In between doing food reviews and attending wine tours in and around San Francisco, this January’s trip to the city gave us another cool opportunity to see SF from above. Read until the end to catch our 30-seconds helicopter ride on Youtube!
Helicopters can be a bit daunting for some, but for others like Cade (who has never had the privilege), he was excited and thrilled to finally be on a helicopter for the first time!
We booked a San Francisco helicopter tour via Musement with San Francisco Helicopters for a Vista Grande Tour.
The reservation team was really prompt and made a phone call and subsequent email to remind us of the tour the previous day.
We were picked up from designated hotel locations nearest to where we lived. It was easy to spot the shuttle with its logo printed large and bold on it.
Views from above
From the moment the shuttle picked us near our hotel and made the rounds to collect other passengers, Cade could already feel his heart racing. I was mostly excited for Cade since it’s his first time in a helicopter. (I used to fly on a helicopter a lot when I was working on a glacier in New Zealand.)
From there, our driver would send us to the air base. We were played an old video with instructions and safety precautions when nearing the helicopter to prep us on our arrival. Upon arrival at the air base, it was not long until he rode the buggy to pick us up to drop us where the helicopter and our pilot would be awaiting our arrival.
The group size was 6, which is the maximum capacity per helicopter. One lucky guest gets to sit at the front by the pilot.
The whole process of settling in was very efficient and practised, with not much fussing around. We put on our earphones, and we were good to go!
There was soothing music playing in background – a gesture that while unnecessary, was a nice value-add to our experience. As soon as we got settled in, our pilot Brock was really welcoming and amicable, explaining the helicopter buttons to us and being chatty. The takeoff was so smooth I barely felt we were elevating.
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- Alcatraz Island
Throughout the 30-minute ride, we went from San Francisco airport over San Francisco Bay, passing by Treasure Island, Angel Island, Alcatraz and Oakland, occasionally getting commentaries from our pilot.
The highlight of trip was doing some somersaults in the helicopter. Well by somersaults, I don’t really mean flipping upside down like gliding hah (I wish!).
As we approached the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, our helicopter went under the bridge and over. It happened swiftly, and at times it feels like we were almost going to plunge into the water as the helicopter tipped at an angle, but I never once doubted Brock’s expert manoeuvring. Brock also gave some comedic relief which lessened the tension with guests.
It was quite the perfect timing to capture the Golden Gate bridge in its golden glare (pun intended), as the sun was about to set by then.
We then flew over downtown and watched little minion people and tiny cars going about their daily lives, and a vantage point of the geometrical compact city space from the top.
Overall, the whole helicopter tour was smooth and anticlimactic which is perfect for those with a phobia for the adrenaline. Needless to say. I would definitely fly again given any nice weather in San Francisco.
While the helicopter ride is 30 minutes long, do allow up to 2 hours from pick up to drop off. Try to pack light and don’t bring any big bags as they will not be allowed on the helicopter.
Watch the video of our ride:
https://youtu.be/1NOv7O0ffeo
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