Kona Volcano Helicopter Tours

A helicopter from the Kona side can show you Kīlauea’s lava fields, its old rift-zone vent and the wet windward coast, but it cannot fly over the erupting summit crater. Under the park’s Air Tour Management Plan, completed in December 2023, air tours over Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park may use only three routes, and all three avoid the Kīlauea summit, which is where the current eruption sits, inside Halemaʻumaʻu.

What the air-tour rules allow over the park

The plan, written by the National Park Service and the FAA, cut air tours over the park to a maximum of 1,548 a year, down from more than 11,300 a year before it. Reporting on the plan describes the three permitted routes as the Puna coast, Highway 11 within the Kahuku Unit, and a loop over Puʻuʻōʻō, the East Rift Zone vent whose 35-year eruption ended in 2018.

The rules also fix when and how high the aircraft fly:

• Standard helicopters may cross the park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Quieter aircraft may fly 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on those days and on Wednesdays.
• No air tours on Sundays, on six traditional Hawaiian observances, on 9 February or on 19 December.
• At least 1,500 ft above ground over land and 2,000 ft over the sea.
• No hovering or circling, except on the Puʻuʻōʻō loop, and there only one minute at a time and five minutes per tour.

That is why some operator copy reads as out of date. Rainbow Helicopters describes “soaring over the erupting Kilauea Volcano”, and one Blue Hawaiian listing still says the volcano has been “continuously erupting since 1983”. The 1983 eruption ended in 2018, and the summit is off the air-tour routes. Before you book, ask the operator which route your flight takes on your day.

On lava itself: as of 23 October 2026, the USGS Kīlauea page reports the summit eruption paused after Episode 55 on 17 October, with a preliminary window for the next episode of 29 October to 5 November that HVO calls uncertain. Episodes last hours, the fountains stay inside Halemaʻumaʻu, and no flight can promise you lava or glow. For the summit view, the overlooks on the ground are the way in; our Kīlauea lava viewing page covers them.

The Kona-side flights that cross to the volcano

Blue Hawaiian from Waikoloa

The two Blue Hawaiian flights leave from the Waikoloa heliport on the Kohala Coast, about 25 to 30 minutes north of Kailua-Kona, not from Kona airport. The listed route runs from Kohala past Kailua-Kona to the volcano side, naming Kīlauea, the national park and the old eruption site on the East Rift Zone, then Hilo, ʻAkaka Falls, the Hāmākua Coast rainforest and Waimea’s ranch country. Departures are listed at 8:00 and 10:30 a.m.

The landing version adds about 10 minutes on the ground at Laupāhoehoe Nui, a waterfall and freshwater pool on the Kohala Coast reachable only by air. The landing is in the Kohala valleys, not at the volcano. Read our Big Island Spectacular review for the full listing.

Both flights fly with the doors on. The pilots are also state-certified tour guides, and every seat gets a noise-cancelling headset with a microphone. A guest over 240 lb needs an adjacent seat at half the fare, and children 23 months and under fly free on a lap.

Rainbow Helicopters from Kona airport

Rainbow’s Kīlauea eruption flight is the one volcano flight that departs Kona itself, from the Big Island Jet Center at the airport. It runs 1.5 hours, with doors on or off on a shared flight at $1,180 per person, or a private doors-off flight at $1,770 per person. On a doors-off flight your seat may not be beside the open door. Doors-off passengers must weigh at least 80 lb in the Robinson R44 or 100 lb in the Airbus AStar, guests from 250 to 275 lb pay a 50% seat fee, and over 275 lb buy a second seat. Everyone 24 months and older pays a full fare. It has only five reviews so far, and cancellation is free up to 48 hours before, not 24.

Kona flights that never reach Kīlauea

These three leave from the Kona side and are good scenic flights, but none flies to Kīlauea. Do not book them for the volcano:

• Kohala, Volcanoes and Waterfall Helicopter Tour (Rainbow, $895, 1.5 h): Kailua Bay, Mauna Loa, Hualālai, Maunakea in the distance, then the Kohala valleys and Waipiʻo. The “volcanoes” in the title are those western peaks.
• Kona Coast Hualalai Volcano 60-minute tour (Rainbow, $640): the Kona coast and Hualālai.
• Private Kona Coast Helicopter Tour (Mauna Loa Helicopter Tours, $241 per person, 30 minutes, at least two seats per booking): the Kona coast only.

Hilo: the closest departure to the volcano

Hilo is about 30 miles, or 45 minutes, from the park, so flights from there spend less time crossing the island. Safari Helicopters’ Volcanic Safari leaves the commuter terminal at Hilo airport for about 55 minutes, from $419 per person, rated 4.6 from 590 reviews, and lists a flight over the national park on the same restricted routes. From Kona the drive to Hilo is about 77.6 miles, roughly 1 hour 32 minutes over Saddle Road, so it suits people who plan to spend a night on the east side or pair the flight with a park visit by car. Our Kona vs Hilo guide weighs the two bases.

Helicopter or ground tour

The two options show you different things. A ground tour stands at the summit overlooks the aircraft must avoid: the Hawaii Geo Tours day with a geologist spends about four hours inside the park for $259 per person, with Kona hotel pickup. A flight shows you scale, the rift zone, the coast and the waterfalls in two hours, for more than three times the price. If the crater is the point, start with our Volcanoes National Park tours page; if the budget is the question, see Kona volcano tour prices.

Before you book a flight

• Check the departure point. Waikoloa and Kona airport are 25 to 30 minutes apart; Hilo is on the other side of the island.
• Give honest weights. The operators ask for weights or weigh you at check-in, and charge for an extra seat where the aircraft needs balancing.
• No scuba diving within 24 hours of the flight.
• Flight times can change with wind and weather; ask what the operator offers if it cancels.
• Ask which park route your flight is cleared for, and on which days.

When you know which flight fits, check dates for the Big Island Spectacular.