If you want the most incredible views of Grand Cayman, there is no better way to see the island than from the air. I recently visited Grand Cayman on a cruise on Carnival Vista and took a helicopter ride with Cayman Island Helicopters.
It’s an excursion I’ve wanted to do for several years and when we pulled into port without a cloud in the sky, I knew we had the perfect day to see the island from the air. You can book this excursion through the cruise line (ours charged $119 per person), or directly on the pier for only $75 per person. One benefit of booking through the cruise line is that you are guaranteed a ticket. However, since I wanted to see how the weather was before I prepaid, I opted to chance it (and save money) and was able to get a seat on the very first flight of the day.
The helipad is located less than a half mile from the cruise pier and all transfers are included in the price of your ticket. We were on the flight that takes you over 7 Mile Beach and it is advertised as being 7-8 minutes long. The ride ended up being closer to 10-15 minutes and the views were breathtaking.
After flying down 7 Mile Beach and over a shipwreck, our pilot took us over to a residential area and showed us where the rich and famous have extravagant homes including Shaq and the late George Michael.
On our way back, the pilot asked us which cruise ship we were on so we could do a fly by over it.
There were six ships in port that day: Carnival Vista, Celebrity Equinox, Brilliance of the Seas, Seven Seas Navigator, Nieuw Amsterdam, and Monarch.
After a flyby of Celebrity Equinox, we headed over to Carnival Vista, Carnival Cruise Line’s newest and largest cruise ship.
If you want incredible views of your cruise ship, a helicopter tour in Grand Cayman is the way to go.
While this was by far the shortest cruise excursion I’ve ever done in 30 cruises, but it was also the most breathtaking and worth every penny of $75.
