Took a helicopter tour of PCB earlier this week. It was great! First time in a helicopter... can't wait to go again.

Click here for more than 100 aerial photos of PCB:
Panama City Beach Aerial Photos

We started at Pier Park, went east along the shoreline to St. Andrew's State Park, north over the Hathaway Bridge and North Bay, west to the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport and West Bay, then south back to Pier Park.

Mike at Panhandle Helicopter was our pilot and the ride was super smooth! I highly recommend the chopper tour... the PCB/Bay County area is absolutely gorgeous from 500 feet in the air!

Panama City Beach Helicopter Tours

The only downside this time was the water was much darker than usual due to all the rain we've had recently. It was kinda muddy instead of its usual green and blue colors. But, that's just an excuse to go up again.... maybe during Spring Break.

Here are a few samples:

Attached Thumbnails

         

Gotta add...

This is the absolute best thing to do when you first get in town. One flight around and you'll understand how the town is laid out, where everything is and where you'll want to be. Sometimes it's hard to know where everything is when you're in the "thick of it"!

We've seen these guys flying around and it always looked like fun. I didn't know the rates were so good. Gotta try to talk the family into this little adventure! Panhandle Helicopter | Tours | Aerial Photography and Patrol | Frost Protection | Panama City Beach, Florida

I ws surprised by the rates, too. Much lower than I expected.

And if you enjoy photography at all, this is a great way to get some really cool photos or video.

I'm looking forward to taking my family this spring or summer.

A guy on the Schooners forum took this video while on a helicopter tour last summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh0qzo3PegU

Thanks for embedding the vid, Steve!

Beautiful pics!!

Hey SWN5363, how long was your flight time- wise? I'm gonna try to build my case from a time and mileage standpoint to a lady who thinks I have a vertical addiction." Great experience for our little one" is going to be the foundation for my case. Thanks!

Our flight time was about an hour, but we went much further than a typical tour and spent quite a bit of time around the new airport. You can go from Pier Park east along the beach to Shell Island and back in 20-30 minutes. I think the rates are based on distance/time.

Nice photos. I may have to consider this when I go in April.