Comparison of the Helicopter Tour Routes in Cape Town
A helicopter tour Cape Town with Chartercraft is a scenic flight from twelve minutes airborne up to a half-day Winelands run, departing the V&A Waterfront Helipad on one of six route options. Aircraft are Airbus H120, H125, H130 and Robinson R44, all SACAA-maintained. Shared scenic flights start at entry-level per-person rate; private charters are quoted per aircraft per hour. We book both. The fleet covers solo flyers through to corporate groups, with the same operator partners running all six routes.
The six helicopter tours Cape Town routes
The six helicopter tours Cape Town departures, in order of duration:
| Route | Duration | What you see | Shared from |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Hopper | ~12 min flying / ~50 min tour | V&A, Atlantic Seaboard, Camps Bay; includes a complimentary Day Cruise on Cape Town Cruises | Entry-level |
| The Atlantico | ~20 min flying / ~50–60 min tour | Atlantic Seaboard to Hout Bay, BOS400 wreck, Duiker Island; includes a complimentary Harbour Cruise | Mid-tier |
| Two Oceans | 25 min flying / 45 min tour | Atlantic side plus False Bay coastline. Most-booked. | Mid-tier |
| Cape Peninsula | 50 min flying / 1.5 hr tour | Full peninsula loop to Noordhoek and Kommetjie; one-hour minimum on private | On enquiry |
| Full Cape Point | ~48–60 min flying / ~1.5 hr tour | Complete peninsula to Cape Point lighthouse, Robben Island fly-past, optional Misty Cliffs fynbos picnic | On enquiry |
| Winelands | Half day to full day | Stellenbosch / Franschhoek with landing at Babylonstoren, Jordan, Rickety Bridge, Delaire Graff or Groot Constantia | Quoted per aircraft |
Per-person rates are for shared scenic flights with set departure times. Private aircraft hire is per-hour and quoted separately; see the section on private below.
Popular Helicopter Tours
Book 3 or more passengers to turn your experience into a private tour.
Cape Peninsula helicopter tour: full peninsula loop
The Cape Peninsula helicopter tour is the fifty-minute scenic flight, around an hour and a half total tour time, longer than Two Oceans but shorter than Full Cape Point. From the V&A Helipad, you head south along the Atlantic Seaboard, past the Twelve Apostles range, over Hout Bay harbour and the small fishing village. The aircraft tracks Chapman’s Peak Drive from above (a view almost no land tourist gets), then carries on over Noordhoek’s eight-kilometre beach to Kommetjie at the southwestern tip. The return leg cuts inland over the Constantia Winelands and the back of Table Mountain, with a final pass over the city bowl on approach to the helipad.
If you only have time for one scenic flight and want the peninsula without committing to the full Cape Point flight, this is the route. Photographers prefer it: the angles on Chapman’s Peak and Noordhoek are the ones that show up on Instagram.
Winelands helicopter tour Cape Town: fly to wine estates
The winelands helicopter tour Cape Town is the only route that lets you land somewhere other than the helipad. Roughly twenty-five minutes airborne from the V&A: cross the Cape Flats, climb over the Hottentots Holland mountains, descend into Stellenbosch or Franschhoek. The most-booked landings are Babylonstoren, Jordan Estate, Rickety Bridge and (when arrangements allow) Delaire Graff. Two and a half to three hours on the ground for tour, tasting and lunch (paid separately to the estate). Fly back. The whole thing runs three to four hours including ground time; expect to leave the V&A around ten and be back by mid-afternoon.
The Durbanville Winelands route is shorter and cheaper, fifteen minutes each way to estates like Diemersdal or Meerendal, useful if you want to be back by lunch.
Helicopter Charters
If a shared tour isn’t your thing, or you want to curate a bespoke experience, charter a helicopter instead.
Private helicopter tour Cape Town vs shared scenic flights
A private helicopter tour Cape Town is the whole aircraft, your group only, your time slot, your route. The shared scenic flights have set departures (typically ten, twelve, two and four), per-person pricing, and four to five passengers per aircraft drawn from whoever booked that slot. Both formats use the same aircraft and the same pilots; the experience differs in what you control.
Pick shared if: you’re solo or two-up, you’re flying the Hopper or the Atlantico, you don’t mind the fixed schedule.
Pick private if: three or more in your group, milestone or proposal flight, corporate booking, you want a custom route (passing your house, a specific bay, a wedding venue from the air). Private hire pricing per hour: Robinson R44 entry-level (3 seats), Airbus H120 mid-tier (6 seats), H125 premium (6 seats), H130 on enquiry.
For per-aircraft technical details and what’s on board each helicopter, see the helicopter rides page.
The aircraft and check-in
Four aircraft types in rotation: Airbus H120, H125 and H130 (six seats each, modern turbine helicopters); Robinson R44 (three seats plus pilot, light helicopter, used for shorter shared flights and budget private hire). All aircraft carry annual SACAA airworthiness certification and are operated by SACAA-licensed commercial pilots with five-plus years on the Cape Town routes.
Check-in is at the V&A Waterfront Helipad on the Mount Nelson side of the precinct, twenty to thirty minutes before take-off. The operator weighs every passenger (the aircraft has a maximum take-off weight; the load-balance calculation is mandatory) and runs the safety briefing on the deck. Noise-cancelling headsets are supplied; live pilot commentary on every route through the headset.
