As we’ve mentioned before, a helicopter is a great way to experience the rugged and beautiful terrain of an exotic country, and some of the best Australian vacation packages include helicopter tours. In particular, helicopter tours of the Great Barrier Reef are becoming exceptionally popular as ways to experience the grandeur and beauty of the Australian seascape from both up high and down close.
There are a number of ways to incorporate a helicopter tour of the reef into a comfortable vacation itinerary.
For those most eager to get right on with it, there’s the Fly and Fly option, involving a flight into your destination, then a hop into the heli for an immediate trip out over the water. Other options include cruising out to the reef on a ship, and taking off from pontoon with a helicopter brought along for the experience. Either way, or any of the ways in between, a heli tour is not to be missed out for a proper sight of the reef.
Many people boast about the reef’s up-close beauty in diving and swimming; to be sure, these shouldn’t be left out of a good swimming vacation. However, this doesn’t tell the whole story. Because of Australia’s legendary clear waters, much of the reef actually is visible from the air, and provides a sweeping view of multicolored splendor when seen from above.
A helicopter tour provides just the thing, being able to rise high enough up to get the sheer scale of the reef into a tourist’s mind, but also able to drop down and show just how detailed a view you can get only a few feet up from the water as the blades kick up spray and ripples. The sheer speed between rising and dropping can create a sweeping experience as well, highlighting the intensity of the changes of view.
So for fans of the reef and for an experience outside the usual dive and tour, a good helicopter experience can give you a whole new perspective on the greatest reef in the world.
