A panoramic flight over the rocky islands is becoming one of the most popular activities for tourists in the small country of Palau, and it’s easy to understand why: it’s one of the most beautiful landscapes in the Pacific!
Although it is a great idea to visit the Rock Islands on a boat trip, the panoramic flight offers you an incredible and unique perspective that is really hard to beat.
I recently participated in one of these flights on a small propeller plane with Pacific Mission Aviation, and the whole thing was a great experience.
You remove the doors for photos and you get an aerial view of the city of Koror, followed by incredible views of hundreds of islands, lakes and the most beautiful lagoons of Palau.
In this travel blog, you will learn everything you need to know about tourist flights to Palau, including the booking process, prices, safety and what to expect when you are in the air. I will also be sharing some of the photos I took on my own flight!
Where are the rocky islands located?
The rocky islands are located about 10 kilometers (6 Mi) southwest of the mainland Koror, Palau, and are therefore easily accessible by plane.
With a propeller plane, you can get to the best islands in about 10 minutes, although the scenery starts as soon as you take off from Koror!
Company: Pacific Mission Aviation
Tourist flights to Palau were launched by a company called Pacific Mission Aviation (PMA). They were the first company to offer panoramic flights over Palau.
There is now another company called Fish ‘ n Fins that also offers tourist flights, but my experience is only with PMA, so I will share that here.
PMA is above all a Christian missionary organization, and by making a scenic flight with them, they help to subsidize the humanitarian and medical work they do on the islands, while also helping them to compensate for the cost of the inter-island flights they make. for the people of Palau.
They are doing a great job in Palau, and being able to contribute is a nice little Bonus for one of their tourist flights!
Tourist flight from Palau: what to expect
My panoramic flight to Palau began with a pick-up at 10:20 am from my hotel in the city of Koror.
I was traveling alone, but I had contacted PMA in advance and they were able to meet me with a group of 3 other passengers who took the flight to the Rock Islands that day.
I got into the PMA van with the other passengers (all international tourists) and together we made the quick 20-minute journey to the PMA Hangar at Palau International Airport.
For check-in, we spent a few minutes filling out a liability waiver and they charged our credit cards, then we went to the Hangar to get ready for our flight in the small Cessna 206.
