Helicopter tours in Paihia: land on Hole in the Rock

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Duration20m

GroupUp to 5

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

See the islands from above, then touch down on the landmark itself

You board a helicopter in Paihia and fly over the Bay of Islands' main islands, viewing the Hole in the Rock arch at Cape Brett, Russell, and the Waitangi Treaty grounds. The pilot provides commentary throughout. You have the option to land on top of the Hole in the Rock itself. The flight requires a minimum of two passengers and departs at a time you request when booking.

20m

Step-by-step itinerary

Bay of Islands scenic helicopter tour

Fly over Bay of Islands
View Cape Brett and Hole in the Rock
Pass over Russell, Paihia, and Waitangi
See all islands from the air

The Experience

The helicopter lifts off and the ground drops away. Below you, the Bay of Islands spreads out in fragments — water the color of slate and jade, islands rising like broken teeth, and then it: the Hole in the Rock, that famous arch cut through Cape Brett, suddenly small and exact from the air. You're seeing what most people never do, the whole geography at once, the way it was shaped. The pilot talks you through what you're looking at — Russell's colonial rooflines, Paihia's curve of beach, the Waitangi Treaty grounds where New Zealand's founding document was signed. It's not a narration that stops; it's someone who knows the place pointing things out as they pass beneath the rotors.

The flight itself takes you over the main group of islands, each one distinct from above — pohutukawa trees clinging to cliffs, bays tucked between headlands, the water so clear you can see the seabed in the shallows. The Hole in the Rock sits at the northern tip of Cape Brett, and from the helicopter you see it the way it was meant to be seen, not squeezed into a boat window but open and whole. If you choose to land on top of it — and you can — the helicopter sets down on the plateau above the arch, and you step out onto stone that juts into the Tasman Sea. The wind is real there. The view doesn't diminish.

The whole thing runs on a minimum of two passengers, so you're not waiting for a full cabin to depart. You'll need to request your preferred departure time when you book; they'll work to match it as close as they can. Infants sit on an adult's lap. The flight suits any fitness level — you're sitting the whole time, and the helicopter does the work. By the time you land back in Paihia, you've crossed the Bay of Islands twice, seen the townships and the islands and that impossible arch, and you've done it from a vantage point that stays with you.

What’s included

Your flight includes helicopter transport over the Bay of Islands, pilot commentary identifying the islands, Cape Brett, the Hole in the Rock, and the townships of Russell, Paihia, and Waitangi. If you choose the landing option, you'll also step out on top of the Hole in the Rock itself before returning to Paihia.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Salt Air Limited

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see the Bay of Islands' full geography and the Hole in the Rock from a perspective that ground-level tours can't offer — the helicopter does the traveling, so you only need to show up and look.