This is really a cute tiny little airport. Interesting is how you exit your aircraft right onto the…read moreapron and walk to these cottage type huts which is the terminal. Really nice people

Hilo International Airport-ITO, I love ITO every single time I visit the Big Island, I always fly…read morein to Hilo, then drive over to Kona and leave to HNL from that side. So cool to get to do this on the Big Island. Sometimes I get confused returning the car and the change of airports. Did you know that abstract collab, consisting of Hilo abstract artist Kristie Fujiyama Kosmides, Hilo filmmaker Tracey Niimi and ukulele virtuoso, Jake Shimabukuro creates multimedia project, including murals at Hilo International airport, to show the island it is more than just a place to visit, get inspiration. Allow time to check it out next time you're here! Lets get back to ITO, omg the wood/Koa furniture reminds me of small kid time, I had the exact kine wood sofa too, it just brings back great memories, it sure brings me joy every single time I land here. hehe. besides that, feeling nostalgic and like old school, I just love this small kine, airport. Love it every time I see the "ALOHA" sign made out of white rocks upon exiting, I know we are here at Hilo especially with the morning rain and chilly weather once we get out of the airport. Another reason I love ITO, so convenient to get our rental car just right across the airport. Hilo International airport known as General Lyman Field, is on the eastern side of the Big Island. This airport serves the district of Hilo, Hamakua, Kau and Puna. I can't get lost here, like I normally do at other airports, once we land-we head downstairs, exit the airport & off to enjoy our adventures! Hilo airport is one of my favorite airport ever, make time to hang out and enjoy the most amazing historical and comfortable furniture!

Unbelievable experience. Although the cost seems steep I am so glad we pushed ourselves to take…read morethis ride. It is a ride my husband and I will never forget. We booked the day after one of the volcanos erupted and ended up with a 2:30 time which really worked out perfectly. Our guide was so amazing i believe her name was Tatiana if I heard correctly, she mentioned that she always dreamt of being a pilot since a little girl and it truly showed in how passionate she was about flying. A once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget! Side note: directions where a little confusing as paradise was separate from other helicopter tours. Best advice is to park in airport parking and walk all the way to southwest airline and you will see paradise helicopters to the right of southwest airline booth...

Great tour, amazing views, and an unforgettable experience! Would definitely recommend the "doors…read moreoff" tour with Allen who was an amazing pilot!

We had a great experience with Blue Hawaiian helicopters this week. My wife and I enjoyed an hour…read moreflight with our Pilot Kaj Loken-Kim from their Waikoloa heliport. The whole crew was very friendly and knowledgeable, but more importantly everyone made us feel safe during the whole trip. We got a breathtaking view of the Kohala Coast and landed on a secluded clearing near a spectacular waterfall. The entire experience was amazing and the video we took with us captured the whole thing for us to review and enjoy again. I hope to visit them again here or on another island for a future flight and recommend them to anyone who wants to make their visit to Hawaii amazing and memorable!

Waterfalls, whales, and windmills, oh my! Kaj knew just how to thrill us locals as we saw our Big…read moreIsland from the air, 1000+ feet above ground, as we flew over the Waimea windblown crest, where the clouds bunched up against the windward side, with a small opening to the stunning blue shades of coastline. The fluffy cloud cover gave way to a slightly misty and broken front, with the Big Island's coastline calling us closer. The long black sand beach of Waipio Valley gave way to cascading waterfalls dropping hundreds of feet down sheer remote cliffs. We were lucky the drought was recently punctured by rain, replenishing the splendorous sight! We ducked into a canyon for a closer look -- everyone was entranced, overjoyed to see such wonders. Lucky for us no one was nervous, we all were relaxed and ecstatic. Whales came to the surface when we returned to the Hapuna area, it truly was magical, a solid check for my bucket list! At the age of 73, I am now using a walker and so this was a treat. (A short ramp leads into the office in Waikoloa, there is a bathroom inside the building, if you have trouble walking, do not rush to use the bathrooms outside to the left of the building, they are harder to navigate. Once inside and everyone heads to the helicopter, the ground crew will open the gate so you can roll back down the ramp to walk level instead of using the steps out back from the porch like everyone else. Crew will assist you getting into the helicopter if you able to stand up but you will need some arm strength to pull yourself into the seat, the overhead grab bar gives the necessary swing point.) We had a great time with Kaj, being locals, we are looking forward to seeing him in the water at Pine Trees, the Kohanaiki Park is great for watching surfers and enjoying some lunch bought from Pine Trees Cafe, nearby (go all the way to the bay for closeness to the showers and restroom). Yeah, I'm gonna plug my favorite spots! The helicopter ride will be loud (they give you headphones to block), and will be like riding a vibration disk. I loved it. So relaxing. There are 3 microphones shared by the six people riding, otherwise you will be reduced to using body language, not hard to decipher arched eyebrows, open mouths. I did not realize that Kilauea had fountained the night before, glad I did not know because maybe we would have taken the option of cancelling when they offered it, due to the buffeting winds and slight mistiness. I know that others did reschedule, perhaps thinking it was going to be disappointing. But we were gungho, why not? They promised that if we had to turn around due to weather, we would be reimbursed. To be fair, a fountaining volcano is not safe to be near and so it means staying far back. We have been here through three eruptions so we did not feel deprived. And, the fiery display was over by daylight. As a surfer I have watched and lived among the island's locals with fascination for two decades, as the aloha spirit transcends everything they do, and Blue Hawaiian has earned its place of honor. The company has donated lifesaving equipment over the years to the various beach parks and the lifeguard department, which is managed by our Fire Department. The staff I met embodies that spirit as well. From the moment we set foot in the door, the prep process for our trip was smooth, swift, and relaxing. I hope you have as much as we did. Its a full 24 hours later and I am still buzzing from the natural high! Grab a friend or two, or five, and take the ride of your life!

1 star. Absolute bait-and-switch…read more We booked Blue Hawaiian Helicopters directly through their website. Not a waitlist. Not "pending confirmation." The site showed availability. We selected a time. We paid in full. Then, the day before the flight, they casually informed us they wouldn't fly unless they had four people. Let that sink in. If you "need four people to fly," then your website should not allow bookings for fewer than four. Period. Anything else is deceptive. Taking someone's money first and disclosing your internal minimum later is not a policy. It's a cash grab. No proactive call. No warning during checkout. No accountability. Just a shrug and "sorry." This wasn't a weather issue. This wasn't an emergency. This was poor business practice baked into their system. And judging by the volume of similar complaints online, this isn't rare. It's a pattern. Vacation time is limited. Schedules are tight. People plan entire trips around experiences like this. Blue Hawaiian seems perfectly comfortable blowing that up after holding your money hostage. Want amazing views of Hawaii? Plenty of companies can deliver that. Want reliability, transparency, and basic respect for customers? Look elsewhere. Because nothing kills the magic of a helicopter tour faster than realizing the company never intended to honor your reservation unless it worked in their favor. Savage truth: If you book here, you're not a customer. You're a placeholder!

Awesome!!! Everything from the service to the flight was wonderful! Don, our pilot was great and…read moregave us a great tour. I would highly recommend this experience.

Although we weren't able to do the full tour due to it being a little cloudy, James and Dylan made…read morethe experience worth it. James was very communicative about updates about weather and the different locations. When we got to the spot, Dylan was very friendly and pretty honest about the sky being unfortunate and that we may not get clear skies. He told us we could wait or just leave now and reschedule or get a refund. At our tour start time he decided to cancel the tour but offered a mini tour for free instead. Since we weren't able to rebook, we opted for this option instead. Dylan was extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and funny. He was able to show us some cool stuff they saw last night. It was for sure a bummer that we had our tour canceled, but everyone made up for it and we still got a full refund. We knew it was a gamble, but we chose this company since they gave full refunds if it was cloudy and they fulfilled that promise and then some. We still walked away with a very cool experience. Highly recommend! If we come back, we will for sure try again.

Would not recommend this tour. Save yourself the money and drive up to Mauna Kea on your own…read more To be fair, the staff were friendly, knowledgeable, and did a good job getting everyone safely to the viewing location. We also lucked out with excellent weather. Unfortunately, those were the highlights. The experience itself was surprisingly chaotic. While the lead astronomer, Dylan, was trying to give his presentation, the photographer was constantly lining groups up for Milky Way photos just a few feet away. Between the photography, people talking, and others getting up for pictures, it was difficult to hear or stay engaged. If you're expecting a peaceful evening learning about the night sky, this isn't it. Dylan was clearly knowledgeable, but his presentation felt more like a stand-up comedy routine with astronomy mixed in than an actual guided stargazing experience. Instead of focusing on the stars and constellations we were actually looking at, much of the discussion revolved around black holes, nebulas, and other astronomy topics that had little connection to what was visible in the sky that night. It was entertaining at times, but not what we signed up for. The telescope felt especially misleading. The website advertises that one is provided, but guests never actually get to use it. Instead, we were shown images on an iPhone that were presented as if they had just been captured, only to later discover they had been taken weeks earlier. That left a bad taste and felt unnecessarily deceptive. By the end of the night, we genuinely couldn't figure out what our nearly $300 had paid for. The viewing location was on public land just minutes off the highway with no special access, we never looked through the telescope, and the astronomy portion rarely focused on the sky above us. In the end, it felt like we paid hundreds of dollars for hot chocolate, a folding chair, and two professionally taken Milky Way photos. Mauna Kea is breathtaking and absolutely worth experiencing. This tour, however, added very little value and actually detracted from what should have been a memorable, peaceful night under the stars.

We enjoyed our trip with Paradise helicopters and glad we chose them. The ground crew was extremely…read morehelpful and informative. The pilot was just playing awesome all the way around, great guy, that caught us up to speed with the cultural side and a great tour guide. Took his Time around Kilauea to make sure both sides of the helicopter got great shots. Flying over the entire island, experiencing the volcanoes, the rainforest, the ranchlands, over 30 waterfalls including some that are 1,000 and 2,000 foot waterfalls. The vantage point to see the entire island, beaches is one of the best things that has ever happened in our lives, this is truly a bucket list that you need to add to your trip. This is the ultimate way to see the island, and we did the big tour that was almost 2 hours. Check your photos and videos as you are taking them. FYI. Depending on the position of the helicopter, sun or overcast will affect on howmuch glare/reflection you get on videos and photos, so you will need to try to take photos from a few different spots and angles near the glass. Practice makes perfect. Add, the soundtrack that plays while he is giving you the history of different spots is a hoot!

Paige was an exceptional pilot and all the folks at Paradise Helicopters (those answering phones…read moreand greeting you upon check-in) were helpful and professional. The booking process was easy and they kept you informed with all you needed to know for the tour leading up to it. As nervous as I was to go up, they made me feel safe and I had a great time. The flight was unreal and Paige really knew what he was talking about! I'd highly recommend taking a helicopter ride with Paradise to see the amazing sites of The Big Island from overhead! It's an unforgettable experience!

Donald was amazing. Fun twilight trip. Did get to see the lava flow and share all those fun…read morememories with everyone at home. Would recommend to anyone visiting the islands. Thank you Donald.

If you are in Kailua Kona and want to go for an airplane tour, book a trip with Big Island Air…read more Our pilot, Anthony, was super friendly and knowledgeable. The small plane held 9 passengers. We were each weighed during check-in and then they assigned the seats to us to evenly distribute the weight of the plane. Our tour was the perfect length. While I didn't get nauseous, there were parts of the trip were my bf did turn a little pale (so if you are sensitive to motion, you may want to take some medicine beforehand). While this was a pricey excursion, I think it was well worth the cost because it cuts down on the amount of driving you'd have to do to get to some of the spots covered on the tour. Also, the aerial view gave me a greater appreciation for the beautiful land. I can still vividly recall the powerful image of lava gracefully flowing directly the ocean and the mighty waterfalls majestically flowing for what seemed like miles! Just to reiterate a tip from Keiko S. If you plan on taking pictures-wear something which will not be distracting if it is reflected on the window. I wore a polk-a-dot romper so some of my pictures have random dots :I

We booked this through TripAdvisor, which was a very simple process. I had booked the volcano park…read moretour but we didn't get to see the volcano park and they took us to the coast and waterfall instead. Fast forward 2 days and it was perfect out... didn't go those days though. Tried to make the best of it but for $680 I would've rather seen the park. And we got paired with a very annoying couple.

Having never flown in a helicopter, we were excited to experience the big island of Hawaii by air…read more Unfortunately, the day we arrived, the volcano was blowing smoke, making it too difficult to fly over. So, our pilot took us to Mauna Loa and across the island to some of the water falls instead. We got to see the coast line of the Eastern side of Hawaii... all which was absolutely gorgeous. Our pilot shared much history and tid bits about the island which made the trip even more pleasurable. With 5 family members total, the flight was comfy and all seats had great views... even mine, sitting in the middle! This was one of the less expensive tours... and we were quite pleased to have the helicopter for just our family.