Flying to the Bahamas

Allen C

Allen C

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Allen C
There is a couple in California that posted a trip that they took to the Bahamas along with a few other RV’s. They met in Florida and flew over as a group. Over the course of a week or so they did some great island hopping.
The more I read about the islands and “fly” via Google Earth, the more that I really like the idea about a trip like that.
Anybody out there done this trip before? What is involved to pull that trip like that off? It would be nice if you could just turn hard left in Florida, but I suspect that there is much more needed.
 
It's a great trip. Done 3 trips there and I agree with Ron, KFPR is a great place to start. This is another good place to start
http://www.bahamas.com/vacation-planning/pilots

If you can get to Air Venture, The Bahamas Tourism Department (Ministry, Bureau?) Has a tent with all kinds of info on the process and good deals for pilots that fly in. I always pick up a bag full of stuff but didn't find them this year. Have fun!!
 
Allen: I've flown there many times over the years in a Cherokee 235 the first time with my bride. It's really not a problem. Customs needs to be respected and it's a bit expensive. If you're serious, order this year's copy of the Bahamas & Caribbean Pilot's Guide. It discusses places to go; has some coupons, maps, discussions of facilities, phone numbers, airport diagrams and a lot of discussion about things to bring, things to do and where facilities like medical treatment is if you need it.

Use this to kick off your planning process. The AOPA web site also has excellent resources to read through. Get the maps and charts you need in advance and enjoy the trip.

Best,

Dave
 
Thanks for the info. Out of curiosity, what makes this an expensive option? I'm a cheap SOB so taking my own little experimental plane for the trip would for the purposes of keep such a trip low budget. No need to stay at the overly inflated tourist trap locations.

For a trip like this I would budget about 3-4k total. (ALL expenses for a 12 day trip from Roanoke)

Thoughts?
 
Allen,

I was supposed to depart on a trip to Grenada (going through the Bahamas) this Saturday in the Mooney. My friend is starting med school down there, so we were going to make a fun trip out of flying the thing down, island hopping, and dropping him off. We ended up having to cancel the trip because the Mooney's insurance wouldn't cover it. We're rescheduling the trip for something in probably June or August (either when he comes home for the summer or needs to go back for the fall), and we're going to take the Aztec this time. The Aztec is not only a better choice for the trip, due to its larger size and much higher useful load, I'll be able to bring some more friends along so I don't have to fly home solo.

I started a thread with my experiences and what I found, you can find it here:

http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24256&highlight=grenada

The biggest legal things off the top of my head are:

1) Make sure that your insurance covers it!
2) Make sure to get your radio licences, both for the plane and for the pilot
3) Order your DTOPS user fee decal (a customs requirement)
4) Order the appropriate charts. Jeppesen makes a full Caribbean travel kit (IFR), which I bought and I think is a worthwhile purchase. You can also get the VFR WAC charts, which I bought as well (I like having both)

There's more, I'm sure, but I can't think of it off the top of my head.

AOPA's resources are decent, but I was happier with the service I got from Jim at Caribbean Flying Adventures. He's got a fee for use of his website, but it's worth it. There's a lot of good information on there, including fuel prices.

Your $3-4k total budget sounds reasonable to me, especially given the fact that your plane burns so little fuel. I would expect you to spend less than that, actually. It seemed that we were going to spend about $5k on the trip to Grenada (round trip) coming from New York in the Mooney. Figure in the Aztec it'll be more due to the higher fuel cost.

Allow a few months between start of planning (today) and when you plan to take the trip, as a number of these things may take some time. I ordered the DTOPS tag about 3 weeks ago for the Mooney and haven't gotten it yet. I pushed too close, and it may not have arrived in time for my trip anyway. I am thinking I should order the one for the Aztec now, just so I have it, but I'll wait until I get all the official paperwork back from the FAA.

Good luck!
 
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