A 40 minute flight from Cairns Airport out over the Great Barrier Reef, with a window seat for everyone and the pilot pointing out Green Island, Vlasoff Cay and Arlington Reef. You see up to 140 km of reef, cays and islands, and often manta rays, turtles and sharks in the water below.
Days
- 40 minute flight
Age
- All ages; infants under 2 on a lap
Group size
- Max 7 passengers
Start / finish
- Cairns Airport (general aviation) / Cairns Airport, or central Cairns with hotel pick-up
Return
- See itinerary for details
Transport
- Small air-conditioned fixed-wing plane, with a van transfer on the hotel pick-up option
Meals
- No meals are listed as included
Route
Included experiences
- Green Island — fly over the rainforest coral cay
- Vlasoff Cay — look down on a sand cay in open water
- Arlington Reef — see the outer reef from the air
- Marine life — spot manta rays, turtles and sharks
Pictures / Videos
Reviews
5.0
Based on 26 reviews
Verified from
Real reviews from travellers who've done this tour, gathered from around the web and paraphrased.
AI summary of 26 reviews
Travellers consistently praise the scenic flight for delivering exceptional views of the Great Barrier Reef, with many describing the colours, perspectives and experience from the air as extraordinary and worth undertaking even if they have already snorkelled the reef. Guides are praised throughout for their knowledge, skill, smooth flying and accommodating service, with staff also noted for their friendliness and helpfulness from booking through to the flight itself. The most common caveat is that one traveller reported the flight duration was approximately 30 minutes rather than the advertised 40 minutes.
How we collect and publish reviews
Where they come from. Our reviews are gathered from independent review sites and from guests who share feedback with us directly after their trip. They come from people who have actually travelled on the tour. Some longer trips are made up of shorter tours we also sell, run back to back — where a review was written about one of those legs, the review says so.
Why some are edited. Many of our guests travel in their second or third language. Where a review is hard to read, we lightly edit spelling, grammar and punctuation, or paraphrase a sentence for clarity. We never change the rating, the meaning or the sentiment, and we never write a review on a guest's behalf.
Reading the originals. Reviews sourced from public review sites appear there in their original form, and can be read in full at their original source at any time.
An amazing view of the reef, with very friendly staff and an informative pilot. The flight was smooth.
An incredible flight over the Great Barrier Reef, with great insight from our pilot Owen and a comfortable, smooth flight and landing. The highlight of our trip.
If you're in Cairns, book the scenic flight over the Great Barrier Reef. Our pilot Owen was the best.
Our pilot Owen was lovely and taught us all about the history of the reef. A day we'll never forget.
An incredible flight over the Great Barrier Reef. Jake's explanations were easy to follow and the flight went really well.
The pilots and staff knew what they were doing and were very friendly, and we had amazing views of the Great Barrier Reef from above.
