It was an amazing helicopter ride to Catalina island. I let was very courteous an informational! It's a quick 15 to 20 minutes helicopter ridesto the island which lets you enjoy a lot more daytime read more

We took the helicopter back from Catlina to Long Beach, since the ferry schedule wasn't the best on our day of return. While it is expensive, it was worth it - quick flight, friendly pilot, and you get to ride in a helicopter! Once the helicopter landed, in Catlina, we were inside and on our way in under 5 minutes. I'd definitely use this again, if we went back. Note that they are strict about weight limits, so make sure your bags are under their 25 lbs limit (they do weigh everything!). read more

My family and I had such an amazing experience with IEX Helicopters. We flew to Catalina Island for 4 days during the last week of September and flying there was the best decision we could have ever made. For starters, Yesenia was super sweet and amazing with booking our reservation. She is very knowledgeable about all the questions that I asked her and she was very diligent throughout the whole process. Furthernore, she not only knew things pertaining to the flight, but was also a great resource regarding Catalina Island and things to do while there. She was definitely a deciding factor for booking our flight with IEX Helicopters. Next, the two gentleman (I wish I could remember their names) who helped us check-in when we arrived at IEX Helicopters in Long Beach were really nice as well. They welcomed us and helped us with our luggage right away. They were also very professional when weighing us (a flight requirement per the FAA). They made my family and I feel very comfortable as we each stepped on and off the scale respectively. One of them also snapped a great photograph of our family with the helicopter behind us. We scheduled our flight to Catalina Island for 3:15 pm; the weather and view was great at that time. On our way there, we got to fly on the black helicopter and it was quite nice. On our way back to Long Beach, we had our flight scheduled for 6:15 pm. We were upgraded to the VIP helicopter and that was an added perk. To top things off, we caught the most beautiful sunset at that time. Both helicopters were spectacular! Next, what can I say about the flight itself, it was incredible! My daughter was a little nervous to fly but her fear of boats outweighed her fear of flying which is a major contributor to our decision to fly to Catalina Island. My husband and son got to sit in the front with the pilot and we all thought that was pretty cool. I have to point out, that David, the pilot, was great! He really has this calm demeanor about him that really puts you at ease. It also helps that he has a soothing voice (he carried on a conversation with us the whole way there and the whole way back). He also shared some nice facts along the way. It was hard to believe that the flight was only 15 minutes long. The pilot also ordered us a taxi right before we arrived to the island and it was waiting for us when we landed. That was one less thing for us to worry about. Then there is Rene who works at IEX Helicopters at Catalina Island; he was also really nice. He helped us with questions we had when we arrived to the island and went out of his way to help us. Lastly, there was Grant. He is the best! He was great with my kids and was smiling every time we saw him. Needless to say, we had a great family trip. I asked my family what their favorite part of our trip was and they said the helicopter ride there and back; I definitely have to agree with them. Thank you IEX Helicopters for making my husband's 35th birthday one to remember! read more

The in-person staff, ground crew, pilots, AWESOME! The over-the-phone folks....are you kidding me?? Please, Island Express, get new phone reps please?? Talked with two, neither knew where your terminal was, if there was a charge to park, where to park, you name it! I expect if I'd have called one of the two pilots, either would have happily answered my questions. I'd have paid extra. Oh, by the way, don't get screwed out of $25.00 cruise / Queen Mary parking. Use those good driving skills and make a left out of the terminal! read more

Helicopter is the only way to go! I'm not willing to risk seasickness on the ferry and miss a minute of our island time! The staff at island express is always very professional and will go out of their way to accommodate any request they possibly can! Pilots are friendly and skilled . I feel very safe flying with all of their pilots! We've used them more than 7 or 8 times now and never a problem. Quick and fun 15 minute flight to Catalina , you can see whales and dolphins along the way. A great adventure with too! read more

Yesterday my son & I took IEX Helicopter over to Catalina early in the morning and returned in the afternoon. You park right at their office, about 100 ft. from the Helicopters, and after a quick safety video are ready to board and take off for the 14 minute flight. It sure beats the long boat ride over and is so convenient and fun. After we spent the entire day on Catalina we had managed to leave our day bag somewhere on the pier with an iPad inside and we thought that we would never see it again. Luckily there was an IEX receipt inside and the bag was turned-in to one of the boat ride ticket personnel at the Pier and they quickly emailed IEX that our bag was there. One of the nice gentlemen @ IEX had us in a van and headed back to the pier to retrieve our bag and back in plenty of time to make our flight out. My son and I really enjoyed the helicopter and from now on IEX Helicopters will be the only way we go. read more

Great service! The ground crew, especially at Avalon could not have been nicer. The pilot was awesome - gave us some good tips. We rode over to Catalina from Long Beach and back. Would highly recommend it read more

Cost my family of five $1055.00 round trip to Catalina and back. The pilot was friendly, the staff were very nice and took pictures of us by the Helicopter. My kids loved the flight, it took less then 15 minutes to get to the island. I would recommend this to anyone who has the extra cash to splurge. read more

I booked island express for a special trip to catalina with my mother two weeks ago. It was a surprise gift for my mom's visit from PA. I was excited. I booked the San Pedro departure a month in advance because it would allow us to take the ferry back to the same place without paying for a cab. Three days before our planned flight, the helicopter service calls to change our departure to Long Beach, due to a pilot quitting last minute. This is disappointing as now we will have to deal with getting a cab and had to take a less desirable departure time with the ferry when changing to Long Beach. Disappointing but we pushed on. On the day of departure, we arrive well in advance. We're told we can tour the Queen Mary while we wait so we go for a quick tour and a drink. That was nice. We return to the helicopter service as suggested, 30 minutes before out flight. The couple now waiting leaves at 1:00pm, our flight is at 1:10pm. We wait and we wait ....now it's 1:30. You would think, there must be another chopper for us. We couldn't possibly be waiting for the same chopper we just saw leave at 1pm could we? I finally ask, where's our flight? Keep in mind, this is a small place, it's your group, maybe another couple, that's it. The attendant at the desk offered no info voluntarily like, "we're running late" or "that chopper that just left, that's yours so it's gonna be 40 minutes", nothing. We finally leave 45 minutes late on the SAME chopper we saw leave at 1! Ugh. As you lift off, you read a giant sign on their wall "15 MINUTES TO CATALINA!" ..... they don't mention the waiting you'll do. Anyway, we're finally off, hurray! Helicopter is clean but no headphones so you can't really talk to each other, maybe the person next to you but that's about it. The pilot was a mute. My mom tried to strike up a conversation but nope, nothing. This is a glorified taxi people, nothing else! It's clear they have no interest in customer service or the experience in general. Lastly, we arrive in Catalina...quite spectacular arriving by air. We had indicated to the pilot upon departure from Long Beach that we would need a taxi. The website says, do this and a taxi will be waiting for you on arrival on the island. We did just that. Then we arrive at the island and wait ANOTHER 20 MINUTES! As we waited, the attendant there yelled out from the building at one point, "I called them, sorry". Pretty much up to par with the rest of our experience. So surprise mom! Here's a crappy helicopter ride that actually took longer than the ferry. So much for 15 MINUTES TO CATALINA! I do not recommend. The ferry is very nice and much cheaper. Good luck to you and skip the chopper if you ask me. read more

Good. It was a great experience. I would come back again. Friendly customer service. The view from the helicopter ride was the best. Would def. Recommend anyone to come here and enjoy the rides here. read more

great experience, easy and quick check in, friendly staff and pilot. highly recommend. one tip, don't use google maps to find them as it looped me around the parking lot of the queen mary. i got lucky and found a port employee who escorted me to the parking lot for iex. before i even said anything about google maps, he acknowledged it first. if at first you cannot find them call their office and ask for step by step directions or if you see any port employees ask for their guidance because the signage to get here was, at least to me, non-existent. glad i left super early and so were my friends who drove here separately and had the same issue. read more

We took Helicopter ride last week on our anniversary and I called island express helicopter. Becky made our Trip very pleasant . She is nice, professional and helpful. The whole co. Staff was helpful too. Thank you, Great service . VG read more

Do not book a helicopter flight if you are coming by plane. If your flight is delayed, and you don't make it, there is no recourse. We are out $200 for nothing. They had several hours to rebook our seats and it did not appear that they even tried. It was our first time visiting Catalina Is. and we wanted to experience both the boat and helicopter ride. However, our flight was delayed and we were unable to make our flight. We were told we would receive a discounted rate if we took a later flight, but the girl at the front desk is incapable of simple math and tried to charge us for a round trip flight when I called to reschedule. Happy anniversary to us! read more

This company has the most compassionate people. I had scheduled a round trip flight with them for a big anniversary, was very much looking forward to our trip. A day before we were set to leave we received devastating news about a family member- there was no way we were going to make the trip. When I called them to let them know our situation they were extremely professional and handled the situation with compassion. I am very grateful for this and look forward to being able to take a flight with them in the future. read more

My son and I used this service to fly from Long Beach to Avalon for an Adventure Guide weekend on Catalina. It was our first time using Island Express , and our first time on a helicopter. We couldn't have been more impressed !!! They were efficient, clean, and very friendly. The whole environment made us feel very safe and allowed us to fully enjoy the experience. We will definitely use them again. Give it a try !!! read more

The nicest staff on departure and return! Such a nice experience! Would definitely recommend!!!

Great people...very professional!! My sister and I were the only people on the helicopter. Our pilot was Matt and he was really nice. I highly recommend this company. read more

Yesterday on my birthday! My family and I went on the most awesome fun day trip to Catalina. It started and ended with the Elaina making the reservation and answering a million and a half questions.. She is so knowledgeable and kind!! Next came Joe at the San Pedro check in desk. Joe is quite gentleman vey suited for his position, fun and cheerfull!, Then came Mat our Pilot!!!!!! Yes Mat. You are Awesome!!! You really know the job, people and the tour was beyond SO TOO COOLLLL!!. You made our day! Taking the tour before we got to the island was a great plan!! You set the already birthday happy attitude off in exemplary fashion style! Mat, you are a professional in every term of the word! If your boss only knew!! He would be in awe of your talant and what you project of the company! We can't say thank you enough for sharing your love of flying and pointing out the important highlights of Catalina... Keep doing what you are doing... it's all right! We really enjoyed the history that can with the sight that we were seeing. We hope that you have many years of fun at what you obviously enjoy doing. Then comes Jimmy at the Catalina office. Jimmy, thanks for all of your help. We really appreciate all of your help. And taking the dog off the helipad threat, was just more example of the "Beyond the expection!" Trip that we had! We all had a great Birthday! We voted that Island Express Helicopters - The Birthday Buddies of the year! Mat, we were honored to fly with you and the pleasure was all ours! If you at all have reservations or doubts about using this venue. Go for IT!!! you will not be disappointed at allll. "The middle aged fat Lady- Me!- The Birthday Girl" ;-) P.S. I give Island Express Helicopters the rating of (stars)*****************************************************************************************......and beyond !! And you earned it!!! Thank You read more

Flew to Catalina last weekend with my fiancé' to get married. The staff at Island Express Helicopters were so professional, friendly, and courteous. they kept us informed of delays with flying. gave us options and times for Ferry. They even changed our times for zip-lining to coincide with delays.We had an incredible adventure and highly recommend their services. read more

This helicopter company and there crew is outstanding. They gave us nice ride back to long beach from catalina. The crew made sure we were all ready to go. The pilot did and outstanding job A+. We were on the helicopter July 10,2016 at 5:50 p.m. Go you will love it. read more

This post is for a weekend trip I booked for my brother's birthday in April. I had been going back and forth deciding if it was worth the price, and it was! The best part was that they gave my brother a 20% discount because it was his birthday week. It was the perfect way to start and end our weekend trip! I highly recommend doing this at least once in your life! read more

We used Waze to find them and although the directions from Waze were not clear we could see our destination but couldn't get to them, eventually we found our way. Easy parking right next to departure.We took them to Catalina during the week. Easy check in and clear safety video. A very quick trip 15 minutes, with very experienced pilot. They arranged a taxi to meet us, so very smooth transition to Avalon. Just as easy on our return flight, extremely nice check in people. Only 2 of us (plus Ari, our pilot) so felt like a private flight back. A great experience all round. Now, here is where the company excelled. When we left the arrivals lounge and started driving we realized we did not have a parking ticket as we had arrived in a weird way courtesy of "Waze". On arriving at the exit we were met with one of the most unhelpful attendants ever. "You must have a ticket, lost ones cost $85" we tried explaining our predicament but was met with "then I'll call security" . They were a little more helpful but still looked as though we would have to pay the $85 fee. We called Island express as the parking attendant would not allow us to turn around and go back "you can walk if you want" a lovely rep drove and met us with proof that we had travelled with them. The parking attendant took our $20 and said we were lucky. Thank you Island Express for looking after us in every way possible. Wish I could say something nice about the parking attendant but sadly I can't. read more