Photographer Lee Gunderson captured this image of Tunnel Beach while flying roughly 4,600 feet above Kauai in Hawaii. He describes the locale as "one of the most haunting places I know."
Courtesy Lee Gunderson
San Francisco, California —
High school teacher Jeff Goodman captured this shot of a salt mine while flying near the Californian city of San Francisco last year. The bright colors of the water are determined by the different algae present and the salinity of the water.
Courtesy Jeffrey Goodman
Phuket, Thailand —
Simon Hand, producer of nationally televised TV show 'Phuket Today,' captured this image of Phuket's skyline with presenter Rose Smith. The Big Buddha, which is still under construction, is visible in the background.
Courtesy Simon Hand
Strategy consultant Jenny Davis-Peccoud shot this image of container ships heading to the Port of Singapore. The port is the world's transshipment port.
Courtesy Jenny Davis-Peccoud
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands —
Enrique Rodriguez, who lives in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, says he must have flown over this view 300 times before he actually noticed it. On the last trip, he took out his camera and captured this idyllic shot.
Courtesy Enrique Rodriguez
CNN cameraman Paul Devitt took a flight from Wellington, New Zealand last November while on assignment. The early morning light made Queen Charlotte Sound at the northern tip of the Antipodean country's south island particularly picturesque.
Paul Devitt
London, UK —
Twitter user @planet4mexico shot this haunting photograph of two power plants while flying into London.
Courtesy Kenneth Lie
Whitsundays, Australia —
Victoria Peterson and her husband celebrated their 10 year wedding anniversary in December 2014 at Whitsunday Islands in Queensland, Australia. If you are looking to travel this summer, Peterson recommends an excursion to Whitehaven beach as a must. She adds that visitors should take a seaplane rather than a boat for "breathtaking" views.
Courtesy Victoria Peterson/CNN iReport
Miami, Florida —
CNN Correspondent Samuel Burke captured the bright colors of Miami, Florida on a recent business trip.
Courtesy Samuel Burke
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe —
Tweeter @HeatherSiminski shared this stunning photo of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
Courtesy Heather Siminski
Luang Prabang, Laos —
Tweeter @JKezman posted a picture of her descent into Luang Prabang in Laos.
Courtesy Jennifer Kezman
Doha, Qatar —
Travel blogger and CNN Travel journalist Rachel Sanghee Han captured this aerial shot of the Qatari capital, Doha.
Courtesy Rachel Sanghee Han
Petit St Vincent, Caribbean —
Publicist Kimberly Greiner Instagramed a picture of the Tobago Cays, a scenic archipelago of five uninhabited islands in the southern Grenadines. It was turned into a wildlife reserve in 2006.
Courtesy Kimberly Greiner
Budapest, Hungary —
Hungarian student Adrienn Nagy was flying from Oslo to Budapest, where she took this shot. As a resident of Budapest, she recognized the traffic circle 17 miles from the city center, and decided to snap it. "I was happy, because I never seen it that high up from a plane," she recalls.
Courtesy Adrienn Nagy
Greenland —
Virginia resident Richard Gornik took these photos while flying over Greenland, which he concedes is, not so green. "I was taken aback in seeing how desolate a landscape could be, and I sure would not want to be there on the ice," he says.
Courtesy Richard Gornik
Portland, Oregon —
"How could you forget PDX?" crowed Twitter user @C_Koontz. We wouldn't dream of it! The topography over Portland, Oregon is stunning. Mount Hood (pictured) is just 50 miles outside of the city.
Courtesy @C_Koontz
Croatia —
Management consultant Stefano Sarao made a game for himself when flying over Croatia. Having sailed the waters for several years, he figured he'd be able to identify the main islands. It was hard-going, he says: "When you're 33,000 feet high everything looks different and I had a hard time getting my bearings."
Courtesy Stefano Sarao
Tweeter @maryodeke sent us shots from above Tokyo
Courtesy Mary Odeke
United Nations employee Asaeli Sinusetaki says Fiji is practically made for aerial shots. "Especially when one can see the beautiful tiny islands with white sandy beaches, clear blue waters and the green hills and forests of the bigger islands," he adds.
