During my holiday in Dubai, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to take a helicopter tour, or as it is also called, a helicopter ride over Dubai.
I had several options to choose from: fly from Atlantis, the Palm, or from the Dubai Police Academy. The options are roughly the same, but flights from Atlantis are slightly cheaper.
The cost of such an unusual excursion depends on the flight time and whether you will be alone (or with your company) in the helicopter or if other people will be flying with you.
I couldn’t bring myself to pay for it on my own, so I chose a shared flight from the police academy. It’s closer to my hotel, so I decided not to bother.
The cheapest helicopter tour here costs 710 dirhams for 12 minutes. The rest are more expensive. The most expensive one costs 8,425 dirhams for 40 minutes just for you alone.
You have to arrive at the helipad an hour in advance and wait in a special hut. It’s cool in there. They also give you instructions and weigh everyone. You cannot choose your seat in the helicopter. Seats are allocated according to passenger weight to ensure the correct balance of the helicopter.
I got the co-pilot’s seat at the front. They give you headphones, but it’s still quite noisy. However, you can talk to each other and the pilot tells you what you can see out of the windows.
I didn’t get to fly right away. On the day of the planned excursion, there was fog and the flight was cancelled. We could either ask for a refund or reschedule for another day. I chose to reschedule and everything worked out. But keep in mind that the possibility of flying depends on the weather.
