Top, Bottom, Boat & Skywalk Tour via Airplane or Helicopter?
This Explainer Helps You Decide
Which of the Super-MEGA Tours to Try.
Yes, there is a tour from Las Vegas that lets you do the top and the bottom and the River in one fell swoop. In fact, it's the only one of its kind. Furthermore, it's very limited. Fortunately, there's two versions of this package, so if you get locked out of one you can do the other without missing a beat. It's a great strategy to have as this is the ONE tour you don't want to leave Las Vegas w/out doing.
The MEGA 4-in-1 tour starts with either a helicopter ride or an airplane flight. The former is more expensive and departs from the Las Vegas Strip. The latter is cheaper and leaves from our terminal in Boulder City, which is a suburb of Vegas and just 30 mins. from The Strip. Both options include free hotel transfers as long as they are on The Strip or in the vicinity of it. The other big difference is that the helicopter option includes an extended tour over the Vegas Strip that starts from the Stratosphere Tower and down to Mandalay Bay.
Whirlybirds!
Let me digress a tad more...
Helicopters used for all segments of this tour are EcoStar 130's. These are the safest and newest tour helicopters on the market. They are also 20% larger than conventional helicopters. Further, they are equipped with bucket seats set stadium-style and feature a 180-degree windshield and glass doors. Lastly, each chopper is equipped with industrial-grade climate control. Airplanes used twin-engine de Havilland that seat up to 18 adult passengers. Windows, in particular, are oversized and wings are attached to the top of the aircraft for unobstructed sightseeing for all.
Though these tours have different starting points, they follow the same flight path, with the helicopter flying at a lower altitude than the airplane. Thus you'll fly over the Mojave Desert, Lake Mead, Hoover Dam and Grand Cliff's Wash, among other landmarks. It's here that the helicopter will descend to the bottom and follow the Colorado River to one of our private landing pads at the base. The airplane, by contrast, will detour south and land on top of the West Rim where you'll transfer to a helicopter and make the 3,500-foot descent to the bottom.
On the bottom, everyone will make the 100-yard stroll to the Colorado River and board an adventure-grade steel-pontoon boat. These watercraft are owned and operated by the Hualapai Tribe. You'll head up river for a ways then turn around, engines off, and drift down the Colorado back to the dock. It's a sensational experience being on the Colorado, especially knowing that less than 5 percent of travelers to the Canyon ever reach the bottom and even fewer boat the River..
Back on the helicopter and buckled up, you'll make the ascent up and out of the Canyon and back to the West Rim airstrip. Please, enjoy the ride to the top. It's truly stunning as you witness for yourself just how big this chasm is. Quick facts before you exit the aircraft on top: 1) the Colorado River is red because it's constantly eroding it's banks and making the canyon deeper; and 2) some of the rock you walked on at the bottom is 1.4 billion years old!
Walk on Glass
Both versions of this tour include a VIP pass to the Grand Canyon Skywalk. Don't underestimate the value of this pass. It lets you cut to the front of the line (which during every season is long but during summer it's Disneylandesque-long!). FYI: The Tribe prohibits cell phones and cameras on the Skywalk because they can potentially chip the glass panels which cost appx. $250,000 to make. I'm not entirely sure I believe this and suspect it's more likely because they have a photography business to run.
Regardless...
The Grand Canyon Skywalk is a modern-engineering wonder. No matter how you slice it. In essence, it's a cantilevered, all-glass platform bridge that's in the shape of a horseshoe. The platform lets you walk some 70 feet over the edge until you are standing about 4,000 feet over the bottom. Hold your breath! It's amazing. Only look down if you dare ;-) And by all means, look out and enjoy the pristine views of Eagle Point, Guano Point, and the Canyon itself.
What I also really like about the 4-in-1 tours is that you have plenty of time to explore the top of the West Rim. Expediting this is the Tribe-operated hop-on hop-off shuttle buses that are free to use and unlimited in terms of how often you want to ride them. I recommend you catch one and go immediately to Guano Point, site of an old guano mine (there's still old structures standing!) and home to some of the best views of the National Park. There's also options to grab a quick bite here. I also suggest you check out Hualapai Ranch, which re-creates an Old West Town replete with shops and staged gunfights and plenty of "townsfolk" in character that you can harass or indulge. There's also an outdoor amphitheater near the Skywalk Complex (another place with eats) where you can catch live Native American entertainment and an outdoor living history museum.
Endgame
Once your four-or-so hours on the ground are up, time to board the helicopter if you chose the deluxe option or the airplane if you took the economy package and it's back to Las Vegas or Boulder City, respectively. Remember, if you take the airplane option, you'll go back to your Vegas hotel from Boulder City by Sprinter van. If deluxe, you're helicopter will fly onward to the top of The Strip and fly over the world-famous Las Vegas Boulevard until you land at our exclusive (and brand-new!) terminal at McCarran Airport (now known as the Harry Reid Airport if not now shortly but most of us still call it McCarran), and, from there, you're shuttled to your respective hotel.
Ready to try our Super MEGA 4-in-1 Tour? Use these links for prices and availability:
Deluxe (Helicopter) Top, Bottom, Boat & Skywalk
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Basic (Airplane) Top, Bottom, Boat & Skywalk
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Basic (Airplane) Top, Bottom, Boat & Skywalk
Make it a GRAND day!
