Hey guys-- I'm wanting to treat my gf to a birthday helicopter tour of the big island. Has anyone here taken any helicopter tours leaving from Honolulu?

I have been trying to narrow down the selection of which company and tour based on reviews I've read online, but surprisingly there hasn't been a whole lot written.

So far, I've gathered the following:
Blue Hawaiian has larger helicopters and tries to cram a bunch of people in, so they're out of the running.
Genesis Aviation and Air Maui both got panned, but I was only able to find one review of each. Either way, I'm not likely to take my chances with them.

Paradise Helicopters and Rainbow Helicopters both have smaller helicopters, so everyone gets a window seat... which is very high on my importance list.

I'm wanting to book a helicopter tour that will let us see the volcanoes as well as the waterfalls, and I'm willing to spend up to $400/pp, which I understand is above the average price of $100-200, but that's ok with me if it means we'll:
1) be comfortable
2) see a diversity of amazing sights
3) have a nice long tour
4) be flying with a reputable company

We'll be in Hawaii near the end of January, so I'm wanting to do my research and book this early.

Any and all opinions welcome!

 

I'll ask around with some of the local guys I work with. A few of 'em grew up in Honolulu so they may know something. I didn't know helicopter tours ran all the way from Honolulu to the Big Island though, I'd imagine that'd be kind of a pain seeing that a plane ride from Oahu to Kona is roughly 40 minutes long.

 

I think I mis-spoke when I said "Honolulu to the Big Island". I'm just looking for the best helicopter tour leaving from Honolulu, where we can see volcanoes and waterfalls.

 

Ahh gotcha. I'll still try to get some info from my co-workers. I haven't spent much time on the other islands, I know that there is a currently erupting volcano at the southern end of the Big Island (which btw, is amazing) but no clue if that's going on anywhere else. As far as waterfalls go, I'm sure each island has a few places that have PLENTY of them so you won't be shortchanged there.

 

Probably doesn't help much, but how many people do you consider a "bunch of people?" My gf and I went on the Blue Hawaiian tour in Maui a few years ago and I thought it was fine. I think there were 4 passengers (not counting the pilot) in each helicopter and everyone had a great view for both sightseeing and picture taking.

Of course with a budget of $400 per person you can basically go for any tour you want. Have you already check TripAdvisor? They usually have great stuff and you can post questions in the forums:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hawai...tripadvisor.com

 

thanks cyber. regarding Blue Hawaiian, I did a bunch of searches for "helicopter tour reviews" and found more than one panning Blue Hawaiian. Also, from what I've read and the pics I've seen, it looks like they do have some helicopters that are large enough that some people might not get a window seat. For hundreds of dollars per hour, I want a great seat for both my gf and I!