Kilauea Volcano Doors-Off Helicopter Tour - Lava & Waterfalls Flight from Hilo reviews, Big Island tours & activities, fun things to do in Big Island | HawaiiActivities.com

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Kilauea Volcano Doors-Off Helicopter Tour - Lava & Waterfalls Flight from Hilo

Overall Rating

4.68 4.68 / 5

Reviews

77 reviews
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Absolutely amazing experience!

Reviewed by: Balazs P., 2023/12/22

An absolutely fabulous experience, feeling the wind while the endless lava fields pass by below our feet. Photos without glare, a dream!
High safety, perfect pax care, highly recommended to anyone.
Many thanks!

Rating:
Attended as:Solo Travelers
Activity Date:2023/12/17
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AMAZING flight!

Reviewed by: Yes to Hawaii, 2023/08/25

This was the BEST flight I've ever done on Big Island. The doors-off was the way to go. It was a 4-seater with only 3 of us on-board so we each got a window seat.

Tips:
-Bring/wear a windbreaker. It gets VERY chilly with the wind.
-Sunglasses are a must
-Cameras or cell phones for photos must have a wrist strap

  • This view...10 out of 10

Rating:
Attended as:Friends
Activity Date:2023/01/10
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Absolute amazing Experience

Reviewed by: Kara, 2023/07/01

Wish we got to see lava but the experience alone made us know we will soon be back!

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2023/04/21
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Awesome flight over Kilauea

Reviewed by: Tom, 2023/01/29

We had a wonderful experience with Tiana as our helicopter pilot. She was extremely skilled at flying and was a wealth of information regarding the areas we were flying over.

Rating:
Attended as:Solo Travelers
Activity Date:2023/01/26
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Great Experience

Reviewed by: Vickie, 2022/12/28

Tianna was our pilot and was a phenomenal one. She handled that very tiny helicopter without a problem. I have a tendency to be motion-sick and I had zero problems with her at the stick.

We were disappointed that there wasn't any lava flowing but we got great views of Kilauea's craters and the changes since we were last on the Big Island. She made sure everyone got a good view of what we were seeing and was quite knowledgeable about the area.

They give you advice about what to wear and I fully advise everyone to pay attention to it. Temp in the chopper was ~50°F with buffeting winds from the rotors. Because we listened, we were comfortable. The only complaint was the wind was strong enough to make my eyes water and it was hard to see at times. That said, it was a fun experience and I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2022/12/26
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Big disappointment!

Reviewed by: Lizjazza, 2019/12/04

After reading the detail for this tour we were extremely disappointed with what we experienced. We were a party of 4 who were split over 2 different tours. We thought this was due to weight restrictions which we couldn't understand because we are all average but in hindsight realise it was because we all wanted doors off. The pilot was great gave lots of detail and interesting facts. The flight was wonderful experiencing doors off just unfortunate the tour has not been revised since the lava stopped flowing and you spend the majority of the flight flying over blacken ground which becomes boring very fast. We were looking forward to seeing the waterfalls but this was a quick fly over and back to base so felt let down with this also. We had another couple on our flight as did my sister on her flight and all eight of us were extremely disappointed with what our tour delivered for the cost. The company really need to change the itinery for this tour to make it an experience to remember as it obviously once was when the lava was flowing.

Reply from activity provider

Aloha Lizjazza,

Thank you for taking the time to write a review of your experience with us.  We apologize that the experience didn't live up to your expectations.  Sometimes, the booking process and weight and balance considerations necessitate us splitting groups to fit into our available capacity, but in all cases we strive to accommodate the desires of our guests.  We find many passengers who remain excited to see the recent 7000+ acres of lava from last year's Leilani eruption, to include Fissure 8, and many completely engulfed coastal areas.

Mahalo,

Joel
Chief of Operations Officer

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2019/10/31
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Eye opening

Reviewed by: GingerBeardNYC, 2019/02/07

We intend to do this everywhere we travel now. We loved it that much.

  • Both above and below the clouds we flew

Reply from activity provider

Aloha GingerBeardNYC,

Mahalo for your review! We are happy to hear you enjoyed your Doors off Lava & Rainforests Adventure. Our Doors-Off flights are definitely one of our most popular flights, it is an indredible way to see the landscape from a new perspective.

Thank you for choosing to fly with us, we hope to see you back soon!

Mahalo,
Paradise Helicopters

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2019/02/03
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Awesome experience!

Reviewed by: Theron, 2018/06/19

Rob was an excellent pilot. Everything was well organized and went smoothly. The view was awesome. Could have stayed up there all day.

Rating:
Attended as:Friends
Activity Date:2018/06/16
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An awesome doors-off experience

Reviewed by: Mr.Anonymous, 2018/06/05

The cool thing about this helicopter flight is that you get to see a lot of volcanoes national park in a relatively little amount of time. Especially since the lava wasn't flowing a lot that day, flying over the greyish lava wasteland made it a lot easier to spot minor lava flows (see picture).

Since it was raining that day, there was too much steam for us to fly directly over the caldera, but otherwise the flight was great. If conditions are stable, I definitely recommend a helicopter flight as the best way to see the volcano. There's a lot you can only see from up in the sky.

Rating:
Attended as:Solo Travelers
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Fantastic

Reviewed by: Deborah, 2018/05/16

WE were very fortunate to have our tour just after the eruption. An unforgettable experience that lasted not long enough

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2018/05/03
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We changed it to Doors-off at the last minute

Reviewed by: Pedro, 2017/11/06

I can't give a feedback regarding Doors-on because we changed it at the last minute. Of course we paid the difference, but it worth it. Actually, after flying without doors, I could said that I wouldn't take the Doors-on option: the whole perspective is incredible and with doors that view wouldn't have been possible...ok, maybe warmer than withoug doors, but that's it.
However, it would habe been nice to be informed that the middle seat it's only for people who are not so tall: my girlfriend really REALLY wanted to be at the window seat, and I gladly would have given it to her, but it was not possible due to my height. We were told about this the moment before boarding. She was really dissapointed.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2017/10/25
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Amazing

Reviewed by: Caryq, 2017/10/13

Best thing we did in Islands. Great staff. Doors off small helicopter was of course windy, but also awesome.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2017/10/10
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special feeling!

Reviewed by: Rene and Pattatiya, 2017/09/10

We enjoyed the flight a lot. The flight without doors is realy special. The pilot flight direct over the crater with magna and we can made beautiful pictures and feel the cold wind and the hot magna!

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2017/09/07
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Open door laba helicopter tour

Reviewed by: Bengisu, 2017/08/07

It was an amazing experience to see the beautiful view of big island from above and observing the bubbling lava inside the crater of an active volcano together with a great crew before during and after the flight.

  • Silver lava

Rating:
Attended as:Friends
Activity Date:2017/07/30
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AMAZING

Reviewed by: BOB W, 2017/07/03

MY 12 YEAR OLD GRANDSON AND I WENT ON A DOORS OFF VOCANO TOUR WITH ROBERT AS OUR PILOT. AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING EXPERIENCE, TOTALLY UNIQUE AND WORTH EVERY SINGLE CENT OF THE COS, FROM CHECK IN TO DEPARTURE. SOMETHING THAT BOTH OD US WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER. THANKS FOR A DELIGHTFUL EXPERIENCE!!!

Rating:
Attended as:Families with Young Children
Activity Date:2017/06/29
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Awesome pilot and fabulous flight!

Reviewed by: Darcy S, 2017/02/08

My husband and I loved the doors off heli ride over the Kilauea volcano lava flow! Would highly recommend it!

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2017/01/31
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Door off Helicopter Tour Adventure

Reviewed by: The Leiths, 2016/09/10

We would like to thank the staff of veltra for their outstanding services with helping making our dream vacation a reality, we really enjoyed the Helicopter Tour - the staff were perfect, sights were great! It was a little foggy so we couldn't complete whole tour but were offered a refund which was very nice.

Thanks Again,

Rating:
Attended as:Families
Activity Date:2016/08/28
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Great trip

Reviewed by: Ian, 2016/08/31

Really excellent trip, would recommend it to anyone.

Rating:
Attended as:Families with Young Children
Activity Date:2016/08/28
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Great trip, life experience!

Reviewed by: ChuckBr, 2016/07/18

We had an amazing experience and will go again for sure!

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2016/06/24
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Kilauea Helicopter tour

Reviewed by: Vicki Wales, 2016/04/07

We took this trip on monday with our pilot Pete and it was totally awesome! We saw bubbling lava and were indeed able to 'feel the heat'! Pete tailored our tour to us and made us feel very welcome. Many thanks! Highly recommended!

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2016/04/04
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Doors Off Helicopter tour

Reviewed by: Diane Viands, 2016/03/12

I ended up with some great pictures. Wasn't sure if I was getting any because it was so windy. Not complaining as I knew that it was going to be windy. I did think that we were going to fly near the volcanoes, but perhaps I read the description wrong. It was a great tour and I am glad I did the doors off tour. Collin was great! Thanks so much for the great tour!

Rating:
Attended as:Solo Travelers
Activity Date:2016/03/07
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Exciting and Smooth

Reviewed by: Going back to Hawaii, 2016/02/19

Very professional pilot. Incredibly smooth ride without stunts or surprises. However, the doors off was wonderful with nothing between us and the lava. We were high enough to not be at risk but the views of the lava flows, vents, as well as the area waterfalls and scenery were superb. Securely strapped in. Noise dampening headphones with mics allows two way communication, and the pilot was a knowledgeable and helpful tour guide. Worth the time and money.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2016/02/06
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Aaaaamazing!

Reviewed by: G from GA, 2016/02/06

An unforgettable experience! Viewing flowing lava burning trees, the spots where the lava begins to flow, the breathtaking coastline of the Big Island with its many waterfalls, humpback whales from overhead, and the wonders of the island with the unbelievable views of every hue in the ocean's water= memories that will last a lifetime! Add a fabulous staff and the best pilot ever, and that's what you can expect.

  • One of the lava vents.

Rating:
Attended as:Friends
Activity Date:2016/02/03
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Doors off is the only way to FLY!!!

Reviewed by: Alan, 2016/02/02

The doors off tour was incredible and well worth the price! I highly recommend this tour to anyone that wants to get a real helicopter volcano tour!

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2016/01/09
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What the --, I can't ... OMG! I cried.

Reviewed by: Silas, 2015/10/14

Thank you to Jork our pilot for an amazing flight. After breakfast, me and my friends hit up the Volcanoes Winery for some wine tasting and then whipped through the Volcanoes National Park to get an idea of what we'd see from the sky before heading to the airport for our helicopter flight. The check-in was easy (I gained a few pounds from all the Hawaiian food I ate, but it was okay) and the ground crew was super friendly. Make sure you get a phone strap if you want to take pics with doors off, or you can't take your phone with you. I really didn't expect a lot but as soon as we were hovering over small lava ponds I cried a little bit. It was so epic - it looked like we were on another planet. The black lava landscape stretched to the horizon. It was cold up there but whenever we got over the bright orange lava spots you could actually feel the waves of warmth, so soothing! We finished with a fly over bubbling pots waterfalls and some of the towns. All the buildings and cars were so tiny and perfect like a miniature model city. Thanks again to Paradise Helicopters and HawaiiActivities.com. Definitely an unforgettable moment on the Big Island. Ah man!

Rating:
Attended as:Friends
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Not So Hot!

Reviewed by: GeeBee, 2015/09/22

Now being honest the weather was not good at Hilo, very wet and cloudy. But in spite of the weather the flight did go ahead. I do have to say doors off is definitely the way to go! We flew over several areas of coastline and lava flows and then headed up to the Puʻu ʻŌʻō, again the weather wasn't great but you could see the ground pretty well. Heading up the mountain we saw a small area of fresh lava but it was over in a flash and then we were heading back to Hilo.

Now I fully understand that when weather and visibility are not good you might not see everything but at no point did the pilot state what we would or would not see. Obviously the vent or flowing lava is the main part of the "show" and you keep waiting for that to appear. But it wasn't until a guest asked that we were told that we went as far as we could.

Feel the heat? No we certainly did not.

A word of warning for passengers with longer hair wear a beany or make sure your hair is tied back tight, due to the wind it ended up with my wife's hair being badly knotted around the headset.

Two stars - to be honest only for the fun aspect of the doors off.

It would have been so much better if we were kept informed of the visibility and weather (now on Hawai'i this might not be a normal issue) and what we would be able to see as opposed to not being told anything and not experiencing what the flight was all about and coming away with the slightly cheated feeling.

Would I go again - yes - but I would certainly be asking a lot of questions about the weather conditions, visibility and expected viewing. It is a lot of money to pay, and especially if you are not local to not "Feel the Heat" because why else would you fly "doors off"

In additional I have to say the staff at Paradise were very understanding when we raised our points.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2015/09/18
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Awesome, Breathtaking, Not Enough Great Words to Describe

Reviewed by: DWAungst, 2015/09/21

The flight was amazing, but we did not fly from Hilo. When our scheduled time (from Hilo) arrived, the weather was below minimum at the volcano. This was very disappointing since Hilo weather was nice. But, Hawaii weather is very volatile.

We rescheduled for the next day as a "reserve flight" (needed more people to "confirm" the flight). Before the scheduled time, Paradise Helicopters called to say the flight was still only "reserved", but they had an opening in a different, circle the whole island, flight from Kona. They would upgrade me for no additional cost to take that one. We jumped at it.

The flight was amazing. We got to see the whole island, in addition to the volcano and real, live, flowing lava. Our pilot was Koji and he was awesome. The weather over the volcano was mixed, but he was able to navigate through the clouds enough to maintain the FAA rules for height and get us over the actual volcano caldera. Then, we headed for the current eruption points on the southern slopes and saw even more lava in the second vent. Moving further to the new lava fields, he located some live, flow lava. "WOW!!!" is all I can say.

The rest of the flight was great, too. Flying low up the valley on the north shore was wild. Seeing all the waterfalls was also terrific.

  • "Captian Cook", his initial landing point on the Big Island.

  • Green Sand Beach

  • Main Volcano Laval Pool on the Caldera

  • Lava pool in the second vent on the southern slopes of the volcano.

  • Flowing Lava - we were hovering only about 50 feet off this, the heat wash from the lava made the ride bumpy but worth it.

  • More Flowing Lava, Oozing Out of a Crack

  • North Shore Cliffs

  • One of Many Waterfalls

  • Intrepid Adventurers (us), Post Flight

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
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Fantastic

Reviewed by: Miked, 2015/09/17

First helo ride ever and we had the doors off. It was fantastic! Our pilot Rob was great! Would definitely recommend this if you want a close up view of a volcano!

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2015/09/14
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Awesome Flight!!!

Reviewed by: DWAungst, 2015/09/13

Weather cancelled booked flight. They upgraded me to a whole island tour for second flight next day. Bucket list item checked off - I saw real, flowing lava! Amazing flight. I wanna do it again.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2015/09/10
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Pretty cool

Reviewed by: K. Hayes, 2015/05/11

I would definitely recommend the doors off experience to the doors on. You are able to get much better pictures and video, in my opinion. There were only a few active spots for us to view, but our tour guide answered most of the questions we had and explained a lot about the landscape. The waterfalls were beautiful- I would recommend hiking to them if you are staying in Hilo for more than a day.

Rating:
Attended as:Solo Travelers
Activity Date:2015/04/14
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