Helicopter Tour Over Hawaii

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Photo by Sherry Ott

The lava field piece connects with the rainforest piece. The brown desert piece connects to the turquoise waters of the coast. The towering mountains connecta with the fertile ranch lands and rolling hills. The wet side connecta with the dry side. Today I will be able to see the ‘Big Picture’ of the Big Island – from the sky.

I arrive early to Paradise Helicopters thanks to my childlike excitement; this is my first time in a helicopter. Considering I am eternally late to everything, the fact that I have time to kill is unusual, but I use the time to clean my camera and lenses since I am anticipating a lot of photos. It is a hot day, made worse by the fact that I am dressed entirely in black clothing. Paradise Helicopters instructed us to wear dark colors so that the glare would be reduced when shooting pictures out of the helicopter window; a great piece of advice. Soon the rest of the passengers arrive; it will be a full helicopter with 6 of us taking flight for the Hawaii Experience tour. A complete 2+ hour flight of the entire island plus a landing in a secluded valley.

We listen to our safety briefing from our pilot Koji. In addition to learning about the safety instructions, he also briefs us on our route for the day. The good news is we have perfectly clear weather and he feels we will have a good opportunity to see some lava flow from above. Upon hearing this my heart starts beating faster. Seeing actual lava flow on the Big Island is not as easy as one might think based on all of the tourism marketing materials you see about the Big Island. In fact, seeing lava flow is sort of like getting a winning lottery ticket. The only real way of increasing your odds of seeing lava flow is to see it via helicopter. Lava is constantly flowing on and under the island, however it is in remote places where cars or hikers can’t get to.

Read more on Sherry's blog.

Written by  Sherry Ott.

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