“USA 🇺🇸 ~Hawaii Two-Hour Helicopter Tour Over The Big Island”

• August 25, 2021
• By Pen
• 6 Comments

Our Blue Hawaiian Helicopter Tour

We Recommend! 

Ever since I visited Oahu, back when I was 20 years young, and learned about the incredible helicopter tours on the Islands, I’ve wanted to go on one. Daryl, on the other hand, has wanted to fly in a helicopter since he was eleven!
I’ve flown in helicopters two times, before this flight, but never in the Hawaiian Islands. 

I said to Daryl, “if not now, when?” We are both in our sixties for heavens sake. So we went for it, and are very glad we did!

So, Get Ready to Be Wowed!

After a thorough pre-flight safety movie and safety class, on their comfortable covered porch, we walked to our helicopter.
Our Captain who has a great attitude, jokingly refers to himself as Sushi, as his Japanese name that sounds like that. He did a great job of explaining about everything we got to see from high in the sky!

Our “blue Sky chariot” looked like it just came off the showroom floor. Bunny was chosen as Co-Pilot and I also got to sit in the front seat, next to the door.

The windows were so clean on the Helo, it looks like nothing was there.

To start, we flew up to several vents and small craters, showing past volcanic activity. The first fly-over area definitely has a lot of rain, as the mountain sides are a rich green. Inside the crater, they are the color of the lava; black, light brown or a rust color. We followed the lava flow, which we liken to a river flow of the once hot lava of up to 2000 degrees! More small vents follow a line down the same lava flow. Some look like a mountain pimple, others resemble scars. The largest craters of Kilauea were covered with clouds, and rain, so unfortunately we could not see them, but nobody controls Mother Nature.
Note: the day before we flew on this tour, we had driven to the Volcanic region on the island and did in fact, visit Kilauea, by car, as we understood the safety issues of a helicopter, over a car.
If you missed our Volcano visit by car, here is the blog post from that day. Just click the link: 

https://2gypsiesinthewind.com/northamerica/united-states-of-america/hawaii/usa-road-trip-day-to-hilo-and-volcano-national-park-of-hawaii/

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More from the Helicopter Tour  ⬇️

⬆️ Looking back towards the Pacific Ocean, we could see the island of Maui, floating above a thin layer of clouds, just above the deep blue sea. The coastline is beautiful with coral reefs, with black and white coral sand beaches, dispersed in certain areas. The high-end resorts are huge and so inviting, where they are clustered, near perfect views.

We flew over a deep canyon inset, cut deep from former water flowing hard and fast through them, a long time ago. Huge ranches with thousands of Black Angus Cattle fill green pastures, on the way to the waterfalls.
⬇️

We enjoyed rows of canyons ahead with waterfalls flowing to the bottom, where they meet the sea. These waterfalls were so beautiful but as we made it to the cliffs overlooking the Ocean revealed innumerable; even more impressive waterfalls, crashing down the cliffs. Miles of cliffs dotted with sparkling waters, spraying clouds of mist.

A wide valley came up and we flew to the rear of it to witness the four tallest waterfalls in Hawaii; up to a 1200 feet drop!
The waterfall drops were broken up with three or four flat collection pools, which flowed over, only to fall further. I counted seven flat pool areas, on one waterfall. God must have had fun sculpting these heavenly falls.

We were very fortunate to have had so much rainfalls, recently, to feed so many waterfalls.
Our pilot, Toshi (Sushi), said it was very rare to have so many flowing waterfalls. It is also important to note, that while the main volcano eruption area was unavailable for us to visit on this day, due to rain, the flip side, to such rain, was seeing so many waterfalls!

So Many Beautiful Photo Opportunities ⬇️

Waipio Valley Waterfalls

Hi’ilawe Falls is the most famous waterfall in Waipio Valley.
The falls is between 1,200 and 1,600 feet tall (depending on who you ask), making it the tallest waterfall in the state of Hawaii. It was a lava flow from Mauna Kea that formed the cliffs on the side of the falls.
Hi’ilawe Falls is located inside Waipio Valley and is only visible from the valley or from the air. If you hike down into the valley, the waterfall is visible via a 5-10 minute walk along the road to its left. Going any further is private property. The private road descends 900 feet in a mile and is one of the world’s steepest roads. It is a tough hike.

We began our way back to finish our two-hour flight, feeling honored and moved to have witnessed such beauty on this diverse island; here on the Big Island of Hawaii.

For more specifics on our particular Big Island Tour by Helicopter, click this link:

https://www.bluehawaiian.com/en/bigisland/tours/big-island-spectacular

For more information on Blue Hawaii Helicopter Tours, and all they offer, or to book your own tour, here is their website.  (They operate throughout the Hawaiian Island Chain):

https://www.bluehawaiian.com/en/tours