A Helicopter Tour + Waterfalls experience by Mauna Loa Helicopters. Back to all Big Island tours.
Tour Summary: Waterfalls dropping close to 2,000 feet in valleys you can only reach by air. Only your group is on board, and you choose doors on or off.
Drop down into the hidden valleys carved deep into the Kohala volcano to see waterfalls few other people know. 
Waipiʻo Valley is the first of seven valleys you pass, carved into the windward side of the Kohala volcano. Image credit: Eric Tessmer, source. The windward cliffs between Waipiʻo and Pololū valleys, a stretch reachable only by air or boat. Image adapted from source (by Eric Tessmer). Pololū Valley, the last of the seven valleys, on the far side of the Kohala cliffs. Image adapted from source (by Eric Tessmer).
5 Tour Highlights:
- Seven windward valleys in one flight, Waipiʻo through Pololū, none of them reachable by road
- Waterfalls dropping 1,500 to 2,000 feet down the Kohala walls
- Doors-on or doors-off flight, decided by you, with a guaranteed window seat for every passenger
- A Kona coastline leg over Kua Bay and Makalawena where humpbacks pass through December to April
- Private helicopter, no strangers in the cabin
Important: Total weight per person cannot exceed 285lbs and total group total cannot exceed 700lbs (weights are taken at check-in)
Tour Information:
| Price: | Adult |
|---|---|
| (excluding taxes & fees) | $429 |
Price note: The $429 per-person rate applies to groups of three or four. Smaller groups pay a private-buyout rate: $643.51 per person for two, and $1,287 for a solo flight.
Tour Provider: Mauna Loa Helicopters
Activity: Helicopter Tour + Waterfalls
Tour start time: 8 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 4 pm
Duration: 60 - 75 minutes
Location: Hamakua Coast
Pick-up available? No
Included: Guaranteed window seat for every passenger and choice of doors-on or doors-off flying
Cancellations: Free cancellation up to 24 hours prior to the flight time. Cancellations or delays to the flight are at pilot’s discretion for safety reasons, which may include inclement weather.
Read more: about helicopter tour in our Big Island helicopter tour guide.
Read more about this helicopter tour
No road reaches the seven windward valleys carved into the Kohala volcano. A helicopter is the only way in, and you get all seven in one flight: Waipiʻo, Waimanu, Honopue, Honokea, Honokane Iki, Honokane Nui, and Pololū.
Reviewers mention the pilots first. They fly with people who have never been in a helicopter, talk them through the nerves, and keep narrating the whole way. You fly over the valleys one after another, each with waterfalls dropping 1,500 to 2,000 feet down sheer green walls.
After the valleys, you fly back along the Kona coast over old lava flows and white-sand beaches like Kua Bay and Makalawena. Reviewers have reported humpback whales on the coastline leg in January, and about fifty dolphins on one March flight. You fly with a guaranteed window seat for every passenger, and you decide whether the doors stay on or come off.
Aircraft, price, check-in and weight limits
This is a private flight, exclusive to your group, in a Robinson R44 or R66. It runs 60 - 75 minutes and costs $429. Departure is from Kailua-Kona at 73-310 Uu Street, with check-in 40 minutes before the flight, where they weigh each passenger. The limit is 285 lbs per person and 700 lbs for the group. Booking online needs a minimum of three people, and the helicopter holds four. Ages two and up can fly.
This one is for visitors who have already done Rainbow Falls and ʻAkaka Falls from the ground and want to see the Kohala valley waterfalls from the air. It is also a good choice for a group of three or four who want the aircraft to themselves.
Seats, doors-off flights and whale season
One first-timer who flew doors-off in the front seat described having nothing to hold onto and a free-falling feeling. Thrill-seekers should claim it. Nervous flyers are happier in the back, doors on. The operator calls or messages you before your flight, and check-in is quick. If you want the coastline whale sightings, book between December and April, when humpbacks are in Hawaiian waters.
About Mauna Loa Helicopters
Mauna Loa Helicopters has been flying private sightseeing tours since 2006, starting on Kauaʻi and now operating on the Big Island. They fly a Robinson R44 and R66 fleet, and we list them because of two things most operators here do not offer: a guaranteed window seat for every passenger and the choice to fly doors-on or doors-off on the same route. Every flight is private to your group, never shared.
Affiliate Disclaimer
Booking through this page costs you nothing extra and is made directly with Mauna Loa Helicopters. We earn a commission from the operator, not from you, and it is what pays for the research that keeps lovebigisland.com free and free of paid placement. We only list operators we would send a friend to. Details on our affiliate links are here.