Planning a circumnavigation of the Caribbean Sea. Which airports should I land at?

kicktireslightfires

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kicktireslightfires
Planning to take a month to do a solo circumnavigation of the Caribbean Sea in my plane. Would love to hear from anyone with experience flying the Caribbean and Central America and Mexico. The attached map is a very tentative route that I can easily change. Planning to go this January or February.

The whole trip will be done VFR. I can land in less than 1,000 feet so any hard surface runway will suffice. I use 100LL and have 600nm range so I can do most of the eastern Caribbean island hoping without having to refuel. I would probably top up with 100LL in St. John's (TAPA) and wouldn't need to refuel again until Grenada (for the 380nm hop to Bonaire). Yes, I'll have a raft with me and plenty of safety equipment including PLB and Iridium satellite phone so I'm not looking for feedback on that; just seeking advice on where to land and maybe what to see. For anyone wondering about the Grenada to Bonaire leg, the FAA lifted the Venezuelan airspace restriction last year so no permit is necessary to fly from Grenada to Bonaire. It would be lovely if this thread could stay positive with helpful advice. Thanks in advance!

Trip.png
 
What are you flying?

Off the top of my head, cool airports I don’t see on your flight plan: TJCP, TNCS, TKPN, TDCF. Not sure how well the Grenadines have recovered but there are some great airports there: TVSB, TVSM, TVSC. If you want to try St. Barts I can give you the name of an instructor who does it, he’s part 121 in the area and instructs on the side. Don’t try it on your own, they will check your papers. SVRS is great.

Oh, and can I come with you?
 
Itinerary looks good. I'm glad i did my crossing before inflation took over. Some of those stops are spendy these days.

Enjoys and fly safe!
 
Sounds awesome. I hope you write up a nice article about the trip and share it with us. Here is my 2 cents:
- We loved T&C. Grace Bay beach is incredible, and the food was amazing. The fees are steep, but life is short.
- We loved Santo Domingo. The airport was easy (the handler was pricey, but oh well) and the town has a ton of history.
- We also loved San Juan. Super easy airport and visiting the old town was amazing.

Any chance you can fly over Angel Falls in Venezuela?
 
Personally, TNCM and TFFJ are on my bucket list. TNCM so I can land over the beach for funsies and probably spend a few days there watching airplanes while chilling on the beach. Then, get certified to fly into TFFJ and do that because it looks like a really cool challenge.
 
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