, how much $, start and end times, and point of departure in relation to the pier in Hilo? I have been thinking of surprising my wife with a helicopter trip for her birthday, and we don't have too many plans for Hilo yet...

[Beryl]

What wonderful photos...Next best thing to being there! I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up as I looked at these shots. Mahalo nui loa for sharing!

[spleen93]

Thank you all for the compliments. :)

 

RunningDeer - I saw the Safari desk in the Hilo commuter terminal. I've heard good things about Safari in the past but don't have any personal experience with them.

 

kapoho2 - you'll love it! What a great husband with a great gift!! :D

 

G&L - our experience will be somewhat different from yours in the particulars because our tour was out of Kona (Waikoloa) while yours will be out of Hilo. Going out of Hilo will make the tour shorter and cheaper (all good things). Unfortunately, Blue Hawaiian doesn't use the ECO-Stars out of Hilo, only the A-Stars (perfectly fine helicopters but not quite as "roomy").

 

This is the web page describing the tours and the pricing. The only one that they do out of Hilo is the Circle of Fire Plus Waterfalls tour.

 

http://www.bluehawaiian.com/bigisland/tours/

 

Spleen

[Cruisecontroler]

Hi, Spleen. I have to add to the others...great pics. What'd you shoot them with?

 

We're also looking at going with Blue Hawaiian, in part because they seem to be the only ones who offer the inflight video that shows both exterior scenes and interior shots of the passengers reactions to them. Did the flight you took offer this? If so, did you opt to purchase it?

 

Thanks for any advice.:)

[rucruisn2]

Awsome!! thanks for the shots. We are booked on Tropical Helicopter Tours out of Hilo for a doors off, feel the heat ride over the volcano and waterfalls. Have you any info on this company? I'm pretty nervous about the whole deal, but excited to do it. Also, how about a referral for a good sushi restaurant in Honolulu? Any ideas?

Thanks for all your great help on the boards.

[Suebee]

GREAT PIX! Thanks Spleen!

[spleen93]

Lessee -- all photos taken with a digital SLR, a Nikon D70 with a 18-200 mm zoom lens. You know, I do remember that Blue Hawaiian is supposed to offer the video but at no time during our tour did they mention it and it wasn't offered at the end of the tour either -- maybe they're not doing it any more?

 

Sorry, no info on Tropical Helicopter, never heard of them before. As for sushi, what are you looking for? Best quality, forget the price? Good bang for the buck? Cheap as possible? Do you want other things on the menu than just sushi? I'm a sushi snob so let me know what your priorities are and I can help narrow things down.

 

Spleen

[rucruisn2]

I'm just a newby in sushi, so far I eat the rolls only and LOVE them. Stuff like spicy tuna, salmon, etc. also like cooked rolls. especially if they have avacodo in them. Priority is freshness, but I don't want to have to take out a mortgage to eat the stuff. We are staying at the Marriott in Waikiki Beach. Thanks for the help.

[IfItAintBoeing]

I'm just a newby in sushi, so far I eat the rolls only and LOVE them. Stuff like spicy tuna, salmon, etc. also like cooked rolls. especially if they have avacodo in them. Priority is freshness, but I don't want to have to take out a mortgage to eat the stuff. We are staying at the Marriott in Waikiki Beach. Thanks for the help.

 

We've eaten at Todai, across from Hilton Hawaiian Village, several times. They have a wide selection of sushi as well as wide variety of other Japanese dishes, hot and cold. Reasonably priced, for what you get.

[Suebee]

The sushi at Todai is plentiful and they make it there as it is taken from the buffet....however, to me, they taste like a buffet. We've been once and would much rather just go out for sushi than eat the buffet.

That being said, there IS a waiting line before the place even opens at 5:30 every night so SOMEONE likes that place.

 

 

We usually go to California Beach Rock and Sushi. While we prefer the Nigiri Sushi (just the fish on rice), they do have a wide selection of rolls. My good friend and I go out to sushi often and its the place we can both agree on. The Nigiri sushi is like "Buttah" and the rolls are fun and very tasty. At 5pm-6 they have $1 sushi at the bar. They also have an early bird dinner set for $10.95 every night as well. If you go to Valpak.com, you can search for and print out a coupon for the restaurant as well.

 

I lived in Japan for 4 years and consider myself a sushi snob. When it comes to my family though, we all could break the bank with dining out on sushi. That's another reason we love CBR&S. Its the one sushi place out of our area we would travel to.

[Nliedel]

Oh Wow! Thank You!

[spleen93]

Nancy - you're very welcome - I've been appreciating your posts on the Crown Princess threads. ;)

 

rucruisn2 - got some good suggestions there. Suebee's been a big proponent of California Beach Rock and Sushi - never been there before but I have heard good things before from other places about it. One of these days. A lot of people like Todai - personally, not one of my favorites (also Makino Chaya) but I can see the attraction for some people. Genki Sushi is a reasonably priced alternative and the sushi is relatively decent. The nice thing about it is that it's a conveyor belt sushi place - the sushi goes around on a conveyor belt in front of you and you pick the plates that look atractive to you. They decide what your bill is by the number and the types of plates in front of you when you finish. The closest Genki (there are several) to Waikiki will probably be the one on Kapahulu Avenue.

 

link to tripadvisor reviews

 

Some of the best sushi on Oahu right now IMHO is at Mitch's Sushi by the airport. Absolutely nothing to recommend about the location, but oh, the fish! You certainly will pay for the experience though. There's nothing on the menu like Suebee's $1 happy hour menu. :)

 

http://starbulletin.com/2004/11/14/features/eater.html

 

Spleen

[SweetEmi]

Love the pictures Spleen!! *smile*

 

Emi

[Suebee]

Spleen, have you been to Tadashi across from Pearlridge? Good local sushi. Nothing fancy, but family pleasing...and a little closer to you. I like their rolls a bit better than their Nigiri though. Parking is a beast so you have to get there when it opens.

 

I have never been to Mitch's but it looks like its out of our budget! :rolleyes:

 

Cheap Eats (channel 8 news program segment) recently did a spot on Ninja Sushi at the airport. We've tried it a couple of times. Good lunch take out sushi. The kids of course love the kids' plates. We're not totally in love with their nigiri sushi but, like I said, if you take out for a picnic or something, the price is right. Kids plates around 4 dollars.....rolls between 4-7 dollars. They also have donburi and soba.

[NJskibum]

Spleen ....

 

 

Awesome pics. Quick question….would you recommend doing a heli tour in Kauai, or the big island, over the volcano. I have seen mixed reviews on this topic, and still a little undecided. Here are the variables:

Can only afford to do one heli ride.

If I do the ride in the Big Island ….not sure if I would have time to visit the VNP, due to the time constraints becasue of the cruise schedule. From everything that I read…going to VNP is a must do.

My thinking is to do the Heli ride in Kauai, because we have extra time there, and that way I could actually go to VNP, which I think could be just as awesome for a first time visitor…but trying to get other thoughts on those that have done both.

Thanks again for the help!

[spleen93]

Suebee - we've been to Tadashi once - it was worth it. The food was good and the sushi (only tried the rolls, didn't do nigiri here) was good local-style (actually California style). California is big on the sauces - Hawaii versions tend to be more including poke or other Hawaiian flavors. Price was definitely reasonable. :)

 

NJskibum - I've never done the ride on Kauai so can't really comment. But from hearing reviews from people who HAVE done both, if you can do only one, then I'd do Kauai. You can get a really good flavor of VNP by doing a ground tour instead of doing a heli tour. The only reason why I'd pick doing a heli tour on the Big Island instead of Kauai would be because you were dead-set on seeing molten lava - and even with a heli tour it wouldn't be 100% but better than if you had limited time on the ground.

 

Spleen

[sceptic]

Spleen - great, great pictures. Among the best I've seen for giving people a true idea of what - under nearly ideal conditions - they might see.

 

Excellent weather conditions (not an everyday occurrence), views into the Pu'u O'o vents, closeups of lava breakouts and flows on the pali, and a view of the ocean entry. (Not to mention the Waipio views -- awesome!)

 

thanks for posting.

[spleen93]

Thanks sceptic! :)

 

Spleen

[rucruisn2]

Spleen, Suebee, thanks for the sushi advice. Can't wait to put it to use. Just hope we make it!!!