As a west coast kid, I always dreamed of flying over the harbour and mountains, Danger Bay/Magnum…read morePI style. Not hanging onto the side of a chopper, but looking all cool with the headset on. Since I don't have the kind of rugged job where I get to fly around rescuing seals or people or whatever, the dream came true in the form of a helicopter tour I arranged for my husband's birthday from SKY Helicopters. Their service lets you choose from an array of tours out of either Vancouver Harbour or Pitt Meadows Airport, and since it's just you and your party (up to three passengers) and the pilot, you can customize a bit. For our tour, I chose the North Shore/Howe Sound tour, which normally takes you in behind the mountains and through the Lions. The day I booked ended up being cloudy over the peaks, so our pilot Bryce took us up along the North Shore and around Cypress, up Howe Sound, getting amazingly close to the steep, forested mountainsides. I was also amazed to see how all those big mansions of West Van looked like miniature dollhouses and the cars on the highway all looked like toys. Coming back, we were able to spend a bit more time flying over Stanley Park and circling over downtown - which was great because part of the point of the trip was to get some shots of the city from the air with my husband's new GoPro. (If you're really serious about photography, they can even take the doors off, though I wasn't quite ready for that thrill on my first ride!) It was a little sad to touch down again after spending half an hour floating above the world, but the experience was great from start to finish, from the prompt response from Bryce on my initial inquiry through the website to all the emails, phone calls and texts keeping in touch about the itinerary and weather changes etc. (you never know out here!) to just taking us on a fantastic flight. I think we can all agree that Vancouver is a good-looking city surrounded by spectacular scenery. And it looks even more amazing from the air! I have experienced my city from a new angle, plus had a great subject for my 800th YELP REVIEW!!! The SKY is the ultimate high!

We had an amazing helicopter ride today with Kyle, who was very knowledgeable about the greater…read moreVancouver area and helped us make some great memories. The ride was very smooth overall, and although it was just 20 minutes, it felt like much longer. It was pure serenity among the clouds.

I have never been in a helicopter, and I have wanted to take a ride for a long time. We were…read morespending a long weekend in Victoria and were chatting with the Concierge at our hotel. She had recently gone up to Campbell river with her bf, and they had taken the Comox Glacier Tour, she was basically so excited that she was babbling with joy and enthusiasm. How can you ignore something like that? We set up a tour for the next day. 49 North was super accommodating, we had a drive in front of us, to get there, so we scheduled for 3 pm. We took a relaxing, winding trip up from Victoria to Campbell River; it's a lovely drive. We arrived about an hour early, so we just stopped in. Jean-Marc took us up. His wife pulled together a lunch for us, and we had a fabulous experience, flying over mountains, glaciers, lakes, and having one of the best views for lunch. Seriously a stunning experience. Jean-Marc has been flying for 20 years, and this is his business, he gave us thrills, and we felt safe the entire flight. There is a lot of turbulence when you cross over the tops of mountains, but that only gave the whole experience more of that roller coaster feel. I highly recommend taking a helicopter trip with 49 North, if you get to Vancouver Island. If you listen carefully, you can probably hear me babbling with enthusiasm.

Holy shit! Best damn helicopter flight we've been on! Super professional and best pilot. We took…read morethe glacier tour to see water falls. This is the tour to take. The pilot brad was awesome and best pilot we have had in helicopter. If your looking to make memories that will last the rest of your life, you will never forget this overflight of the glacier area. Do yourself a favor and forget the whale watching and grizzly bear tours and head to 49 North. It will be the one that we will always remember.

Great customer service. They call us ahead to inform us about the weather conditions and upfront…read moreand honest about our possibilities getting up in the air. It's definitely out of their control if clouds come rolling in. They wanted their customers to have a great experience. Our pilot was very professional, informative and friendly.

Kyle (our pilot) and the whole experience was amazing. The team was very responsive to our…read moreinquiries and the booking experience was very easy. Kyle made our trip unforgettable, will definitely do again if we ever find ourselves in the area again.

We really enjoyed our flight tour today! We were unsure about what we could see due to weather but…read morewe were pleasantly surprised when our valley tour ended up being the glacier tour we wanted! Our pilot still made the glacier tour happen and it was breathtaking. It was a great experience and recommend this to everyone.

My partner and I recently delivered a sailboat from Southern CA to the San Juans and needed a way…read moreto get back home after the long trip. We looked at several options (car rental, train, commercial flight, other charters), and San Juan Airlines stood out as the best option for us. They were more reasonably priced than other charter companies, much more convenient than the other options, and had information about their Covid-19 precautions clearly detailed on their website. We had a stellar experience with them - scheduling was smooth and our pilot was great, friendly and enthusiastic in answering our questions about the flight and general aviation topics. The aircraft was in great shape as well, comfortable and clean and clearly well maintained. The icing on the cake is of course the amazing views during our flight. We will definitely use their charter service again if the need arises.

We live out of state and go to Orcas Island every summer. Sick of dealing with the ferries and…read moreSeatac, we decided to fly into Bellingham and give San Juan Airlines a try. Our trip from Bellingham to Orcas was pleasant and seamless. Friendly staff, easy, scenic, everything the other reviews say. However, our flight from Orcas to Bellingham was almost an hour late with no advance communication or explanation given. The weather was completely clear. We booked as a private charter at a specific agreed upon time and I don't feel that commitment was taken seriously enough by the company. We almost missed our connection in Bellingham and this caused a lot of stress. That said, I would still consider using them in the future because it worked and there aren't great alternatives.

Visited Vancouver and glad I viewed it from above!…read more Had a blast taking off and landing on the waterway. The views were Awesome. A bit pricey for 30+ min but worth doing it once :)

Absolute scam. The gave us runaround and did not honor the tickets we had purchased through Viator,…read moremade us wait for over 20 minutes then said we were too late to check in for the flight that didn't leave for another 15 minutes- come to find out they sold our tickets to someone else as well, then refused to give us a refund! Would've rather donated the money to a good cause over this absolute sham of a company

Cap'n Mac and Roni were awesome! They are so knowledgeable and made us feel very comfortable. The…read moreplane ride was magical! You see so many islands up close and the scenery is unbelievable! Such an amazing experience! Highly recommend!

Fabulous experience! This is THE way to see the islands…read more The pilot, Mac (or Stu) is a gem. Very professional and accommodating. His plane is in beautiful shape. Do you want some adrenaline with gentle aerobatics ? He can deliver! Want a calmer, more sedate flight? He can do that, too. The views are breathtaking, you even go over the top of Mount Constitution. The landing was incredibly smooth. This is the best thing to do on Orcas!

My friends and I booked our trip a year in advance after seeing the amazing video of people…read morekayaking the glacier/snow melt. Nick, the owner/pilot, was incredibly nice and easy to do business with. He made us feel like we were part of his family. He is an amazing helicopter pilot/guide. Day of he let us know that conditions were not perfect, but we decided to go anyways. We were NOT let down. It was spectacular! The ice melt was a little slushy, but so beautiful and still so fun to kayak! My friend even jumped in the water! (a must try!) Our lunch was super good and came from a local market. After lunch, Nick took us to a beautiful lake where we continued kayaking. Overall, one of the most amazing experiences of my life... and I've been a lot of places. Nick is fantastic. Worth every penny and I HIGHLY recommend you take one of his tours!

From the owner: kayaking and heli toursread more

We took a group of ten people (6 adults and 4 kids aged 10-14) for a four hour sail tour. Captain…read moreSteve was great - very relaxed and knowledgable about the area and sailing. The kids got to take turns steering, and fishing. We even dropped a crab pot and came home with four large crabs! Great fun and a really nice afternoon on the water enjoying the beautiful inlet.