VIDEO: Helicopter Ride Over Brevard Beaches Stunning
By Space Coast Daily // September 15, 2014
Florida Air Tours of Port Canaveral
BREVARD COUNTY PORT CANAVERAL FLORIDA – Have you ever dreamed of taking a scenic tour in a helicopter over the beautiful beaches, islands and spectacular sites of the Space Coast, but thought that it was too expensive or out of reach?
Think again, as it is now possible thanks to Mark Grainger of Florida Air Tours of Port Canaveral.
Space Coast Daily took an amazing ride aboard the super cool Robinson R-44 Helicopter of Florida Tours based out of Port Canaveral and this is our report:
We met Mark the owner, Alison the marketing director, Mark the pilot and Chris the ground control specialist at the easy to find launch pad, located at Terminal 2 on the B side of Port Canaveral.
The team explained the very affordable, different tour options available and we chose the 15 minute tour for just $79.
We have taken helicopter tours in other locations like the Grand Canyon and in Rio de Janiero, and we found this one to be very reasonably priced and of high quality.
The lovely Allyson, and our video team easily boarded the helicopter with the pilot and quickly took off towards the east, over the casino boats and towards the beach.
The pilot, Mark, is from Northern California and explained the journey through the comfortable headphones that we all wore. The helicopter is surprisingly quiet compared to other ones that we have been on, and the pilot told me that we were cruising at around 100 miles per hour.
ABOVE VIDEO: Meet the owner of Florida Biplanes – Mark Grainger and his Marketing Director, Allyson.
We soared south along the beach, in awe of the amazing views through the large bubble-windows, which create an unparalleled sightseeing platform with unlimited visibility. We gazed at the beautiful ocean whitecaps and gorgeous oceanfront properties. We passed over the iconic Cocoa Beach Pier and saw the surfers and sun lovers enjoying the warm Florida weather.
A couple of minutes south of the Pier, we turned west and before we knew it. we were over the pristine Thousand Islands of Cocoa Beach. The patterns of the islands from the air are amazing – full of mangroves, large trees and shallow waters. We saw beautiful white birds, manatees and all the details of the islands that you could only see from this type of tour.
We flew over the Cocoa Beach Sports Complex, the Cocoa Beach High School, Roosevelt Junior High and the Cocoa Beach Golf and Country Club.
Next, it was vistas of the million dollar homes of Cocoa Beach along the Banana River, gorgeous condominiums and State Road 520, which stretches all the way to Orlando to the west.
ABOVE VIDEO: Meet Chris and Mark of Florida BiPlanes.
As we headed back east towards the beach, we saw many manatees swimming below, and kayaks and boaters, all enjoying the super fun waters of Cocoa Beach. We flew right over the famous Tiki Bar at the east end of the Cocoa Beach Pier and back up to the Port. As we entered the air space above the Port’s channel we saw a black submarine being escorted into the Port by two blue tug boats. That was cool!
We then flew all around the Port, circling the majestic cruise ships docked at the port and over the lock gates of the port which control boat access between the inter coastal rivers and the ocean. We saw many more manatees frolicking actually in between the lock gates, with boats, all waiting to move from the river into the sea.
We soared back east around the Port’s spectacular new Exploration Tower, where The Beach Boys concert will soon be held, and back to Terminal 2 for a super smooth landing by pilot Mark.
Just a couple of minutes after landing we were relaxing and enjoying some cool water by the check-in bus and sharing our thoughts of the exciting and memorable journey.
All in all, it was well worth the time and money for the trip and we highly recommend taking a tour with Florida Biplanes out of Port Canaveral.
Reservations are recommended, but walk-ups are welcome schedule permitting. Various lengths of scenic tours are available, as well as romantic sunset flights. For those looking for more thrills, aerobatics upgrades can be added to any of the tours. The tours are rated the best of Merritt Island Attractions, Cocoa Beach Attractions and Space Coast Attractions.
For more information call 888-FOR-RIDE or 321-392-4125, or log on to Floridabiplanes.com to schedule your tour.
