I'm very hesitant to post this after getting flamed so badly the last time I brought up this subject, but for those of you who helped me and for those of you who may be interested, here is the information I got on air tours. (Note: Please, if you don't agree with air tours, please keep your comments to yourself. Thank you.)

Ok, here is the lowdown on flights over the islands. I never received any answers to my e-mails so I got on the phone early this morning and talked to some VERY NICE people who were more than happy to give me information!

To recap, the companies that were recommended to me were:

Ace Flight Center (STT airport) – (340) 776-4141
Air Center Helicopters (STT airport) – (340) 775-7335
Blue Water Aviation (STT airport) – (340) 776-5631
Air Ventures In Paradise (STT airport) – (340) 778-0090 or (340) 277-1433 (cell)
Helicopters BVI – (somewhere in the BVI) – (284) 495-2538 or (284) 499-2663

I e-mailed Blue Water Aviation ([email protected]) and never received an answer and at that time, I didn’t have their phone number. I tried Googleing them but only found an outfit by the same name in Canada. In writing this, I tried Googleing again and finally found a phone number listed on Caribbean.com. They also provided a “request information” form which I filled out, so I may yet hear from them. If I don’t hear from them within the next week, I’ll try phoning the number listed on Caribbean.com (340) 776-5631

I did not contact Helicopters BVI because I got good information from the other companies and didn’t follow-up with them because I feel they may only do tours out of the BVI. If I couldn’t get good info. from the other 4 companies, I would probably contact them. ( http://www.helicoptersbvi.com)

Air Center Helicopters – I spoke with Jens (pronounced Yens) who quoted me $600 for a ½ hour tour. They can take up to 6 people at a time, so if you can get a group together, it makes it an affordable activity in my book (about the same as any day sail out there, but of course, not lasting as long). They take you up and fly you over St. Thomas, St. John and some of the BVI’s. And something fun to remember, if you have the bucks, is they can pick you up on arrival in STT and fly you over to STJ (instead of taking the ferry) and will do the same air tour at that time. If you’re not too anxious to get moved into your hotel or villa, this could be a nice way to start your vacation. If you choose to do this, they can only land at the clinic and there is an extra $75 charge for using their heliport, which is donated to the clinic. I asked Jens what are the advantages or disadvantages of a helicopter over a small plane and he told me that the helicopter can fly lower, it has MUCH bigger windows to see out of & take pictures and the ride is smoother. ( http://www.aircenterhelicopters.com)

Air Ventures In Paradise – No one answered the main phone number when I called, so I called the cell phone number and spoke with Al, a super nice guy!! Al was very willing to answer all my questions and in fact, he said this was the 2nd call he’s had this week regarding the same type of tour. I told him I posted my question on the forum so maybe it was another forumite who had called. 😀 Air Ventures In Paradise flies small single-engine airplanes with high wings that don’t block on your view, and they can only take a maximum of 3 people at one time. The tour goes past the east end of STT over to the north side of STJ, and then over Road Town on Tortola, back across the south side STJ and then across the west end of STT and back to the airport. The tour takes 40 minutes (airtime) and costs $150 for 2 people or $180 for 3. ( http://www.airventuresinparadise.com)

Ace Flight Center – I spoke with a very nice lady whose name is (and I’m probably not spelling this right) Tiwana. Ace Flight Center also flies small planes and can also take up only 3 people max – but they require a minimum of 2. They fly over STT and the BVI’s, but you can request to go anywhere you want, so that could be really interesting. 😀 A flight over STX might be really cool! The tour is 45 minutes and costs $75 per person.

I asked everyone how much advance notice they needed and they all said only a day or two, however in Al’s case, he said usually it’s good to give him a 2 -3 week advance notice, although sometimes you can call in the morning and fly in the afternoon depending on what’s happening at the time.

So I hope this information is helpful to you guys and when I get more information on Blue Water Aviation, I’ll post again.