Island Hopping the Caribbean

EdFred

EdFred

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What resources (or pireps from here) are out there for landings fees/departure taxes/fuel prices/entry and exit procedures/ease of getting in and out for the Eastern Caribbean?

In the preliminary stages of island hopping (not all, but some) the Caribbean Islands chain from the U.S.V.I. all the way to Trinidad. Some islands more GA friendly than others? Best scuba/snorkel spots?

Very, very, very basic route leaving the mainland looks like:
Not sure if we should just put 1100nm on the first/last day, or overnight in Provo one or both directions.

Fort Pierce ==> Provo (not the one in Utah)
Most likely a fuel stop only.​
==> St Thomas
Fuel stop only
(Both I and travel companion have been here before)​
==> ???????
1-2 nights​
==> ???????
1-2 nights​
==> Trinidad
1-2 nights​
==> ????????
1-2 nights​
==> ????????
1-2 nights​
==> St Thomas
Fuel Stop​
==> Provo again or somewhere in the Bahamas if there's not a million dollar a gallon fuel.
Fuel + 2 overnights​
==> Fort Pierce

Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St Lucia, St Kitts & Nevis, Antigua & Barbuda, St Vincent & The Grenadines are all on the suggested list of places to stop, along with St Barts just to do "the landing," but am open to suggestions not listed. Any definites, on or not on this list or nah don't bother on the list?

Oh yeah, ASEL.
 
I prefer Tobago to Trinidad if sight seeing. Tobago was much more tourist friendly.
(My first wife was Trini).

Tim

Sent from my HD1907 using Tapatalk
 
Have heard the Provo fuel/fees are hideous expensive. Too bad since the scuba diving there is fantastic and if you like strolling beaches is awesome.

My understanding is that you are not allowed to do the St.Barts landing over the road and down the hill without some type of local training first. Hopefully someone else can confirm

Sorry, seems like only bad news but hopefully just a few hiccups on what seems like a epic flying trip!
 
Sinistar said:
Have heard the Provo fuel/fees are hideous expensive. Too bad since the scuba diving there is fantastic and if you like strolling beaches is awesome.

My understanding is that you are not allowed to do the St.Barts landing over the road and down the hill without some type of local training first. Hopefully someone else can confirm

Sorry, seems like only bad news but hopefully just a few hiccups on what seems like a epic flying trip!
Click to expand...

From what I've seen right now the fuel at Provo isn't bad under 6 bucks, and looks like fees run about 150. But unless I can catch a big tailwind (or get aux tanks put in...hmmm...maybe that's a better option) I gotta stop in the Bahamas $$$$/Turks$$/DR$$$$$, or I have serious pucker factor trying to make it to PR 853 miles from TMB) I know there's special training to go into Saba, but I thought St Bart's was OK on your own. Unless they changed it since Aztec guy. But it looks like St Barts is out for now since they require a 7 night stay due to C-19. Why...not gonna try and figure it out.
 
For the trip you have outlined I highly recommend you take a raft and have a good PLB. SAR in that region is really poor.
 
I wouldn't touch Provo for this crossing. provo makes sense only if you're really fuel limited, like in the case of my short tank arrow. And even then, i pushed it and crossed from the Bahamas (long island) with an 1+10 reserve.

Gorgeous beaches, just not GA friendly compared to the Bahamas (50 buck departure tax, 29 per person if entering the country proper). Fees in TC are closer to 250 before gas. I think you got your $$ data points flipped. DR and BA are both cheaper than Turks and Caicos all in. I wouldn't go just by 100ll , the customs and landing fees will greatly exceed the fuel unit price differential. Provo is also a lot more likely to get ya stuck in an airliner conga line, which can absolutely wreck your block time vs out island departures in the Bahamas.

With 86 usable on board, south Florida to west PR is a snoozer if you're gonna make a fuel stop anyways. Consider I did it from farther away (KFPR) and had 40 less gallons on board than you. I'm planning on getting a 72 usable NA arrow for the next trip (7 hour endurance with 45 min reserve at 130ktas) and launching non stop from fort Lauderdale/pompano area. A Comanche 250 would do it no sweat, you just have to use 4 banger fuel profile is all.

At any rate, if you're gonna split the crossing, my recommendation is Stella Maris for overall quickness of turn time, with a second being exuma. Stella is kinda remote though (no electricity in my second crossing, almost got stuck waiting there if I had not brought blood chit money) so I actually recommend exuma since it's more logistically convenient (a place I'd prefer to endure an AOG compared to Stella). From there getting to PR is a breeze. Hell you can make st Thomas outright from there with 86 gallons.

Can't help ya with the lesser Antilles, my Caribbean interests stop in Culebra.

The real time savings of the non stop crossing are in bypassing the customs kabuki, not the block time, or even the fueling. US customs in particular is a gratuitous time sink. It's also very inconsistent. A keystone cop exercise in watching bored govt workers play detective and make-work at my expense. They even boarded and unloaded my property in the cabin without my consent or physical presence. A real overreaching clown show. I'd pee in a bottle twice in one day to bypass the former lol.

Enjoy the trip!
 
hindsight2020 said:
I wouldn't touch Provo for this crossing. provo makes sense only if you're really fuel limited, like in the case of my short tank arrow. And even then, i pushed it and crossed from the Bahamas (long island) with an 1+10 reserve.

Gorgeous beaches, just not GA friendly compared to the Bahamas (50 buck departure tax, 29 per person if entering the country proper). Fees in TC are closer to 250 before gas. I think you got your $$ data points flipped. DR and BA are both cheaper than Turks and Caicos all in. I wouldn't go just by 100ll , the customs and landing fees will greatly exceed the fuel unit price differential. Provo is also a lot more likely to get ya stuck in an airliner conga line, which can absolutely wreck your block time vs out island departures in the Bahamas.

With 86 usable on board, south Florida to west PR is a snoozer if you're gonna make a fuel stop anyways. Consider I did it from farther away (KFPR) and had 40 less gallons on board than you. I'm planning on getting a 72 usable NA arrow for the next trip (7 hour endurance with 45 min reserve at 130ktas) and launching non stop from fort Lauderdale/pompano area. A Comanche 250 would do it no sweat, you just have to use 4 banger fuel profile is all.

At any rate, if you're gonna split the crossing, my recommendation is Stella Maris for overall quickness of turn time, with a second being exuma. Stella is kinda remote though (no electricity in my second crossing, almost got stuck waiting there if I had not brought blood chit money) so I actually recommend exuma since it's more logistically convenient (a place I'd prefer to endure an AOG compared to Stella). From there getting to PR is a breeze. Hell you can make st Thomas outright from there with 86 gallons.

Can't help ya with the lesser Antilles, my Caribbean interests stop in Culebra.

The real time savings of the non stop crossing are in bypassing the customs kabuki, not the block time, or even the fueling. US customs in particular is a gratuitous time sink. It's also very inconsistent. A keystone cop exercise in watching bored govt workers play detective and make-work at my expense. They even boarded and unloaded my property in the cabin without my consent or physical presence. A real overreaching clown show. I'd pee in a bottle twice in one day to bypass the former lol.

Enjoy the trip!
Click to expand...

If I could do So Fla to PR I could skip all the customs BS and only deal with it once. No plans to overnight at St Thomas, so maybe customs will be easier since I'm never leaving the FBO? Maybe not. It's really that first/last chunk of the trip (and keeping the pax happy, because even if it was in the cards to do it all in one go, not sure they want to sit for 6+ hours without getting up to walk around) that is the fly in the ointment on this deal. But if I can short fuel a little on that $8.00 fuel, I'll take what's needed plus a safety margin. If only I had 120 gals.....time to message my mechanic....lol
 
EdFred said:
If I could do So Fla to PR I could skip all the customs BS and only deal with it once. No plans to overnight at St Thomas, so maybe customs will be easier since I'm never leaving the FBO? Maybe not. It's really that first/last chunk of the trip (and keeping the pax happy, because even if it was in the cards to do it all in one go, not sure they want to sit for 6+ hours without getting up to walk around) that is the fly in the ointment on this deal. But if I can short fuel a little on that $8.00 fuel, I'll take what's needed plus a safety margin. If only I had 120 gals.....time to message my mechanic....lol
Click to expand...

Oh ok, my mistake, I didn't catch that there were pax to contend with. In that case, agreed the Ironman legs are probably not in the interest of the trip. I would still opt for a Bahamas technical stop.

Fwiw, my data point at Stella had me turning in less than 30 minutes, including the customs paperwork processing. What took the longest what frankly getting a hold of US customs for the required phone ADCUS requirement. Otherwise it would have been quicker. Stella is pretty sparsely frequented, so it makes for a quick turn. Though I didn't land there, I presume Exuma is a bit more frequented due to 121 service, so turnaround could be more delayed. If you're dead set on patronizing Provo, I would give the FBO a call and get an updated rundown of fees as well as customs processing, to get an actual idea of how much the differential in gas between provo and bahamas would net you. Right now, for a technical stop only, in the bahamas is just $50.
 
Nothing to contribute here but watching with interest as I hope to do this one soon enough.
 
I’d suggest a stop in Exuma to enjoy Exuma. Loved it there.

As for the 121 traffic there, it’s just a few flights a day.
 
Yeah, I only know any of this stuff from the 121 side so nothing to contribute except to say that I'm jealous as hell and expect to see loads of pics!
 
kayoh190 said:
Yeah, I only know any of this stuff from the 121 side so nothing to contribute except to say that I'm jealous as hell and expect to see loads of pics!
Click to expand...

The only thing I got from doing that crossing from a pt 121 purview is that "you people" do two things too much while over the lonely waters: 1) meow on guard and 2) ask for "ride reports". I was tempted to pitch mine at "FL090 smooooooooth"...meow. :D
 
Looks like a fun trip, I was going to go the Bahamas after Sun and Fun, but the wife didn't want to chance getting stuck out of country with the covid rules so we dropped the idea. Turns out the weather would have sucked, but on my bucket list.

The AOPA has good resources on this and there is a Carribean travel company that will help you with logistics and paperwork, but it'll probably cost you. I think this is the place, I have a hat, but it's 100 miles away right now.

Caribbean Flying Adventures Bahamas Caribbean Pilot's Guide
 
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