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Cairns Reef Scenic Heli Flights

Choose from a 30 or 40 minute scenic helicopter flight over the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns. Enjoy views of the city of Cairns and Trinity inlet, Green Island, Reefs and Coral Cays. On the return journey view fantastic views of the North Queensland coastline. Our local pilot/guides provide informative commentary and insights into the history of the reef, its abundance of marine inhabitants.

30 minute Great Barrier Reef scenic flight
This 30-minute Cairns scenic flight departs Cairns airport and tracks out from the mainland with views of the city of Cairns and Trinity inlet, passing False Cape where you can see the remnants of WWII defences, Mt Yarrabah, Mission Bay and Cape Grafton.

From there we strike out to the inner edge of the Reef and Green Island, a 6,000 year-old coral sand island that boasts its own native rainforest eco-system. Tracking to the north, we explore the western side of Arlington Reef, home to a diverse range of marine creatures – turtles, sharks and sting rays.

Continuing north we’ll circle Vlasoff Cay a tiny sand island in the middle of the reef that reduces to only a few hundred square metres in size at high tide.

From Vlasoff Cay we head west, over Upolu Cay and back to Cairns taking in fantastic views of the North Queensland coastline framed by the lush rainforest-covered eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range.

40 minute Great Barrier Reef scenic flight
By extending the helicopter flight by another 10 minutes, we take in all the highlights of the 30-minute product, but extend the flight path out to the east, passing Green Island and tracking to the outer edge of Arlington Reef – one of the largest reefs in the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

We traverse the very edge of the reef pushing toward the edge of the Australian continental shelf where the water clarity is unsurpassed, and the ocean floor drops away to over 1,000 feet.

The additional time on our Cairns reef helicopter tours allows us to push further north past sandy Vlasoff Cay and on to the outer reaches of the Reef to provide our guests with the ultimate reef experience.

The colours and textures of the reef and clear blue waters framed by the massive North Queensland skies provide unforgettable backdrops for the keen photographer to capture once in a lifetime images.

Check-in
Check-in to Zoom Helicopter office at Cairns Airport General Aviation.
We ask customers to arrive 30 minutes before their scheduled departure time.
This is just a 15 min drive from Cairns CBD. Free Parking available.
21 Bush Pilots Avenue, General Aviation. Cairns Airport

What to bring
We recommend you bring sunglasses, sunscreen and a smile on any of our Cairns scenic flights. Of course, feel free to bring your camera, however, we have four HD onboard video cameras to capture your spectacular multi-viewpoint experience.

Check-in to Zoom Helicopter office at Cairns Airport General Aviation.
We ask customers to arrive 30 minutes before their scheduled departure time.
This is just a 15 min drive from Cairns CBD. Free Parking available.
21 Bush Pilots Avenue, General Aviation. Cairns Airport