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We’re calling it, this is the ultimate way to see the Great Barrier Reef! It starts and ends with a 25-minute scenic helicopter flight between Cairns and Sunlover’s Moore Reef pontoon, delivering epic views and a completely different perspective of the reef. Flying over Cairns’ waterfront, you track east across Trinity Inlet and the coastline, before passing Fitzroy Island and continuing out over the Coral Sea to Moore Reef on the outer Great Barrier Reef. Highlights included spotting a whale and calf splashing in the water beneath us and the incredible first views of Moore Reef from the air. From above, the scale and complexity of the reef really becomes apparent, with shallow lagoons, coral bommies and reef walls. It’s 50 shades of blue and a whole lot of beautiful! Then from the sky it’s straight into the water, for nearly 3 hours of snorkelling and diving, exploring the abundant coral gardens around Sunlover’s pontoon. The diversity of corals and marine life here is spectacular, with turtles, humphead maori wrasse, anemonefish, chromis and so, so much more. We did the Sunlover Fly In / Fly Out Reef Zoom tour and are bringing you this review straight from the reef.
The Zoom Helicopter provides unparalleled views over the Great Barrier Reef. Excitement builds as you get closer to the Sunlover pontoon, perfectly positioned within a protected coral lagoon. It’s a pinch me moment, to add to this bucket list experience.
This epic reef day tour includes return Great Barrier Reef helicopter flights from Cairns, flying with locally owned company Zoom. You touch down on a floating heli pad at Moore Reef, for a tender transfer over to the Moore Reef pontoon. Here you enjoy a hot and cold buffet lunch and have over 3 hours to explore the surrounding coral gardens in and out of the water. Activities include snorkelling, scuba diving, glass bottom boat tours, semi-submersible tours, the underwater observatory and waterslide. The reef adjacent to the pontoon is a showcase of hard and soft corals, with almost complete coral cover that rises to within centimetres of the surface. The diversity of marine life is outstanding, and one of the most overheard comments here is ‘it’s like swimming in an aquarium’. When you aren’t in the water, you can relax on the shaded pontoon decks or sundeck, with lounges and chairs. The pace of the day is unhurried with an absolute focus on maximising your experience on and with the Great Barrier Reef. Side note: Apart from the views, the helicopter flight is a great option for anyone worried about getting seasick. You replace the 90 minute each way boat ride, with a comfortable, and very scenic, 25 minute each way helicopter flight. For more information on this, we’ve written a Cairns’ Best Reef Trips To Avoid Seasickness article, which covers boats, medication and natural prevention.
“This was our very first Great Barrier Reef helicopter flight from Cairns and it was awesome. The low-level flight allows you to clearly see details of the landscape beneath you, from the rainforest mountains and coastal hinterland to Fitzroy Island and the Great Barrier Reef beyond. We flew in August, which is whale season up here, and couldn’t believe our luck at spotting a mother and calf splashing around. The Sunlover Reef Cruises pontoon provides easy and immediate access to a wonderful coral lagoon, which never fails to impress. I definitely recommend this as the ultimate way to really ‘see’ the reef.” – Julie Johnston
Despite flying to the reef, check in for Sunlover’s Fly Out, Fly Back Reef Zoom tour is still at the Reef Fleet Terminal in Cairns city, commencing from 10.30am. After receiving your tickets from the Sunlover counter, you are met by a Zoom representative who drives you to the General Aviation Terminal at Cairns Airport at 11am. Here you are weighed and provided with a safety and information briefing on the helicopter and flight ahead. Anticipation builds as the helicopter lands, and you prepare to board the flight. The air conditioned helicopter takes a maximum of 6 guests, who are seated in accordance with weight ratio across the heli to ensure balanced flight conditions. We shared our flight with another family of 3, and our son Ethan got to sit up the front for the flight out. All seats provide panoramic views, thanks to perfectly maintained windows, and the pilot provides an interesting commentary during the journey to and from the reef.
The 25 minute (each way) flight is the quickest way you can get to and from the reef from Cairns, making it perfect for those who are worried about seasickness. It’s a smooth, comfortable flight taking off from the General Aviation Terminal at around 11.45am, tracking over the Cairns Esplanade and Inlet, before passing by the Aboriginal Shire of Yarrabah, which is in the traditional country of the Gunggandji and Yidinji peoples. Continuing east you skirt around Fitzroy Island, enjoying some great photo opportunities, before flying low over the Coral Sea to Moore Reef, on the outer Great Barrier Reef. Before landing on the floating heli pad, you do a flyover of the Sunlover pontoon and surrounding reef which is so clearly visible from the air. It’s a spectacular vantage point and the helicopter gives you a front row seat; make sure you take your camera because these are views you want to capture and remember forever. Once you’ve landed at around 12.10pm, you’re met by a reef tender which transports you over to the nearby pontoon.
After flying in we couldn’t wait to get into the water! For those that know, our family are all certified scuba divers and you can do this on the Sunlover Zoom Heli Reef tour, but unfortunately, we were all recovering from a cold, so no diving for us today. No problems though, this is one of our favourite places to snorkel and we had nearly 3 hours to explore the coral lagoon. The colourful soft corals were waving gently in the currents, reaching up towards the sunlight. Snorkelling in the lagoon, the corals are quite close beneath you with varying depths from 10m to just centimeters, in fact at low tide some of the reef is exposed out of the water. Venturing out along the wall you could see the sea floor 20m beneath you, so visibility was excellent. Highlights of our snorkel included seeing a diverse array of Great Barrier Reef fish, from the large humphead maori wrasse, to smaller blue chromis, six-bar wrasse, butterflyfish, angelfish, trout, cod, scissor-tail sergeants, blue, green and red parrotfish, rabbitfish, anemonefish and more. We also did the guided semi-submersible tour, which explores a different section of the reef. Fun facts from the guide include the fact that Moore Reef is 10,000 years old, as discovered during core sample testing, and that the oldest corals here are 500 years old.
Sunlover Reef Cruises provide everything you need for your chosen activity. Mask, snorkel, fins and lycra sunsuits are included in the tour price, wetsuits can be hired for a small additional cost. Buoyancy devices, including life jackets and noodles are also available on the pontoon, to maximise your comfort in the water. Other activities available at the pontoon include the glass bottom boat tours, semi-submersible tours, the underwater observatory and Great Barrier Reef slide. These are all included in the tour price. If you are a snorkeller and want to try a seawalker helmet dive or introductory dive, with no prior experience needed for either, you can add this to your day at extra cost (must be booked at the same time as the tour). A hot and cold buffet lunch is provided on the pontoon, fuelling your tanks for more flying and swimming.
At 3pm it was time to meet the heli pilot and Zoom personnel, to transport from the pontoon back to the heli pad for the return trip to Cairns. We lifted off at around 3.30pm and did a reverse version of the trip out here, getting more amazing photos and videos. Truly breathtaking. After landing back at in Cairns, the Zoom team drove us back to the Reef Fleet Terminal for the end of the tour, which at 4.30pm. What a day for the memory banks!
Yes! Choosing the Sunlover Fly Out, Fly Back helicopter tour allows you to see the Great Barrier Reef from above and below the surface. What an experience! Helicopter tours are more expensive, but if this is your bucket list moment for the reef and you have the budget, then add this to your ‘must do’ in Cairns list.
Yes, you can fly to and from the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns on this Sunlover Zoom Heli tour. It takes off from the General Aviation Terminal at the Cairns Airport and lands on a floating heli pad at Moore Reef. Flying time is 25 minutes, each way.
You get nearly 3 hours to explore Moore Reef, on the Fly Out, Fly Back tour. This is plenty of time for snorkelling, scuba diving and other reef activities. In fact, your time at the pontoon is not much less than for those who travel both ways on boat.
Yes! Choosing a Great Barrier Reef helicopter tour is great if you get seasick. The seasickness most people suffer is usually on the boats, during the trip to and from Cairns to the reef. This is avoided altogether if you pick a helicopter as your mode of transport. Choose 50 minutes flying over 3 hours boat ride.
This tour includes everything of a Sunlover Moore Reef day, plus the return scenic helicopter flights. So inclusions are:
Optional paid activities include:
Yes, you can snorkel and scuba dive on the Sunlover helicopter tour. Snorkelling is included, scuba diving is an optional extra and should be booked at the same time as the rest of the tour.
If you are nervous about being in the water, then Sunlover’s Moore Reef pontoon is an excellent destination for you. Flotation devices such as life jackets and noodles are available and included. There is an enclosed sea pool for young children. Participate in a range of free non-swimming activities, including the semi-submersible and glass-bottom boat tours, and visit to the underwater observatory.
Lots to see from the air on a helicopter flight to Moore Reef. You fly over the Cairns Esplanade precinct and Trinity Inlet, pass by the Aboriginal Shire of Yarrabah, over King Beach, by Fitzroy Island and out to Moore Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef. You will see the coral formations of the reef and the Sunlover Moore Reef pontoon.
The Zoom helicopter takes a maximum of 6 passengers. 1 is seated ‘up front’ with the pilot, the other guests are at the rear of the helicopter. All guests enjoy panoramic views from the large and clear helicopter windows, with plenty of photo and video opportunities. Exact individual seating on the helicopter is determined by passenger and pilot weight, with everyone allocated a space to maintain balanced flight time.
The difference between Fly Out, Fly Back and Fly / Cruise Great Barrier Reef tours is the helicopter component. Fly Out / Fly Back is a return trip. Fly / Cruise is a one-way helicopter flight and one-way boat ride.
This tour was awesome, I really enjoyed going out to the reef really fast. The helicopter was cool, I got to sit up the front which was really, really fun. Seeing the reef from above is an amazing experience, it really shows you just how big it is and how much of it there is, even in a small section like Moore Reef. Once we got to the reef, we grabbed our fins and went snorkelling on the reef wall. There was lots to see, including parrotfish, feather stars and anemonefish. Afterwards we had lunch, I had ham rolls and a Coke. Then Mum and I did a semi submersible tour, which got really close to the reef. We saw a lionfish as we were getting on the semi sub. The helicopter ride back went so fast and it was a really good day. I think all ages of people will enjoy this tour, seeing the reef from above and below the water.
The Sunlover Fly Out, Fly Back Reef Zoom tour is a full day tour, which includes return Great Barrier Reef helicopter flight from Cairns and nearly 3 hours at Sunlover’s Moore Reef pontoon. Check-in is at Sunlover’s counter at the Reef Fleet Terminal, with return transfers provided to and from here to the General Aviation Terminal at the Cairns Airport. This tour is suitable for pretty much everyone, including those who suffer from seasickness, are nervous in the water, families with small children, individuals and couples, snorkellers and scuba divers. Big price point, but massive experience and if the Great Barrier Reef is on your bucket list, then this one ticks all the boxes.
© I Love Cairns 2026
