A sightseeing 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!
While it is a great idea to visit the Rocky Islands on a boat tour, the scenic flight offers you an incredible and unique perspective that is really hard to knockdown.
I recently took part in one of these flights on a small propeller plane with Pacific Mission Aviation, and it was all a great experience.
You remove the gates to take pictures, and you get an aerial view of the city of Koror, followed by an incredible view of hundreds of the most beautiful islands, lakes and lagoons of Palau. This is paradise!
This travel blog will tell you everything you need to know about Palau sightseeing flights, including the booking process, prices, safety and what to expect during the flight. I will also share some of the photos I took on my own flight!
Where Are The Rocky Islands Located?
The rocky islands are located about 10 kilometers southwest of the mainland Koror in Palau, so they can be easily reached by plane.
With a propeller plane you can reach the best islands in about 10 minutes, although the scenery starts as soon as you take off from Koror!
Company: Pacific Mission Aviation
Sightseeing flights to Palau were launched by a company called Pacific Mission Aviation (PMA). They were the first company to offer sightseeing flights over Palau.
There is now another company called Fish ‘N Fins, which also offers sightseeing flights, but my experience concerns only PMA, so I will share this here.
PMA is primarily a Christian missionary organization, and by taking a sightseeing flight with them, you are helping to subsidize the humanitarian and medical work that they do on the islands, while at the same time compensating for the costs of inter-island flights that they carry out for the people of Palau.
They do a great job in Palau, and the opportunity to donate is a nice little bonus for participating in one of their sightseeing flights!
Palau Panoramic Flight: What to Expect
My sightseeing flight to Palau started with a pick-up at 10:20 am from my hotel in the city of Koror.
I was traveling alone, but had contacted PMA in advance and they were able to join me with a group of 3 other passengers who were completing the Rock Islands flight that day.
I got into the PMA van with the other passengers (all international tourists) and together we made the quick 20-minute drive to the PMA hangar at Palau International Airport.
For check-in, we spent a few minutes filling out a disclaimer, and they powerd our credit cards, and then we went to the hangar to prepare for our flight in the small.
PMA removes the aircraft doors for all sightseeing flights to Palau and offers you great views and photo opportunities. For additional safety, they have a seat belt, and there is also a safety bar that covers part of the open door.
The most important thing to pay attention to is to put your phone or camera through the open door. The wind can be strong, so you need to hold it very tightly with both hands, otherwise you can lose it.
If this is your first time flying in a small propeller plane like this, you might be a little nervous about taking off from the ground first, but you’ll forget about it pretty quickly once you’re in the air.
The view is awesome even when you leave Koror. The city may not seem special when you are at the bottom, but from the top you can see that it is actually surrounded by all kinds of lagoons and limestone formations.
PMA provided each of us with headphones that blocked part of the aircraft noise, and they made a comment explaining all the sights of Palau while we were flying over them. The rocky islands look so perfect from above. This is one of my favorite landscapes all over the world!
