Our top pickVolcano + cirques
45 minSaint-Pierre: Helicopter Flight over the Volcano and Cirques
★ 4.6 · 66 reviews
- Over the Volcano and Cirques
- Entry ticket
- Mobile voucher accepted
- Free cancellation
$375Saint-Pierre
Check availability→ 
Reunion helicopter tours
Reunion helicopter tours reveal the island's mountains and coast from above. Across 14 flights compared, prices start from $196 with free cancellation, and the top tour rates 4.7 from 190 reviews. Mafate's 1,000-metre walls and Trou de Fer's waterfall chasm appear from the air.
Helicopter, from
8 flights compared$299
Today's lowest price across all 14 flights
Average rating
12 rated flights47
532 verified reviews across 12 flights
Time in the air
Shortest to longest35–60min
Shortest: Helicopter Tour
Longest: Microlight Flight
Free cancellation
Reserve now, pay later
Verified reviews
Secure payment
Instant confirmation
Mobile voucher
Everything you can book here
Every Reunion helicopter tour, by departure point
Every Reunion helicopter tour we could find: eight helicopter flights and four microlights from four towns. Use the switch to show only the ones that lift off near where you are staying — on an island this folded, the departure point decides what you see first and how much of the flight is spent getting there. The two day tours at the end are on the ground; they are here because people ask how the island looks from below as well.
Cheapest helicopter138 reviews
35 minSaint-Pierre: Helicopter Tour over the Intense Island
★ 4.8 · 138 reviews
- Over the Intense Island
- Transfer
- Likely to sell out
- Free cancellation
$299Saint-Pierre
Check availability→ 
Three cirquesSaint-Pierre
36 minSaint-Pierre: Helicopter Flight over the 3 Cirques
★ 4.7 · 12 reviews
- Over the 3 Cirques
- Entry ticket
- Mobile voucher accepted
- Free cancellation
$312Saint-Pierre
Check availability→ 
Island circuitSaint-Gilles
45 minSaint-Gilles: Island Tour by Helicopter
- In Saint-Gilles by helicopter
- Transfer
- Mobile voucher accepted
- Free cancellation
$370Saint-Gilles
Check availability→ 
Island circuitSaint-Pierre
45 minSaint-Pierre: Island Tour by Helicopter
- In Saint-Pierre by helicopter
- Transfer
- Mobile voucher accepted
- Free cancellation
$370Saint-Pierre
Check availability→ 
190 reviewsCoast to coast
55 minSaint-Pierre: Full Helicopter Flight over Reunion Island
★ 4.7 · 190 reviews
- Saint-Pierre: Full Helicopter Flight ove
- Entry ticket
- Most booked
- Free cancellation
$422Saint-Pierre
Check availability→ 
Rated 4.9Saint-Gilles
55 minSaint-Gilles: Excellence Helicopter Tour
★ 4.9 · 27 reviews
- In Saint-Gilles by helicopter
- Transfer
- Mobile voucher accepted
- Free cancellation
$422Saint-Gilles
Check availability→ 
Excellence routeSaint-Pierre
55 minSaint-Pierre: Excellence Helicopter Tour
★ 4.1 · 7 reviews
- In Saint-Pierre by helicopter
- Transfer
- Mobile voucher accepted
- Free cancellation
$422Saint-Pierre
Check availability→ 
MicrolightSaint-Paul
60 minSaint-Paul: Microlight Flight over Cirques, Islets and Lagoons
★ 4.7 · 32 reviews
- Over cirques, islets and lagoons
- Mobile voucher accepted
- Cheapest here
- Free cancellation
$196Saint-Paul
Check availability→ 
MicrolightMafate rim
60 minSaint-Paul: Microlight Flight over Mafate and Piton Maido
- Over Mafate and Piton Maido
- Transfer
- Mobile voucher accepted
- Free cancellation
$202Saint-Paul
Check availability→ 
MicrolightSaint-Leu
60 minSaint-Leu: Flight over Reunion Island in a Microlight
- Over Reunion Island in a microlight
- Guided tour
- Mobile voucher accepted
- Free cancellation
$266Saint-Leu
Check availability→ 
MicrolightLongest route
60 minSaint-Paul: The Ultimate Microlight Flight over Reunion Island
- Saint-Paul: The Ultimate Microlight Flig
- Mobile voucher accepted
- Instant confirmation
- Free cancellation
$277Saint-Paul
Check availability→ 
On the ground8-9 hours
8-9 hReunion Island: Full-Day Island Tour
- Reunion Island: Full-Day Island Tour
- Day trip
- Mobile voucher accepted
- Free cancellation
$693Sainte-Rose
Check availability→ 
On the ground7 hours
7 hReunion Island: Volcano, Beaches and Paradise Landscapes Day Tour
★ 4.9 · 10 reviews
- Reunion Island: Volcano, Beaches and Par
- Private tour
- Mobile voucher accepted
- Free cancellation
$576Sainte-Rose
Check availability→ Two questions
Which Reunion helicopter flight is yours?
Eight helicopter flights from four towns, and they are really three flights with different names. Thirty-five minutes into the interior, forty-five to the volcano, or fifty-five across the whole island and back down the other coast. Pick what matters and the page picks the flight.
See it before you pay for it
What do you actually see on a Reunion helicopter tour?
A Reunion helicopter tour shows you three things, and only one of them can be reached another way: the crater of an active volcano, the walls of a cirque nobody can drive into, and a chasm of waterfalls that has no path to it at all.
Side by side
Volcano, cirques or the whole island?
Every Reunion helicopter tour is one of three flights wearing different names. Thirty-five minutes takes you to the volcano or to the cirques, not both. Forty-five puts the three cirques together in one loop. Fifty-five is the only one that crosses the whole island and comes back down the other coast.
Swipe the table sideways →
| MOST BOOKEDSaint-Pierre: Full Helicopter Flight over Reunion Island | Saint-Pierre: Helicopter Flight over the Volcano and Cirques | Saint-Pierre: Helicopter Tour over the Intense Island | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per person | $422 | $375 | $299 |
| Time in the air | 55 minutes | 45 minutes | 35 minutes |
| Cost per minute | $7.67 | $8.33 | $8.54 |
| Crosses Mafate | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Departs from | Saint-Pierre | Saint-Pierre | Saint-Pierre |
| What you see | Volcano, all three cirques, Trou de Fer and the lagoon | Piton de la Fournaise and the cirques | The interior: cirque walls and ravines |
| Whole visit | About 2 hours | About 90 minutes | About 90 minutes |
| Rating | 4.7 · 190 | 4.6 · 66 | 4.8 · 138 |
| Best for | Seeing all of it in one go | The volcano, cirques included | A first flight at the lowest price |
| Book this one→ | Check dates | Check dates |
MOST BOOKED
Saint-Pierre: Full Helicopter Flight over Reunion Island
$422- Time in the air
- 55 minutes
- Cost per minute
- $7.67
- Crosses Mafate
- Yes
- Departs from
- Saint-Pierre
- What you see
- Volcano, all three cirques, Trou de Fer and the lagoon
- Rating
- 4.7 · 190
- Best for
- Seeing all of it in one go
Free cancellation up to 24 h · Reserve now, pay later
Saint-Pierre: Helicopter Flight over the Volcano and Cirques
$375- Time in the air
- 45 minutes
- Cost per minute
- $8.33
- Crosses Mafate
- Yes
- Departs from
- Saint-Pierre
- What you see
- Piton de la Fournaise and the cirques
- Rating
- 4.6 · 66
- Best for
- The volcano, cirques included
Saint-Pierre: Helicopter Tour over the Intense Island
$299- Time in the air
- 35 minutes
- Cost per minute
- $8.54
- Crosses Mafate
- Yes
- Departs from
- Saint-Pierre
- What you see
- The interior: cirque walls and ravines
- Rating
- 4.8 · 138
- Best for
- A first flight at the lowest price
Verdict
Take the volcano-and-cirques flight
Forty-five minutes from Saint-Pierre, the airfield closest to the crater, and the shortest flight that reaches both halves of the island: Piton de la Fournaise and the cirques in the same hour. Sixty-six ratings at 4.6 stand behind it. The one reason to book something else is geography — if you are staying on the west coast around Saint-Gilles, fly from there instead.
Check dates and availability→Before you book
Read the review count, not just the score
Two listings on this page carry 190 and 138 ratings. Four are new and carry almost none. That does not make the newer listings bad — but a score from two people tells you very little, and a score from a hundred and ninety tells you a great deal. Read both numbers before you decide.
Two-minute check
Which Reunion helicopter flight suits you?
Eight helicopter flights from four towns, thirty-five to fifty-five minutes in the air, and the listings describe them in almost identical language. Three answers narrow it to one: which coast you are staying on, what you want to spend, and how long you want to be flying.
Which coast are you staying on?It decides which flights are a short drive away
What are you willing to spend?Per person, per flight
How long do you want to be in the air?The advertised minutes are flying time, not the visit
Answer the three questions above
You'll get the flight that fits your answers, the thing about it that catches people out, and an honest word about how much evidence its rating rests on.
Six kinds of flight
482 reviews across fourteen Reunion flights
Ratings are the operators’ own numbers on GetYourGuide, shown exactly as published. We do not write reviews and we do not average other people’s into a score of our own. Two flights here carry well over a hundred ratings each; several are newer listings with a handful, and we say which is which.
4.7
★★★★★
Based on 482
verified reviews
5 ★84%
4 ★11%
3 ★3%
2 ★1%
1 ★1%
Every rated listing on this page, scored by the people who took it on GetYourGuide.
Read all 482→🌋
Saint-Pierre: Helicopter Flight over the Volcano and Cirques
From $375 · 66 reviews
★★★★★
The one that gets both halves of the island
Forty-five minutes from Saint-Pierre over Piton de la Fournaise and the cirques, so you are not choosing between the volcano and Mafate. 66 reviews at 4.6, and it leaves from the airfield nearest the crater.
🏝
Saint-Pierre: Helicopter Tour over the Intense Island
From $299 · cheapest helicopter
★★★★★
The one that costs least in a helicopter
Thirty-five minutes over the interior from Saint-Pierre, and the lowest helicopter price on this page. 138 reviews at 4.8 — more than any other short flight here.
🌊
Saint-Pierre: Full Helicopter Flight over Reunion Island
From $422 · 190 reviews
★★★★★
The one with the most evidence behind it
Fifty-five minutes, coast to coast and back: the volcano, all three cirques, Trou de Fer and the lagoon in a single flight. 190 reviews at 4.7, more than any other listing on this page.
⛰
Saint-Pierre: Helicopter Flight over the 3 Cirques
From $312 · 36 minutes
★★★★★
The one that is only about the cirques
Mafate, Cilaos and Salazie in one loop of thirty-six minutes. Mafate has no road into it at all, and eleven minutes of this flight is the whole of the approach a walker spends two days on.
⭐
Saint-Gilles: Excellence Helicopter Tour
From $422 · rated 4.9
★★★★★
The one with the highest rating here
The same fifty-five-minute Excellence circuit, lifting off on the west coast at Saint-Gilles instead of the south. Rated 4.9 across 27 reviews, the highest score of any flight on this page.
🚤
Saint-Paul: Microlight Flight over Cirques, Islets and Lagoons
From $196 · a microlight
★★★★★
The one that is not a helicopter at all
An open two-seat microlight over the lagoon, the islets and the lower edges of the cirques. It flies lower and it does not climb over the volcano — a different aircraft on a different route, at 32 reviews and 4.7.
What it really costs
How much is a helicopter flight in Reunion?
A Reunion helicopter tour runs from $299 a person for thirty-five minutes to $422 for the fifty-five-minute crossing of the whole island. Microlights are a different aircraft on a different route and start at $196; the two full-day tours at the end of the list are on the ground.
Swipe sideways →
| What you are paying for | Price | What you get | Cancellation |
|---|---|---|---|
| A microlight over the coast and cirque edges, 60 minutes | $196–$277 | Lagoon, west coast and the rim of Mafate from below the peaks | Two seats, open cabin |
| A helicopter to the volcano or the cirques, 35–45 minutes | $299–$375 | One half of the island properly, with the crater or the three cirques | Free cancellation 24 h |
| The full island crossing, 55 minutes | $422 | Volcano, all three cirques, Trou de Fer and the lagoon in one flight | Free cancellation 24 h |
What the listing doesn’t show you
- Which coast it actually leaves from. Saint-Pierre and Saint-Gilles are on opposite sides of the island, and the drive between them is over an hour.
- That a microlight is a different aircraft. Four listings here are open two-seat microlights, not helicopters, and they fly a lower route.
- How early the cloud arrives. The interior fills in from mid-morning most days, and no listing mentions it.
- How thin some of the ratings are. Four listings here are new and carry almost no reviews behind the score.
What is genuinely included
- Thirty-five to fifty-five minutes in the air, depending on which flight you book
- A headset, so you can hear the pilot over the rotor
- A seat assigned by weight, after everybody is weighed at check-in
- A safety briefing and life jackets on the coastal legs
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before, on the helicopter listings here
The honest answer
Is a Reunion helicopter tour worth it?
Yes, and for a reason that does not apply on most scenic flights anywhere else. Half of what this island is famous for has no road and no path. Mafate is reached on foot in two days or by air in eleven minutes. Trou de Fer is reached by air or not at all. You are not buying a better view of something you could also drive to.
What makes it worth it
- The Cirque de Mafate has no road into it — eleven minutes by air, two days on foot
- Trou de Fer and its waterfalls are reached from the air and no other way at all
- The island is small enough that fifty-five minutes covers the volcano and both coasts
- Piton de la Fournaise is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, and you fly over the crater
- Four departure towns on two coasts, so something lifts off near where you are staying
Keep in mind
- The advertised minutes are flying time, not the visit — allow about ninety minutes
- Cloud builds over the interior by late morning almost every day: take the first slot
- Seats are assigned by weight, so the window is not something you can simply choose
- Book it early in your trip, so a postponed flight still has a day to move to
- Four listings on this page are newer and carry fewer than fifteen ratings
The flight, minute by minute
What happens on a Reunion helicopter flight
Arrive at the airfield
Check in about three quarters of an hour before the slot. Bring the ID you booked with. Everybody is weighed, and the weights decide where you sit.
The weather call
This is the Reunion part. The interior of this island makes its own cloud, and it usually starts building by mid-morning. The crew will tell you honestly whether the window over the cirques is open.
Headsets and the briefing
Life jackets on the coastal legs, headsets for everyone, and the briefing about the doors and about never walking uphill of a helicopter on a slope.
Lift off
Out over the cane fields and straight up. On this island the ground goes from sea level to two thousand metres in about eight minutes of flying, which is why the flights are short.
The volcano, or the first cirque
Piton de la Fournaise is a caldera inside a caldera, and from above you see the whole Enclos Fouque at once. On the cirque routes the walls close in instead.
Mafate
The part that cannot be reached another way. No road goes in; the villages below you are supplied by air and the postman walks. You cross it in about eleven minutes.
Trou de Fer and the falls
On the longer flights, the chasm in the Belouve forest where several waterfalls drop into one hole. There is no path to it.
Back down the coast
The lagoon and the reef on the way in, then photographs. Allow about ninety minutes for the whole visit even on a thirty-five-minute flight.
The one decision that matters
Take the first slot, early in your trip
Everything else on this page is a preference. This one is physics. Reunion is a small, very steep island in a warm ocean, and its interior manufactures cloud almost every day: air pushed up the ramparts condenses, and by late morning the cirques are filling in from the inside. A valley that is open at eight is often closed at eleven. The practical consequence is the single most useful sentence on this page. Book the first departure of the day, because that is when you can see into Mafate and Salazie at all. And put the flight in the first days of your trip rather than the last: people who fly on their final morning and get weathered out have no second chance, while people who fly on day two almost always get up.
Four parts of the flight
What you fly over, in order
Piton de la Fournaise
Two thousand six hundred and thirty-two metres, and one of the most active volcanoes on Earth.
Cirque de Mafate
Fourteen kilometres by seven, ringed by thousand-metre walls, with no road into it.
Trou de Fer
A chasm in the Belouve forest where several waterfalls drop into one hole.
The lagoon
The reef runs along the west coast, and most flights come home over it.
Start here
What does a Reunion helicopter tour actually buy you?
Here is the thing that makes Reunion different from every other scenic-flight destination we cover, and it explains the prices as well as the appeal: a large part of this island has no road and no path at all. The Cirque de Mafate is fourteen kilometres by seven, ringed by thousand-metre walls, and not one road enters it. Its villages are supplied by helicopter and its postman walks. Trou de Fer, the chasm where several waterfalls drop into one hole, has no path to it either. You are not buying a better view of somewhere you could also drive to. For half of this flight there is no alternative.
The second thing is how small the island is. Reunion is about seventy kilometres across, and it rises from sea level to 3,070 metres at Piton des Neiges — the highest point in the Indian Ocean. That vertical packed into that width is why a fifty-five-minute flight can cover an active volcano, three cirques, a waterfall chasm and both coasts. Nowhere else we cover fits so much into so few minutes.
Piton de la Fournaise is the other half of the island. It is 2,632 metres, one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, and it erupts often enough that the road to the viewpoint is closed some seasons. From the air you see the whole Enclos Fouque at once — a caldera inside a caldera, with the cone in the middle and the black lava running to the sea down the Grand Brule. From the ground you see one rim at a time.
Which town you lift off from decides what comes first. Saint-Pierre is the closest airfield to the volcano, so a flight from there spends less of itself getting there. Saint-Gilles on the west coast puts the lagoon under you in the first minute and reaches the cirques over the top. Saint-Paul and Saint-Leu are microlight bases, which is a different aircraft entirely. That is why the switch above the cards exists.
A microlight is not a cheaper helicopter. It is an open two-seat aircraft that flies lower and slower, and it is lovely over the lagoon and the west coast. What it does not do is climb over a 2,632-metre volcano or turn tightly inside a cirque, which is exactly what you are paying a helicopter for. Both are on this page, priced honestly, and the difference is in what they can reach rather than in what they cost.
What the advertised duration means. Thirty-five, forty-five or fifty-five minutes is time in the air. The visit is about ninety minutes from check-in to walking back out, on every flight here, because everybody is weighed, briefed and fitted with a headset first.
And the last thing, which no listing says plainly: the interior of this island makes its own cloud, and it usually starts by mid-morning. Take the first slot of the day, put the flight early in your trip so a postponed one still has somewhere to move to, and take the rebooking rather than the refund if it is offered — the same week almost always clears.
If thirty-five minutes is not enough
Three longer flights, and what the extra minutes buy
The short flights take one half of the island and come home. These three keep going: forty-five minutes with the volcano and the cirques together, and two fifty-five-minute circuits that cross the whole island and come back down the other coast.
Practical
Plan the flight properly
Four things decide how a Reunion helicopter tour goes: the hour you book, the week of your trip you put it in, which coast you take off from, and the fact that cloud builds over the interior of this island by late morning almost every day of the year.
Thirty-five minutes from Saint-Pierre
Over the interior and the cirques, from $299 — the lowest helicopter price here.
Thirty-six minutes, the three cirques
Mafate, Cilaos and Salazie in one loop, without the volcano.
Forty-five minutes, volcano and cirques
Our top pick: both halves of the island in one flight, from Saint-Pierre.
Forty-five minutes, the island circuit
The same loop lifting off at Saint-Gilles or Saint-Pierre.
Fifty-five minutes, coast to coast
The full crossing: volcano, all three cirques, Trou de Fer and the lagoon.
An hour in a microlight
An open two-seat aircraft over the lagoon and the lower cirque edges, from $196.
Piton des Neiges, 3,070 m
The highest point in the Indian Ocean, and the extinct volcano the three cirques collapsed out of.
Piton de la Fournaise, 2,632 m
One of the most active volcanoes on Earth, with its caldera open to the sea.
Cirque de Mafate
About fourteen kilometres by seven, over 200 km of footpaths, and no road at all.
Cirque de Cilaos
The cirque with a road in — four hundred bends and a tunnel, or eight minutes by air.
Cirque de Salazie
The greenest of the three, with the Voile de la Mariee waterfall on its wall.
Trou de Fer
A chasm in the Belouve forest where several waterfalls fall into one hole, reached only from the air.
Advertised minutes are flying time
Allow about ninety minutes at the airfield regardless of which flight you book.
You will be weighed
Every operator does it, and the weights decide the seating.
Take the first slot
Cloud builds over the interior by late morning almost every day of the year.
Sunglasses and a light layer
The cabin is warm, the glare over the lagoon and the lava is strong.
Nothing loose
Hats and loose items stay behind; the rotor wash on an exposed pad takes them.
Book early in the trip
So that a flight moved by weather still has a day left to move to.
Free cancellation to 24 hours
Shown on the helicopter listings on this page; check the line on the listing you pick.
Book the coast you are on
A flight from Saint-Pierre and one from Saint-Gilles start on opposite sides of the island.
Read the review count
Two listings here carry well over a hundred ratings; four are new and carry almost none.
Morning slots survive the weather
The window is widest early, and a cancelled morning can often be rebooked the same week.
May to October is the best window
The dry season: steadier mornings and the clearest views into the cirques.
December to March is the greenest
Also the wettest and the cloudiest. The waterfalls are at their strongest.
Best time
When is the best time for a helicopter flight in Reunion?
Flights run all year and the limiting factor is cloud, not season. What the month really decides is how often the morning stays clear over the interior — and the hour of the day decides more than the month does.
May – Oct
The dry season, and the best window
The austral winter: drier air, steadier mornings and the clearest views into the cirques of the whole year. Cloud still builds over the interior by late morning, so the first slots are the ones to take, but this is the season with the fewest lost flights. If you can choose, choose these months.
Sep – Nov
Clear and still quiet
Late winter into spring keeps most of the dry-season weather while the island is less busy. Waterfalls are thinner than in summer, which suits the volcano and the cirque walls more than it suits Trou de Fer.
Dec – Mar
Green, wet, and the strongest waterfalls
The austral summer is the rainy season: the cirques are at their greenest and Trou de Fer is at its fullest, and the cloud closes in earliest. Book early in your trip so a postponed flight still has somewhere to go.
Apr
The turn
The rain eases and the interior is still green from summer. A good compromise month, with more settled mornings than March and more water in the falls than July.
Worth knowing
Six things that aren't in the listing
01
Take the first slot of the day. The interior of this island manufactures its own cloud, and on most days it starts building before eleven. The seven or eight o'clock departures are the ones that see into the cirques.
02
Book it for the first days of your trip. Not the last. If the weather moves your flight, you want days left to move it into — and the operators rebook readily.
03
Half of what you fly over cannot be reached any other way. Mafate has no road; Trou de Fer has no path. That is the flight's real argument, and it is worth choosing a route that includes them rather than the cheapest one that does not.
04
A microlight is a different aircraft, not a cheaper ticket. Open cabin, two seats, lower and slower. Wonderful over the lagoon, and not able to climb over the volcano or turn inside a cirque.
05
The advertised minutes are flying time. Allow about ninety minutes at the airfield: weighing, briefing, headsets and photographs sit outside the number in the listing.
06
Read the review count as well as the score. Two listings on this page carry 190 and 138 ratings. Four are new and carry almost none, and a first rating of 5.0 is not the same evidence as 4.7 from a hundred and ninety people.
Round out the trip
Booked alongside
Go deeper
More on flying over Reunion Island
Common questions
Reunion helicopter tours, answered
How much is a helicopter flight in Reunion?
From $299 a person for thirty-five minutes over the interior, up to $422 for the fifty-five-minute crossing of the whole island. Microlights, which are a different aircraft on a lower route, start at $196.
Where do Reunion helicopter tours depart from?
Helicopters lift off at Saint-Pierre in the south and Saint-Gilles on the west coast. Microlights fly from Saint-Paul and Saint-Leu, also on the west. Saint-Pierre is the closest airfield to the volcano, so a flight from there spends less of itself getting there.
Can you reach the Cirque de Mafate by helicopter?
You fly over it, and that is the point: Mafate has no road into it at all. Its villages are supplied by air and reached on foot in one to two days. The scenic flights on this page cross the cirque rather than land in it, which is the only way most visitors ever see inside it.
What is the best-reviewed helicopter flight in Reunion?
The fifty-five-minute full island flight from Saint-Pierre at $422, which carries 190 reviews at 4.7 — more evidence than any other listing on this page. The highest score belongs to the Excellence circuit from Saint-Gilles, rated 4.9 across 27 reviews.
How long is a Reunion helicopter flight?
Thirty-five, thirty-six, forty-five or fifty-five minutes in the air, depending on the listing. On an island seventy kilometres across, fifty-five minutes is enough for the volcano, all three cirques and both coasts. Allow about ninety minutes for the whole visit.
What time of day should I book?
The first slot of the morning. The interior of Reunion makes its own cloud and it usually starts building before eleven, so the earliest departures are the ones that see into the cirques. It is the single decision that changes the flight most.
What happens if the weather cancels the flight?
Operators postpone rather than fly a marginal window, and the helicopter listings on this page are free to cancel up to 24 hours before. Book the flight for the first days of your trip so a postponed slot still has days to move into.
Is a microlight the same as a helicopter tour?
No. A microlight is an open two-seat aircraft that flies lower and slower, from $196. It is excellent over the lagoon and the west coast, and it does not climb over the 2,632-metre volcano or turn inside a cirque the way a helicopter does.
Free · no account needed
Reunion from the air, on one sheet
One PDF: all fourteen listings by departure town, minutes and price, which routes reach Mafate and Trou de Fer, and the cloud pattern hour by hour.
- Every flight ranked by dollars per minute in the air
- Which routes cross Mafate, and which stop at the volcano
- The visit hour by hour, from the weigh-in to the walk back out
- Month by month: when the mornings stay clear over the interior
Check your inbox
The plan is on its way. If it isn't there in a minute, look in Promotions.
Why trust this page
How we put this together
Checked, not guessed
Durations, prices and ratings are read off the live listings rather than copied from other affiliate pages. The heights, distances and place names come from the published record.
We print the minutes
Every flight here is sold on scenery and priced on time in the air. We put the minutes on every card, and the cost per minute in the comparison, because that is the number that actually separates them.
We say when a rating is thin
A 5.0 from two reviews is not the same evidence as 4.7 from a hundred and ninety, and we label it that way rather than sorting everything by score.
Nobody pays to be featured
Fourteen listings, ordered as a shop window rather than by price, ranked on what they reach and how much evidence stands behind the rating. We earn a commission when you book, and it does not change what we recommend.
The answer
Take the volcano-and-cirques flight, first thing
If you are flying once over Reunion, take the forty-five-minute flight from Saint-Pierre at $375. It is the one that reaches both halves of the island — Piton de la Fournaise and the cirques — so you are not choosing between the two things people come here for, and it lifts off from the airfield closest to the crater. If you want the strongest evidence instead, the fifty-five-minute full crossing at $422 carries 190 reviews, more than any other listing here.
Check dates and availability→ Free cancellation up to 24 hours · Reserve now, pay later