bay aerial helicopters

Fantastic trip with the most spectacular views of San Francisco. Trip is about an hour long. You leave from San Carlos Airport which is about a 30-40 minute drive from San Francisco. Then you fly over the Golden Gate and over the city,to finally come down the coast to San Carlos flying over some beaches and undeveloped catlle ranches. John is a great pilot and explains the flight views for you. Worth every penny, really a must do!

The ride was amazing the views were spectacular an the pilot was great. I am definitely going to be doing this again, it was just like being in a car but in the air with great views an a great pilot overall amazing experience an my girlfriend loved it.

Me and my girlfriend booked this trip and got engaged while flying over the Golden Gate Bridge John the pilot was great and updated us the hole trip well worth the money and 100% book again most amazing trip round San Francisco and the coast line great way to see the place thanks john for an amazing trip :)

The most AMAZING helicopter tour of the San Francisco Bay, Pacific Ocean and coast line. I have tried them all folks, and this one was the best. A full hour really allowed us to explore, and our group of 3 people got the helicopter all to ourselves. SO much better than the tourist-oriented 20 minute rides that leave from SFO. Thank you John duGan for a fantastic experience!!!

This is a must do in your lifetime. You get awesome views of the bay, San Mateo Bridge, East Bay, Bay Bridge, AT&T Park, San Francisco, Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands, Point Bonita Lighthouse, Precidio, Ocean Beach, Pacific Coastline, Half Moon Bay, Woodside and everything in between. John the pilot is highly experienced, friendly and an all around cool guy. He is very knowledgable of all the landmarks and history. The helicopter itself is very comfortable. The windows are spotless and provide you with great views. I highly recommend and suggest booking a flight with John the next time you are in San Francisco. You won't forget it.

The experience flying over the entire Bay Area is something that needs to be checked off the bucket list. If you get motion sickness you probably won't. It feels like you're riding in a Bentley in the sky viewing every beautiful sight imaginable. Make a reservation. You definitely will not regret it.

The pilot is very professional and skilled. He made it seem like flying a helicopter was easy. And I thought making my RC heli hop from the carpet to the table was challenging.I was a bit nervous at the start, but my fears went away some 15 seconds after take off when I realized that the ride was nothing like a wooden roller-coaster as I had expected, but more like a smooth luxury car.The tour does not seem to be best suited for kids; our kid sat on our lap. He still had a great time though. If you are coming with a child, I would advise you to use the restroom located before boarding. Watch your head as you board the club car that takes you to the helipad, and hang on tight - the club car ride is probably the riskiest part of the tour. Another tricky thing with a kid on board is the shiny yellow life jacket chord on every passenger. Make sure that your kid doesn’t pull one of them while up in flight!The views are simply amazing. Anybody who has been stuck in urban traffic will appreciate the large area you can cover in the 1 hour time-span: quick sprint across the bay, the naval ships docked in North Bay, Oakland airport, Alcatraz, Downtown SF, a loop around the Golden Gate (and I mean, a vertical loop!), the length of the west coast Hwy-1, the magnificent mountains and forests that are kept well-hidden from the average land-hungry residents, etc.Our pilot (John) could make the helicopter fly like a humming-bird. Some cool kayak-navigable caves etched to the cliff corner near Mavericks? View them straight-on up close from your VIP suite of the cockpit as the helicopter flies side-ways!Wait, there is a pod of dolphins on the left? Quickly swoop down to view them! Hover a bit, then ascend backwards at 45 degrees, and then hee-haw down close to the water! We didn’t quite catch any whales in the ocean though, in spite of observing circumstantial evidence in the form of mass-fishing by birds. I would strongly recommend you to bring along a good zoom-lens during your trip in case you do get lucky.Overall, I would strongly recommend this tour.

What an awesome way to see the Bay Area - whether you live here or just visiting! This tour gives you such a different perspective of the area - views of San Francisco, the Golden Gate bridge or Alcatraz - that you only see in the movies! John was excellent at pointing out things that you would never have known were there. He made you sure that you caught everything possible. This tour is definitely worth doing MANY times - so come on out family and friends - I cannot wait to go again!

My wife and I have rode helicopters all over the country and last week we took a trip with John. John was a great pilot and explained the sights very good. We saw a lot of things that you would never see from the ground. The top of the golden gate bridge was covered in fog so we went under the bridge to finish our trip. Thanks James M.

Recently my wife and I went to San Francisco for a vacation. One of the highlights of our trip was our helicopter tour. John, our pilot, was great! He was friendly, pointed out different sights and made sure we were engaged and having fun.The tour was 1 full hour. We flew over the Bay Bridge, above San Francisco's financial district, under the Golden Gate Bridge and finished up at Half Moon Bay before circling back.The overall experience exceeded our expectations. The views were breathtaking and we were able to get so many good photos. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to take a helicopter tour.

I took my boyfriend for his birthday. Neither of us had ever been on a helicopter before.We both loved it! And we both agree we want to go again... Incredible views, flying under the GG bridge was exciting, flying around the buildings in the city and going down the coast all made this tour so special.

We enjoying taking helicopter tours in other major cities and this one was hands down the best. It framed the rest of our days in SF with a much deeper appreciation of how the city and culture grew. Would go with our pilot and beautifully maintained aircraft in a heartbeat again. RKM and RD

You have 2 options when doing a helicopter tour. First is the ones that are for the masses. They are around $235 per person for a 25 minute tour. The second option is what this company offers....a private tour for up to 3 people for $620 total that lasts an hour. Do the math. Bay Ariel was amazing!!!We left out of San Carlos airport and flew up to Oakland then up to the Golden Gate Bridge and around back on the West Coast to come back....this is a simplified itinerary. John, our pilot gave us amazing tour with lots of information. It was cloudy so we didn't know if we could fly, but he was able to show us everything including going under the Golden Gate bridge. Do yourself a favor a book with the best company.

Had a great helicopter ride in mid-July as a 21st birthday present with my dad. Not only was the trip and the weather absolutely stunning, but the pilot was friendly, enthusiastic, and made us feel extremely comfortable. The flight itself was smooth and he would point out cool sights and places along the trip, even circling back to certain areas at our request and flying low above the water so we could scan for whales. We used the entire hour. Definitely worth a visit - we saw dolphins and the bay like never before! Cannot describe enough how beautiful the area is and how cool it is to see everything from a nearly 360 degree view out of a helicopter. Must-see!

Wife booked this helicopter tour for our family. Was the highlight of our trip! Kids absolutely loved it. Everyone went out of there way to make the trip happen for us...weather and fog can impact timing. they even offered to make a special trip on Sunday if the fog did not clear for us. best part is the longer flight time than is offered by others companies. Very much worth the extra little drive to get to the airport for this attraction.