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Australia is home to an array of incredible natural landscapes — and they’re stunning at ground level.
But just wait until you see them from the air! True scale is revealed, myriad colours meld into one piece of visual cohesion, and details you weren’t even aware of standing on the ground reveal themselves in spectacular fashion.
A scenic flight is money well spent in our book, particularly when visiting once-in-a-lifetime destinations like the Great Barrier Reef or majestic Uluru. Whether you’re taking to the air in a private plane, light aircraft, helicopter, or hot air balloon, you’ll disembark with a holiday memory that will stay with you for years to come.
Here are ten of the best scenic flights in Australia.
1. Heart Reef, Whitsunday Islands (QLD)
There’s a lot to love about Queensland’s Whitsundays Islands, including the vivid blue waters, fine white sands, and emerald forested peaks. But you’ll only have eyes for delicate Heart Reef once you clock this naturally formed, heart-shaped coral cay. Heart Reef is located in Hardy Reef — part of the outer Great Barrier Reef to the east of the Whitsundays chain. It can really only be appreciated from the air and is possibly one of the most Instagrammed vistas in the world. It’s hard to take a bad photo of Heart Reef — but if you somehow manage to stuff it up, head for Into the Blue Gallery in Airlie Beach. Local photographer Shane Batham sells wonderful large format pics on canvas and glossy acrylic.
2. Great Barrier Reef, Cairns (QLD)
Heart shaped reef or no heart shaped reef, the Great Barrier Reef always looks magnificent — particularly from above. This is the world’s largest living landscape: an interplay of 3,000 individual reefs, coral ribbons, islets, atolls, and sea channels. It’s big enough to see from space, but you don’t have to take things quite that far. A scenic flight from Cairns will suffice, and will see you soaring over landmarks like Green Island, Upolu Cay, Vlassof Cay, and Michaelmas Reef. You’ll return to terra firma with a new appreciation for this vast but vulnerable wonder.
3. Sydney Harbour (NSW)
Life in the Harbour City revolves around its eponymous waterway, and you can drive around it, walk by it, and sail across it. However, a flight over Sydney Harbour is next level! Admire the extremes of its expanse, but also the delicate fingers, tiny coves, and hidden inlets — none of which would have been apparent to you while gravity bound. You’ll also get an entirely different perspective of world famous landmarks like the Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Sydney Tower, and Fort Denison. And those gargantuan Manly ferries will look like they came straight out of a child’s toy box!
4. Uluru, Red Centre (NT)
Age-old Uluru holds court in the Northern Territory’s arid south-west corner, and visitors flock to ‘the rock’ to admire its epic proportions and constantly changing colours. This mighty monolith is of special significance to the traditional owners, and as a mark of respect visitors are not permitted to climb it. However, you can fly over it, which, as cliched as it sounds, truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Flights depart from Ayers Rock Airport and generally also pass over the red domes of Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), the plunging escarpments of Kings Canyon, and the salty surroundings of Lake Amadeus. Most flight operators guarantee a window seat for all passengers.
5. Kakadu National Park (NT)
Up in the Top End, the many faces of incomparable Kakadu National Park are revealed during a scenic flight over its 20,000 square kilometres. During the wet season you’ll have the opportunity to see Jim Jim and Twin Falls in full flow (both of which are inaccessible from the ground at that time of year).
Year round, the terrain of rocky outcrops, sweeping floodplains, tranquil billabongs, and the snaking East and South Alligator Rivers will hold you spellbound. Speaking of large reptiles, keep an eye out for the croc-shaped Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel in Jabiru. It’s hard to miss!
6. Bungle Bungles, Kimberley (WA)
Situated over the NT border with Western Australia, Kununurra is the gateway to the immense Kimberley region — and here you can take what will possibly be the most memorable flight of your life! The beehive shaped, black and red striped domes of the Bungle Bungles in Purnululu National Park lie 300 kilometres south of town. Sculpted by the elements and estimated to be some 360 million years old, these varicoloured quartz and sandstone giants have an ethereal quality all of their own. You’ll also fly over Australia’s largest body of fresh water — manmade Lake Argyle — which holds 18 times the volume of Sydney Harbour!
7. Dampier Peninsula, Kimberley (WA)
Stripes are also a feature of the landscape along the Kimberley’s Dampier Peninsula. The rich redness of the region’s pindan cliffs, the whiteness of the beach sand, and the deep blue of the ocean lie side by side in distinct bands as far as the eye can see. The effect is best appreciated while you’re airborne, and a range of scenic and chartered flights operate along the coast from the coastal hub town of Broome. Fly high over Cape Leveque, Cygnet Bay, and further north, the foaming Horizontal Falls.
8. Abrolhos Islands, Geraldton (WA)
Western Australia’s Houtman Abrolhos Islands are quite possibly the best kept travel secret in Oz, and it’s one well worth getting in on! Often dubbed the ‘Galapagos of the Indian Ocean’, the archipelago consists of 122 glittering coral islands — home to a diverse ecosystem of sea creatures, migratory birds, reptiles, and a handful of mammals. Scenic flights over the islands are offered from Geraldton, and even from Perth if you have the time and budget. Bring your sunnies; it can be bright down there!
9. Blue Mountains (NSW)
No visit to Sydney would be complete without seeing the sublime Blue Mountains — 90 minutes’ drive west of the New South Wales capital. Most tourists do it on a bus and jostle for space at the region’s main lookouts, including Echo Point in Katoomba (which overlooks the Three Sisters rock formation), and Govetts Leap in Blackheath. But you can escape the crowds completely by doing a scenic flight! Cop an eyeful of Warragamba Dam (the largest in the country), before banking over the Blue Mountains National Park’s main system of valleys and ravines.
10. 12 Apostles, Great Ocean Road (VIC)
The 12 Apostles sea stacks lie towards the western end of the Great Ocean Road in regional Victoria. And with two million selfie-stick wielding visitors every year, this is another tourist hot spot where your personal space requirements may be sorely tested. You can usually get a break from the throng by descending the Gibson Steps to the windswept beach below. Alternatively, head in the other direction. Scenic helicopter flights depart from the terminal opposite the Visitor Centre carpark and will afford you an unparalleled (and uncrowded) view of nature’s sculpting prowess.
This post was published thanks to Air Charter Service.
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Do you have any suggestions to add to our list of the best scenic flights in Australia? We would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.
Cover image: Visit Victoria. Additional images: Bigstock
About the writer
Adam Ford is editor of Top Oz Tours & Travel Ideas, and a travel TV presenter, writer, blogger, and photographer. He has travelled extensively through Europe, Asia, North America, Africa, and the Middle East. Adam worked as a travel consultant for a number of years with Flight Centre before taking up the opportunity to travel the world himself as host of the TV series Tour the World on Network Ten. He loves to experience everything a new destination has to offer and is equally at home in a five-star Palazzo in Pisa or a home-stay in Hanoi.
