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Make sure you book it when the weather is good. I would wait until the day prior to make a reservation. This time of year should be fine, but you never know if a front will pass through or high winds can cause a lot of turbulence and ruin your ride. They will not cancel and take you in bad weather. So it is up to you to pick the best day.
Doors off helicopter ride over the volcano is the best way to go! https://paradisecopters.com/ We did this 2 years on the Big Island - you could feel the heat from the lava and smell the sulfur. This was also when the volcano was active.
We've done both doors on helicopter, doors off on multiple islands and would recommend doors off every time. You get to fly a bit lower experience the wind rush
Blue Hawaiian is probably the biggest operator. If you are staying at the Marriott, they have a heliport right in Waikoloa on the main road at the north entrance to Waikoloa Resort. Since that is quite a ways from the volcano, the tours departing there will be more expensive (more flying time) than their tours departing Hilo, which is much closer. Blue Hawaiian uses the newer, smoother-flying A-Star and Eco Star helicopters. There are other operators as well. Our last Big Island helicopter tour was way back in 2005 - a door-off Hughes 500 flight with Paradise Helicopters. I'm not sure if they are still around or what equipment they might use today if they still are.
Just be advised that the Kilauea volcano is no longer erupting anywhere on the Big Island, so you will not see any lava flowing, "red glow", or anything like that. You will be able to see the old inactive craters from last summer's eruption, but no current activity.
We also did Blue Hawaiian out of Hilo and highly recommend them. They are a top-notch organization. If you are staying at WBR or that area, they also offer tours from a helipad just across the highway from HGVC Kings' Land. It is more expensive than going out of Hilo, but it does save you the drive.
My wife has a bit of a fear of heights, so getting her into one of the newer, larger, doors-on helicopters that Blue Hawaiian offers, took some persuading, but she loved the experience. Getting her into a doors-off helicopter would be a non-starter!
What's Going On With the Volcano? Please Be Aware:
Beginning in May, 2018, the lava lake that existed inside Halema‘uma‘u crater disappeared and lava flows from Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater have ceased. There is no molten lava or lava glow to see anywhere in or out of the park.
This still holds true if you were hoping to see lava, you will be out of luck. The good news is that we have not had VOG since the eruption ceased and our sky has been very clear.
I have used Blue Hawaiian 3 or 4 times over the years. We have really enjoyed the trips and i recommend them, though i would not keep going except we travel with family and friends that want to go. . The first time we flew out of Waikaloa and after that we have always opted for flying out of Hilo to save money.
In my opinion the trips are interesting even if the volcano not actively erupting, as you will see sight that you won't otherwise.
I suggest booking the flight for early in your trip, that way if there is bad weather you have time to reschedule.
Blue Hawaiian is probably the biggest operator. If you are staying at the Marriott, they have a heliport right in Waikoloa on the main road at the north entrance to Waikoloa Resort. .
Did you look at the different length of times for those tours? That may be what makes one more expensive than the others. The tours out of Waikoloa are $569 for 2 hours, and $279 for 50 minutes. The tours out of Hilo are $99 for 15 minutes, $249 for 50 minutes and $439 for 105 minutes. When you get down to it, the ones out of Waikoloa aren't that much more.
Some things to consider would be, do you want to drive about 6 minutes each way to ride the helicopter, or do you want to drive an hour and a half to two hours each way.
Thanks, everyone, for your responses. We prefer not to drive to Hilo, as we have friends who drove twice to Hilo only to learn the ride was cancelled. Bummer. We'll park in the lot. We did a similar ride in 1991 (different company) and we understand it's a bit less dramatic right now without the lava flows. But for many reasons, we'd like to go again.
Did you look at the different length of times for those tours? That may be what makes one more expensive than the others. The tours out of Waikoloa are $569 for 2 hours, and $279 for 50 minutes. The tours out of Hilo are $99 for 15 minutes, $249 for 50 minutes and $439 for 105 minutes. When you get down to it, the ones out of Waikoloa aren't that much more.
Some things to consider would be, do you want to drive about 6 minutes each way to ride the helicopter, or do you want to drive an hour and a half to two hours each way.
"If" you're going to be visiting Hilo, or "if" you're spending the night on that side of the island it might make sense to leave from Hilo. But "if" you're staying in Waikoloa and would only be coming over to Hilo to catch the helicopter and "if" the ride was canceled, like what happened to the OP's friends (twice), I'd be a bit upset. The savings wouldn't be worth it.
"If" you're going to be visiting Hilo, or "if" you're spending the night on that side of the island it might make sense to leave from Hilo. But "if" you're staying in Waikoloa and would only be coming over to Hilo to catch the helicopter and "if" the ride was canceled, like what happened to the OP's friends (twice), I'd be a bit upset. The savings wouldn't be worth it.
The OP has already stated they do not want to drive to Hilo just to get on the helicopter. Also, there are times when things look great in the morning, but by the time you get there, whoops, it's canceled.
We were there just a few weeks ago and used Paradise Helicopters that left from KOA airport. We signed up through a kiosk Wyndham/Shell vacations next to Island Lava Java, if I remember correctly. We got a discount, but of course had to attend an hour presentation at the Wyndham Visitor place. That's when we bought our Hawaii Wyndham that we just got through sending in the rescission letter for. Helicopter ride was well worth the expense, would definitely do it again.
We were there just a few weeks ago and used Paradise Helicopters that left from KOA airport. We signed up through a kiosk Wyndham/Shell vacations next to Island Lava Java, if I remember correctly. We got a discount, but of course had to attend an hour presentation at the Wyndham Visitor place. That's when we bought our Hawaii Wyndham that we just got through sending in the rescission letter for. Helicopter ride was well worth the expense, would definitely do it again.
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