Bahamas in a rental

KaiGywer

KaiGywer

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KaiGywer
My brother is coming to the US to visit me in November and we are floating the idea of island hopping the Bahamas. I have access to a Mooney, however, both the plane and I are in North Dakota. So even at Mooney speeds, I’d be looking at 20+ hours just to and from Florida. He is most likely going to be flying commercial into Florida, so I was thinking of just meeting him there.

With that being said, does anyone know of a reasonable rental outfit in Florida where I can rent something simple like a 172 that is allowed to go to the Bahamas?
 
As someone who has flown a Mooney from northwest New Mexico to the Bahamas, I would encourage you to do it with your own plane. Airline travel from ND to south FL will take about 10 hours door to door anyway. I'm sure there are some outfits which will rent a plane to you for that purpose, but this will likely not have nearly the flexibility you want, such as if you find you like it and want to stay another day. And you'll probably have to pay for minimum hours, more than you'll actually fly.

Jon
 
Fly the Mooney into a hub city like Atlanta and stay overnight. If he’s flying international, it should be direct for him. You can meet him there the next day and start your adventure from there. Drop him back off in Atlanta on your way home.
 
there are some places that will rent to go to the bahamas, insurance is a the first thing to check if you want to take your aircraft. some policies will not cover the bahamas.
 
Based in S. Florida... @FXE. Do not even consider any rental for a Bahamas trip. IF, you can find one, the plane will be poorly maintained as many here go down, in training flights, for mechanical reasons...
 
Also think about taking one of the fast ferries from Palm Beach or Lauderdale, if you don't use your own plane. Won't take that much longer than flying, and will be cheaper. Several options can be found with an internet search.
Jon
 
Terry M - 3CK (Chicago) said:
I think there are FBOs set up for this. Rent you the plane with rafts and stuff. Have you tried google?
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.......yes I tried google. Excuse me for trying to ask the board for first hand knowledge :rolleyes2:

4CornerFlyer said:
As someone who has flown a Mooney from northwest New Mexico to the Bahamas, I would encourage you to do it with your own plane. Airline travel from ND to south FL will take about 10 hours door to door anyway. I'm sure there are some outfits which will rent a plane to you for that purpose, but this will likely not have nearly the flexibility you want, such as if you find you like it and want to stay another day. And you'll probably have to pay for minimum hours, more than you'll actually fly.

Jon
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I might have the vacation time to do this, so it might actually be an option.
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Fly the Mooney into a hub city like Atlanta and stay overnight. If he’s flying international, it should be direct for him. You can meet him there the next day and start your adventure from there. Drop him back off in Atlanta on your way home.
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Unfortunately he’s using rewards points on Norwegian, so he’s limited in options. Looking at Orlando/Miami
unsafervguy said:
there are some places that will rent to go to the bahamas, insurance is a the first thing to check if you want to take your aircraft. some policies will not cover the bahamas.
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Good point

capg2000 said:
Based in S. Florida... @FXE. Do not even consider any rental for a Bahamas trip. IF, you can find one, the plane will be poorly maintained as many here go down, in training flights, for mechanical reasons...
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Thanks for the local knowledge
4CornerFlyer said:
Also think about taking one of the fast ferries from Palm Beach or Lauderdale, if you don't use your own plane. Won't take that much longer than flying, and will be cheaper. Several options can be found with an internet search.
Jon
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The idea isn’t so much just going to the Bahamas, as it is flying to/in the Bahamas. If we can’t make it work flying, we’ll just rent a car and bum around Florida instead.
 
Be safe, be a bum in FLA.... Safer than in a rental!
If you are going to fly, go into Treasure Cay, water taxi to Green Turtle Cay....
Paradise!
 
I have made a couple trips over to Marsh Harbor and Bimini in a 152 from Tampa and have always had a great time. The Bahamians are really accommodating to GA.

Chris
 
capg2000 said:
Based in S. Florida... @FXE. Do not even consider any rental for a Bahamas trip. IF, you can find one, the plane will be poorly maintained as many here go down, in training flights, for mechanical reasons...
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Just moved down here and I am completely shocked how horrible the rental market is.
 
Where's the best place to rent? Will be in Miami for a conference and thinking on renting to change scenery
 
KaiGywer said:
Not being local to the area, why are rentals so sketchy there?
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I think it is because there are so many foreign students in training programs that rental pilots are more of a hassle than its worth. Plus the Corporate Jet market down here is HUGE and the regional airports have been driving GA out to make room for more Corporate activity.
 
Just wondering if this is even still on the table after the Hurricane...

But yeah, I'd take my own plane if at all possible.

might be a good time to go treasure hunting around the Bahamas ;)
 
Skyrys62 said:
Just wondering if this is even still on the table after the Hurricane...

But yeah, I'd take my own plane if at all possible.

might be a good time to go treasure hunting around the Bahamas ;)
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Yeah it might not happen depending on how well they recover in the next two months. On one hand, they could probably use the tourism money, but on the other hand, I don’t wanna be “in the way”
 
Depends on which islands. Some are pretty hard hit. The Abacos and Grand Bahama are pretty badly hit and last I checked the airports closed. Nassau is open, so it's a mixed bag.
 
The hurricane has probably munger-up the planning anyway, but I rented a 172 at Marathon, nice plane and outfit, and they said flying to Bahamas was absolutely allowed, offered to coach.

It was a while back, though. Who knows if they’re around now.
 
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