Volcano tours- fly out from Oahu or stay on the Big Island and catch the tour from there?

I know this is specifically related to Aulani but since it is in Hawaii, I hope it's ok to put here. If not, please move to where you think it might be more appropriate.

As I mentioned in another post of mine, we're thinking of directly flying to the Big Island and spending 3 nights there before heading to Oahu and staying at a VRBO/AIRBNB rental and then staying at Aulani for the remaining 5 nights.

I'm wondering instead of flying to the Big Island and staying on the island, what do you guys think of just flying to Oahu and snapping the idea of staying on the Big Island and extending our stay time in the rental and Aulani between those three nights we would have stayed on the Big Island. If we do this, are there any intra-day volcano tours that anybody can recommend? I've seen some helicopter tours but I assume they won't pick you up from Oahu and fly you to the Big Island. I assume we would have to fly to the Big Island early in the morning and then meet for the hell tour.

Does anybody know if the helicopter can fit 7 people? Also, how bad might it be for someone prone to motion sickness. We've never been in a helicopter and seeing some of the volcano tour boats rocking away in the ocean, I don't know which is the lesser evil between the two.

If anybody has any experience with any volcano tour, I'd love to get your feedback and suggestions.

I think your initial idea to spend time on BI and then move on to Oahu was the best one. Remember, if you're doing a day trip to the BI, you still need to ride from the resort/BNB to the airport, go through security/wait for the flight, spend 40 minutes on the plane, disembark, pick up your car, and meet the tour group whatever they designate. Then everything in the reverse at the end of the day.

I agree, I think a day trip would be very rushed. After the helicopter tour, you wouldn't have much time to explore Volcanoes National Park and you probably wouldn't be able to see the lava at night (if location of the lava activity is still easily accessible by then).

I had zero motion sickness on the helicopter tour. I'm not particularly prone to motion sickness, but I do get a little nauseous on boats when seas are rough.

On Blue Hawaiian's website, it says that their Eco-Star has a 7 seat configuration for families:
http://www.bluehawaiian.com/about/blue_hawaiian_difference/finest_helicopters/

helicopters move around like star tours sometimes. YMMV. I didn't get sick but I don't usually get sick on the ocean either.

There's so much more to see on the Big Island than the Volcano as well - Mauna Kea and stargazing from the mountain, the botanical gardens, Waipi'o Valley, Hapuna Beach and the Kohala coast, coffee in Kona, black and green sand beaches, the southernmost point - the Big Island is a *big* island. It's also much more laid back than Oahu - we prefer to do Ohau first, then end the trip on Hawai'i. I find it's like going to Walt Disney World, *then* cruising, you get to relax a bit after a hectic and fun-filled vacation.

I'd personally prefer to spend more time on Hawai'i than Oahu, but Aulani makes Oahu much more cost-effective, so we'll still spend more nights there on our next trip.