As soon as we decided on the Hawaiian Islands for our honeymoon, Hilo was listed as our #2 place to visit, only following Pearl Harbor. We knew it was a “must” due to the tropical climate, famous waterfalls, and of course, the active volcanoes and the history of their land. The manner in which we decided to see all of this – HELICOPTER TOUR!!
We rented a car and left Kona at 7am, temperature around 80F, heading towards the Mauna Kea Mountain Peak. The closer we got to the mountain, the chillier it got. Halfway into the trip, we took a restroom break at the Mauna Kea Recreation area where we got out of the car into 50 degree weather. (Travel tip: take advantage of this rest stop as it is the only restroom for 50+ miles.)
We booked our helicopter tour with Paradise Helicopters. If you know me at all, you’ll believe I did way too much research before choosing a helicopter tour company but ended up choosing Paradise Helicopters because of the reviews and prices. Good thing too, because on the flight from Oahu to Hawai’i, I started talking with a local who had worked for Paradise Helicopters in the past and spoke very highly about the safety of the company.
Arriving to the Hilo airport, we watched a safety video then loaded up into the (gorgeous) helicopter. For all the aviation nerds out there, we flew in a Bell 407. Rebecca found this to be really cool considering the company she works for has Bell Helicopter as a client!
THE TOUR
The views from the helicopter were astounding. We flew directly to the lava fields, which looked like nothing we had ever seen before. Where grass, houses, forests had once been now laid black volcanic rock fields. It’s hard to put the uniqueness into words so check out our pictures below! We flew over Kilauea and saw bright red, flowing lava in the lava pool. Like burning lava. It has been erupting continuously since 1983! We had a boss of a pilot who basically turned the helicopter on its side so that we could see every angle of the lava. Good thing for us, the company had thought to put some ginger chews in the seat pockets, so these sharp turns weren’t as rough as they could’ve been.
From the volcano, we flew towards town to see the famous Rainbow Falls. The falls are up to 80 ft. tall and plunge into natural lava caves, then the river.
We had a lovely lunch at Hilo Bay Café, a cute, modern restaurant on the shore of the Hilo Bay. Overall, the visit to Hilo did not disappoint in the slightest. If anything, we wish we had been able to spend more time on that side of the island!
