Port Douglas -- Sky Safari Helicopters -- Which Tour?

[MalibuCA]

My husband and I are visiting Port Douglas post-cruise, and we are ready to reserve our helicopter adventure with Sky Safari when we visit Port Douglas. I'm not sure, however, which tour to take. Here are the options and their website descriptions that we are considering:

 

 

1) Reef and Rainforest: "Climb to see Mossman Gorge and Donahue Falls before descending over the Coral Sea beaches, Low Isles and the flurry of life on the outer reefs. 45 minutes"

 

 

2) Great Barrier Reef: "Fly to the coral cay of Low Isles then on to the largest of the outer reefs, Batt and Tongue for the greatest reef views and a wildlife spectacle. 50 minutes"

 

 

3) Ultimate Reef and Rainforest: "The premier scenic flight generating a far reaching appreciation of our islands, ancient waterways, coral reefs and rainforest landscapes. 60 minutes"

 

 

All of these tours are expensive -- Tour #1 is cheapest, Tour #2 in the middle and Tour #3 the priciest. However, I do not want cost to be the final determining factor. Once I'm into the price of #1, if #3 is a far superior tour, then I will pay the higher price. However, if there isn't much difference between #s 1, 2, and 3, then I would go with the least expensive. Also, does the difference in flight time make a significant difference? I know that we will do this only once in our lives, and I want to do it right. Please help me decide which tour to take.

 

 

 

Thanks!

Shelley:confused:

[GradUT]

I think it unlikely that you will find anyone who has done more than one of these helicopter tours. (In fact, you may not find anyone who has done even one of them!) So, you probably won't be able to get a real comparison amongst them.

 

Based on my many trips to Port Douglas, including Mossman Gorge, the Low Isles and the Outer Reef, and the two helicopter tours I have taken (Hawaii and New Zealand) I would probably choose option #1. Reason: You'll get a variety of landscapes--not just coral reefs--and the tour is shorter. I found on my two helicopter trips that I was ready to have it done after about 30 - 40 minutes. There's only so much that you can see from a helicopter and a lot of it looks the same. I would think that looking at coral reefs from the air would get rather monotonous after awhile.

[MalibuCA]

Thanks, GradUt. My husband said exactly the same thing! We took helicopters in Alaska landing on the glaciers, and it was spectacular! Like I said, I'm not looking to spend extra $$ (or time) if I don't need to, but if there's a legitimate reason why I should, then I will. So that's why I ask if anyone has taken any of these tours, please enlighten me on what you liked (or didn't) so that maybe I will have a little more information to decide beyond what I find on the Sky Safari website.

 

Thanks,

Shelley

[partymarty4878]

basically you'll go further the longer the flight. I'd be leaning to number one or three, as the rainforest is pretty spectacular and you wouldn't want to miss seeing it.

 

If your Port Douglas visit is between January and April, there should be a good amount of water in the rivers which will make the waterfalls even more spectacular.

[MalibuCA]

Thanks for the advice. We will be there mid-January. Sounds like the waterfalls will be spectacular! I just finalized my reservation with Sky Safari yesterday. It was crazy -- I've had no problem exchanging emails with hotels, tours, private guides, restaurants, anything you can think of, throughout Australia, but for some crazy technological glitch, I couldn't receive any of their emails. Our communications were via the hotel concierge! So, I bit the bullet and called direct. For the cost of the phone call, I could probably spend an extra hour in the helicopter! Well, what can you do . . . at least I have my helicopter reserved, and I did receive a confirmation email! We decided to take #1 -- the Reef and Rainforest Flight. I agree that we wanted to maximize our time in the air as a #1 priority. We are going to visit Daintree Rainforest on one of our days by vehicle as well. It ought to be an interesting contrast both from the air and land. I can't wait!!!!!

 

Shelley