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.

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.

Me and my family had a wonderful experience with Librico Helicopters last weekend…read more It was my son's birthday, and I wanted to give him a very special birthday gift. I came up with an idea of a helicopter tour. After a search on the net I was lucky to find Librico Helicopters. I've called them, and this is when my awesome experience started. John Faulkner, our pilot-to-be, listened attentively to what I was looking for. It was a last minute call, just a couple of days before my son's birthday. I didn't really have much hope for a positive outcome, but John has proved me wrong just few hours later. John has designed a custom made trip itinerary for a day full of fun, sunshine, smiles and incredible adventure. He even offered to fly over from Chilliwack to pick us up at Helijet downtown, as I don't drive. Our trip was accompanied by a professional photographer and a guide, to make it even more memorable and special. Our first stop was on a cliff by a frozen lake. John is an incredible pilot, every lending, no matter how tiny the spot was, was made nicely and comfortable. He is a great person with a very good sense of humor. Being his passenger for a day is a complete adventure itself. He knows lots of interesting stories that I've absolutely enjoyed listening to. Next point on our route was natural hot springs, hidden in the wild forest by a mountain stream. It was a beautiful pearl that not many people know of. After soaking in the hot water, surrounded by scenic nature, we took of to go ice caves searching. Adam Palmer, our guide, has brought all the safety gear needed for this type of activity. Adam is a very experienced mountaineer. He told us interesting legends about lost golden mine. The whole trip was a blast, where we have been travelling from warm sunny valleys to snow covered glaciers. We have stopped on a Crystal Island Mountain. It's called island, because it's surrounded by beautiful blue glaciers. And it's called crystal, because the rocks are covered by sparkling crystals, shining bright in the sun. Spending a day in the air, flying over beautiful, our own, British Columbia, seeing places that you can't access without helicopter, visiting sacred sites with signs carved in the rocks thousands years ago by first nations, is a mind blowing adventure, you ABSOLUTELY want to happen in your life. I highly recommend Librico Helicopters and John Faulkner as top notch professional helicopter tour operator. You can trust him your special occasion. I was impressed that he was able to custom tailor our trip, the way I fantasied it to be, and even added some great ideas. We have wrapped up our trip with a nice bottle of champagne, raising glasses to our next adventure. Thank you, John!!! You are an amazing pro and a wonderful person!

From the owner: We take you places most people won't get a chance to see in their lifetime. We don't give tours--we…read morecraft experiences that create deep connections with the land, its history and the wonders of nature.

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!

In a life filled with amazing things, this is one of the most amazing things I have ever done…read more I can't recommend this enough. The Mason family is awesome and I'm hoping they'll adopt me soon. lol Relaxed, but professional. Attentive and patient. I have loved flying all my life and the smaller the plane the better. Flying in an open cockpit plane is even more amazing. If you ever get the chance to do it, don't hesitate. I have also always wanted to do aerobatics, but have never had the opportunity. Imagine how thrilled I was to find out I could take off in an open cockpit plane and not only get to finally do a loop, but to be able to stand on the wing while we did it! #$@%^@#! Nothing cooler than climbing out of a flying airplane and standing on top of it while doing aerobatics. Jut stop reading this and call them.

Best experience of my life!! Marilyn and Mike were a pleasure to meet and train with! The barrel…read morerolls and and flips while On too were so much fun. Can't wait to go again. Marilyn: please let me know when we can make a skydive happen at Santa Paula! Sincerely, Brian Pitts

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.

My son and I took a flight with Lou this afternoon in the Piper. We are both novice pilots and…read moreoften take "discovery flights" when traveling. It gives us the chance to spend some time in the air and learn the area in a unique way. We took off from Friday Harbor, and flew to Orcas Island and back. Lou is a terrific pilot and instructor, and the Piper is a terrific aircraft. We had great visibility and the trip was smooth. It was a wonderful few hours. Next up, the biplane!

This morning while eating breakfast, my husband saw a flyer for AeroClassic. We called to see if…read morethey could fit us in and Lou was wonderful about setting up a 2pm flight for us. We arrived a little early, the building is extremely easy to find and it gave us time to gaze at the airfield and a couple little planes. When Lou arrived he was super friendly and went over the plan for our Introductory Flight for Two. As I have never flown before he gave me a short explanation of aerodynamics and how to use the rudders to turn the plane (very useful information once we got into the sky!). Lou was an amazing teacher in the air and let me guide the plane and decide where to go in that time period. When my time was up, we landed on Orcas Island to switch pilots and let my husband fly. Lou was a great teacher, he was very patient and kind. After this amazing experience with Lou; both my husband and I want to take private pilot lessons, we only wish that Lou was closer to be our teacher!

Not only can you not lose because this is a FREE tour...but you will gain so much interesting info!…read more I'm sure hopping on and off a bus would be just fine, but for us, with just one short day in this vast city, we were looking for a quick connection, and that's exactly what we got on this recent Sunday. We met our tour guide, Ali at the designated time (11am) at the designated place, and 20 or so of us enjoyed an incredibly interesting walking tour of Chinatown. There is no way we would have gotten the feel for this city had we not taken this tour. Several folks were repeat tour guy visitors, so they must have enjoyed those as well. Our group had folks from several countries. It is a relaxed tour at a pace that is just right...not too fast and not too slow. Seriously, just right! And absolutely everyone in our group was happy to hand over generous thank you tips. Well-deserved. Ali was kind enough at the end of the tour to guide anyone who wanted dining suggestions or directions. For us, he was even kind enough to let us walk along with him since we were heading in the same direction. As a result, we were fortunate enough to get an extended tour, as he remained a wealth of Vancouver info as we went along. Highly recommend!

I love FREE, Culture, history, and having a tour that rolls all 3 together…read more We took the Free Downtown & Chinatown Tour with Alex. She pointed out some places of interest, told us the history of Chinatown, took us to a herbal store, and ended the tour at the Chinese Gardens. The tour was over 2 hours, and she gave suggestions for lunch. I love these type of tours because they are given by people who have lived there for a good amount of time, and who are passionate about what they are presenting. She was no exception.