Great Barrier Reef 40 Minute Scenic Flight From Cairns - Reef Hopper

What an amazing experience. I was absolutely blown away by how magical the reef was. The staff on board were all really nice, knowledgeable & funny. It was one of the best experiences I ever had. Would highly recommend it to anyone.

This has been the cherry on top of our time in Cairns. What a chance to be able to see nature from the sky, it was wonderful to discover the reefs for 20min (+ 10min to fly there; 10min to fly back). The staff was amazing from pick-up to briefing and of course, our brilliant pilot Henner who gave us a lot of insights. Definitely worth the price 🤩 Thanks GSL !

All the staff was so friendly and helpful throughly enjoyed the flight experience the pilot was very good at telling us what to look out for. I would love to do it again

Ben, the pilot, called me to see if I could go earlier in order to beat the rain which could impact my later flight. I agreed and he picked me up and took me to the airport where I met two other passengers. He flew us around to see the Grest Barrier Reef, and we did skirt the rain! We had a good flight!

Pilot Ben was a great host. Loved the whole thing

We had an amazing time, the views cannot be described... even pictures barely do it justice. Our guide/pilot was personable and informative!

What a fantastic experience. The booking process was straightforward and we felt well looked after on the day. Our pilot, Hanner, was friendly and knowledgeable and made sure everyone had a good view of the beautiful reef and islands. Having visited Green Island the day before, it was amazing to see it all from above. Highly recommend!

Must see if you are in Carins. Eric was our pilot he was very skilled, knowledgeable and friendly. He also made sure we got some great pictures. Highly recommend.

Our GSL flight was very disappointing experience due to discrimination and feeling racism towards a specific group of passengers. We flew with a pilot named Jesse. My wife specifically requested to sit beside him before the flight. We came 1.5 hours early and saved the company money and time by driving ourselves to GSL not using their shuttle service. We were hoping that might help with our request. For the record if Jesse chose someone else that would be 100% okay, as there are 7 passengers and not all 7 can sit in the front, but the way things unfolded, the lies, the contracting excuses were not okay at all. Jesse was initially concerned that my wife had a wedge boot for her Achilles injury and was said he was concerned about her safety, which is 100% fair and considerate. However, we both assured him that she could make it up the stairs into the seat no problem. He said “we could try”. And for the record she did climb into the back effortlessly and zero help from anyone. Interestingly, the plane that landed just before us had a very elderly Caucasian lady that sat in the front seat, and they used ladders to help basically drag her down the plane. That sounds horrible, but she was struggling so much that she had to sit on the steps and lower herself down one step at a time with two others helping her down each step. But of course safety is important according to Jesse but not in that case. As we approached the plane Jesse said he needed one of the single passengers to take the front seat. There were 7 passengers. A family of 3 Asians, an Asian couple (us), a single Asian guy, and 1 Caucasian girl. So 6 Asian people and 1 non-Asian. When he asked a single passenger to jump up front, I objected and asked why, since my wife requested the front seat and he said we “could try”. This is where we felt lied to 1) he didn’t let us try although he said we could 2) he says safety is important but the previous plane elderly Caucasian lady they pulled out every red carpet for her and my wife proved getting up herself was 100% not an issue. Later Jesse changed his tune and said that he needed plane balance, ok fair enough why didn’t you say that to begin with and why are you changing your story now? But if it’s safety related we’re 100% with you, no hard feelings, let’s move on, but you should have said that at the beginning. Of the two single passengers the single Asian guy spoke up and said he would take it. That makes sense similar build, height, and mass as pilot. That would be a responsible choice. Although to be fair my husband or the dad of the family could have taken that seat two if Jesse needed balance the weight of the plane as these 3 passengers were similar size, height, and weight to the pilot. But even though the single Asian-passenger volunteered, Jesse (pilot) 100% heard the single guy. Jesse asks “ANYONE else?” Common! There were only two single passengers, why not ask any non-Asian passengers want to sit in the front. Seriously? “anyone else?” Ridiculous! Finally the Caucasian girl spoke up and there was some humming-hawing and he gave it to the single Caucasian girl. That sealed it, racism! Just to sum things up. Jesse rejected the single Asian guy volunteering and basically nudged the white girl into taking his spot. You reject led my request as an Asian lady and claim safety but the other plane allowed an elderly white lady to slide down stairs with helpers, which must be safe. You claimed you needed balance so you ignore the 3 adult Asian men similar size to you (Jesse) and suggest I (Asian female) am too small so you give to the white girl that’s similar size to me. Huh! To the GSL business owner, wouldn’t you care about your customers satisfaction. The whole seat thing could be a non-issue as we showed up 1.5 hours before and I directly requested the front. We dropped $700 for 2 people flight versus a single customer that was nudged into taking the spot. If you really care about your customers including the Asian ones, it could have made sense to offer it to the party of 3 people as they spent over $1000. They gave you the most money for your business!! But weren’t treated well either. For example Jesse was getting impatient that the family was taking longer to than the other 4 passengers to get their life jackets on and he/Jesse even rolled his eyes in discuss and didn’t bother to help. No offence, but one size does NOT fit all. My husband is about 85kg or 190lbs, but that life jacket that belts around the waist is suppose to fit a 5 year old girl, how exactly does that work? The dad was frantically trying to wrap the extra belt around his daughter, as she kept complaining that it’s falling down to her knees. Here’s a suggestion buy 7 more lifejackets and distribute them during the safety video so they are already on if time is so tight. Or if you want passengers paying 100% attention to the video then we could have put the lifejackets on while we killed 10minutes waiting for the plane to be refuelled rather than being rushed on the tarmac. We have been travelled more than 62 countries and never ever we see anything as obvious as this kind discrimination It was absolutely not worth the money to fly with this company. The whole thing soured the experience and I couldn’t enjoy the flight. Save your money and choose another company. Especially if you are Asian, you won’t be treated as “an equal” just a pay cheque. Especially if it’s “Jesse pilot” run. Horrible experience and never again.

Absolutely fantastic Great pilot Lots of interesting commentary I highly recommend this trip I would do this again Amazing experience and got some spectacular photos

Great your a must have while In Cairns, our Pilot was great orator ! Enjoyed throughly highly recommended !

Seeing the reef from above was amazing. We had snorkeled the day before, and getting this broader perspective, as well as an education about the reef from our pilot Ben, was awesome. We felt safe the whole trip and yes, I’d recommend it!

Terrible company to deal with. I had to cancel and they advised refund would be in my account within 7 days. It took over 30 days, and many phone calls and emails, and it appears to be a foreign contact. I believe they would not have refunded my money had I not been so persistent, and every time I contacted them there was a completely different excuse as to why there was a delay. Avoid at all cost, as there are better and more ethical operators offereing the same services.

Best seat is next to pilot. The next 2 best seats are row 2 behind the pilot and adjacent seat. The worst 2 seats are row 3 where I was sitting. As nearlly every photo I took unfortunately had the wing, wing strut, plane tyre or tail fin in it. It was a cloudy overcast day and we still enjoyed our flight over the great barrier reef. Imagine on a clear beautiful day... it would be amazing!!!!

The flight was magnificent & the views of the reefs were spectacular

Ben was a cocky but skilled pilot. We really enjoyed being able to see the entire reef area. He knew the history of the area & could identify wildlife from the sir (manta ray).

We had the best view on a sunny and cloudy free day. Our pilot Ben was super friendly and informative. Definitely worth the time and money. Morning flights are the best.

Thanks Ben, it was a great flight. We really enjoyed the experience, a calm day and such amazing views.

From booking the operator kept us informed at all stages. Pick up on time. Flight was smooth, pilot gave us lots of information & made sure both sides had a good view of the reefs. No complaints, everything ran smoothly.

Absolutely fantastic tour, the sun was out and the reef and Green Island shone in all their glory. Highly recommend, even as a Cairns local it gave a completely different perspective. The commentary was an excellent mix of facts and personal experiences ~ thoroughly enjoyed and have gone on to recommend to family and friends.

This was a fantastic flight over the Reef and our pilot was very informative.

40 mins is definitely long enough for this experience. You get views on both sides of the plane so it doesn’t matter where you sit. I sat up front with the pilot! GSL called me at 10AM letting me know that my 11:30 booking is pushed to 1:30 due to plane delays. I had a flight out at 4:30, but they said I could bring my luggage and I’d have enough time to get to the airport and make my flight. So glad I did! It was quite windy today so the flight was a bit bumpy but nothing worse than mild turbulence you’d get on a regular flight even with the small plane. Highly recommend!

Amazing. Great flight. Smooth. This view is a game changer. Undiscribable how beautiful the reef is from above. GSL Aviation did a great job. Pilot was awesome, calm during all parts & very informative. Somewhat had to understand over the headset but most pilots are anyway. No one should skip this flight. 40mins is a good flight time for photos. Both sides of the plane got photo ops & amazing views out & back.

Very organised and great value. Smooth flight and fantastic way to get a perspective how big the reef is

Beautiful! Very nice operators and they did a nice job making us feel comfortable. Recommend to all.

Loved it . Only problem we found was , in the sky very hard to hear commentary. Otherwise we loved it .

Good communication prior to the trip and all very well organised on the day, from the on time hotel pickup to the flight itself. Staff were very friendly and the flight was excellent giving great views of the reef and islands.

The one of magic and wonderful view should be called “The Great Barrier Reef” . The tour of flight for 40mins is too fast that I felt as I already quite intoxicated in it 🤣🤣

I really loved this place! The staff were very friendly and provided excellent service 🙏❤️❤️

Very professional A knowledgeable pilot whose narrations were thorogh and insightful. Convenient pickup and delivery.

Very well organised. Pick up and drop off at correct time. Guide and pilot were very helpful and knowledgeable.

Excellent trip with friendly staff

We had great confidence in our pilot! The reef was amazing - never seen anything like it! Only complaint is difficulty understanding pilot due to other noise from the airport traffic

Trip of a lifetime. Ethan our pilot was excellent. My hubby got to sit in the co-pilot seat. Fabulous views of the reef.

Excellent experience and highly recommended. Would recommend doing this before swimming on the reef. Shout out to our pilot Hanner.

The flight is just amazing over the reef, it is truly something spectacular that will leave you speechless. Our pilot Ben was great, you can see that he loves flying and has lots of fun facts about the reef and the history of it. If you fly with him you might have the change to be in the same plane as Matthew McConaughey as it was used in the filming of the movie Fool’s Gold. Greetings from Romania, Ben!

Excellent experience. Good communication from company. Picked up on time and returned to hotel. Full safety briefing and great information from our pilot. Very pleased with experience

Very affordable and great trip for the money. Breathtaking views with commentary from the pilot. Worthwhile trip.

It's a beautiful sight to see the reef from above. The crew was courteous, prompt, very professional, and super-helpful. I hope to come for the ride again!

Wow! Beautiful. Go for it! Tour people arrived on time at the pickup point. Flight was smooth to my surprise! Very calming.

Great experience, very professional, and on time for pickup/dropoff. Pilot was really friendly and made everyone feel confident and comfortable!

You get Great views as everyone gets a window seat 💺 40 minutes up in air seems to go so fast, well worth the money to fly over green island 🏝 as visiting that next

I was supposed to fly out at 9am but the flight was rescheduled due to bad weather. The pilot was great in making sure we got out in the afternoon and made sure we saw some incredible views of the reef.

The highlight of our holiday. The flight was fabulous and seeing the Great Barrier Reef from above with all the different colours was magnificent!

Simple online booking process with helpful/organised ground staff and pilot made this an amazing trip.

Excellent trip, picked up at cruise port. They accommodated my wheelchair, assisted my access to the aircraft and were very helpful. Great flight with views of the reef on a lovely sunny day just after a storm. Thank you.

Wow. What an experience to see this wonderful natural feature especially for my partner who gets sick on smaller boats but was desperate to see the reef.

Absolutely fabulous experience! Amazing to see the reef for real! The guide was brilliant too! Can thoroughly recommend!

Worth every penny. Guaranteed a window seat plus the perfect video/photo shots. Would definitely do it again.