Flying to the Bahamas

[ryoder]

It's about 70 miles to the Bahamas from West Palm Beach. Who has done this trip? Any tips?

Maybe when I get my engine overhauled I can do this.

I was thinking if I could take off and circle offshore building altitude and bring oxygen I could minimize my chances of being out of power off gliding range from the shore. At 10k feet I could glide 18 miles or so. That would give me 34 miles of no turning back. At 150 mph that would be about twenty minutes of tension.

What is involved customs wise? This is my Everest

[carusoam]

There are a few threads here on the Bahamas and Caribbean...

Start flying long distances.

Get to know your plane.

Get to know your weather.

Get some appropriate safety gear.

Get going on your IR.

It's more of a Mt. Washington...

Get going!

[chrisk]

I've never done it, but it has been on my list for a while.   I've flown over some pretty unpopulated harsh land and a warm water ditching has to be safer.  And I think you are right that altitude is your friend.  But  I wouldn't bother circling, as you will be close to shore (only 20) minutes out or so before hitting your altitude.  I'd only start to worry when you are 50+ miles off shore. It would take a boat a while to get there.  --Anyway, I'm hoping to make the Dominican Republic (or Cozumel) this year.

 

I do think a floating PLB, a life raft, and life vests are really good things to have if you have to ditch.

[Jeev]

Hey Ryan - I have done it 3 times and will be heading back to cat Island next month its a great trip and once you get over Grand Bahama you are just "island hopping" and well within glide of land.  My 1st trip was all the way from Las Vegas and I had 2200 hrs on my IO-360.  Every time I go from Tampa I usually take the shortest straight line route from the East coast of FL to Grand Bahama IFR 11000 going and 10000 on my way back and yes it works out to around 25 mins of not being able to glide to land.  I (and my passengers) always put on life vests in Tampa and only take them off when I land in the Bahamas.  I also have a pouch attached to my vest containing a spare air canister (about 15 breaths), sea markers, knife with seatbelt cutter, 406 PLB, and water.  I need to add a good raft but usually rent.  My thought process is with the USCG responsible for the area, warm water and the ability to put the Mooney in the water wheels up, tail low just above stall we have decent odds.  Give me a call or email and I can discuss what has worked well for me.  It is a must to visit the Bahamas if you are living in the SE with a private plane, such an amazing experience!

[201er]

Bahamas customs are really relaxed and forgiving (unlike American) so it's a good first international flight experience. It is the flight back to the US that you have to be more careful about but usually the people at the Bahamas FBO can help you. Don't buy gas there, it is much cheaper in Florida. If you don't have a raft, at least get life jackets. If you are crossing at altitude VMC, even if you can't glide to shore you are likely to be able to glide to some vessel. Bahamas controllers are very relaxed, almost too much. You may have a hard time understanding them so pay attention to them talking to other aircraft so you are more prepared. It's not as big of a deal to go there as it may seem. Definitely one of the easier interantional flights I have done.

[ArtVandelay]

By the book, you are suppose to have radio license yourself and a permit for the plane. I've been there by boat and they don't ask, don't know if they do if arriving by plane. If worried about ditching, leave from Fort Pierce, head south to KSUA, if you take your time switching to ATC and making a slow turn east when ask you to proceed direct, you'll only be out of glide distance for the middle 20 miles.

[ryoder]

Thanks guys. I am not going yet but will work toward it and get back in touch when I am ready. I guess I'll go buy a ham radio to practice for my radio license

[ArtVandelay]

Thanks guys. I am not going yet but will work toward it and get back in touch when I am ready. I guess I'll go buy a ham radio to practice for my radio license

Not that kind of license, this kind is nothing but paperwork

[Hank]

All you need for your radio license is the FCC form and $5. It's automatic for aircraft & owners.

[chrisk]

All you need for your radio license is the FCC form and $5. It's automatic for aircraft & owners.

I seem to recall it was more than $5, but less than $100.

[flyboy0681]

I've flown to various parts of the Bahamas and the first trip is always the most nerve-racking. Since that first trip I don't think much of the overwater portion much anymore. I just stay high, stay in contact and scour the ocean for boats and ships.

 

Grand Bahama is visible from low altitude from the Florida shoreline so don't worry about getting lost at sea or the Bermuda Triangle.

 

My only pointers are to top off before leaving the US because not all airports there have fuel. Bring a raft and brief the person in the right seat on what to expect and do in case of you know what. Their task will be to prop open the door before splashdown and get the raft out and deployed while keeping a tight hold on the line until they can secure it around their hand or waist.

[Becca]

It's about 70 miles to the Bahamas from West Palm Beach. Who has done this trip? Any tips?

Maybe when I get my engine overhauled I can do this.

I was thinking if I could take off and circle offshore building altitude and bring oxygen I could minimize my chances of being out of power off gliding range from the shore. At 10k feet I could glide 18 miles or so. That would give me 34 miles of no turning back. At 150 mph that would be about twenty minutes of tension.

What is involved customs wise? This is my Everest

 

Byron and I did this a few Christmas's ago.  We went to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and loved it.  My tripadvisor review is here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147432-d151501-r148032073-Staniel_Cay_Yacht_Club-Staniel_Cay_Out_Islands_Bahamas.html#REVIEWS

 

If we go again, Cats and Long Island, and Green Turtle are all on my list.  Hopefully we will go again next year.  This is a must-do trip!  If you go over a holiday book WAY ahead.  I personally had a really bad experience with attempting to book the highly-rated Shanna's Cove, so I would not put up with that if I were you, but to each their own.

 

A few pieces of advice:

1.  Get some lifetime on your engine before you fly there.  We, cough cough, may have lost a brand new mag in north florida that almost delayed our trip.  Would have HATE to have that happen before the Bahamas.

2.  Don't worry about altitude.  The Bahamas are best seen by LOW altitude, not high.  What's high altitude going to give you?  More time to land in the great big Ocean?  The water is warm, blue, shallow, and there was endless boat traffic.  There is radar coverage the whole way.  You will be seen and rescued.  What we did do is plan our route for the shortest water crossing, then we overflew the islands to our end destination.  This was scenic and put land below us, though the best emergency landing spot was the water on the lee side of the islands.

3.  Beechtalk is an excellent resource for Bahamas flying.  We used it quite a bit (they have a more active "trips" thread than we do).  I wrote the trip report that's in this thread, scroll down:  http://www.beechtalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=73270 (I think I did cross post it on Mooneyspace but I can't find it here). The thread over there has pictures, but here are my lessons learned:

4. Most of the islands (the small ones worth visiting) are VFR only.  This trip can totally be done as a VFR pilot.

5.  The most annoying "customs" part was coming back to the US because you need an appt and some places are only open weekdays 9-5.  But I think Fort Lauderdale does have extended hours.

 

My lessons learned

 

 

Some lessons learned for pilots flying there:

1. We opted for the non-all-inclusive in part because we weren't going to use the boat every day, but also because the 20% "pilot discount" applied only to the non-all inclusive, and if you do the math, even with renting the boat every day, it was worth getting this discount (it cancels out the resort tax).

2. The Bahamas offers a $300 fuel credit if you stay 4 nights at a participating resort. When we booked our reservations, there was a blackout date that began on Dec 21, so it wasn't going to be useful for us. But when we got there, we found out the black out date got moved to Dec 26! However, not even the hotel knew this (though it was clear on the web site, the internet was of course down when we checked out), though they said contact them when we get back to the US. However, when we got back to claim the discount they said they needed a copy of our C7A (cruising permit), which we have, our pilots licenses (which we obviously have) and our immigrations cards - uh, huge problem since they take those from you on departure. They are speaking with the Bahamian tourist board to see if there's some other paperwork we could provide instead, because that's an awesome deal.

3. The internet is super sketchy there - get everything filed that you can file (eapis, IFR/DVFR flight plan, etc.) on file before you leave. The internet was down at least 50% of our stay.

4. Bring tie downs and chocks for all three wheels with you. There was only frayed rope and one or two sets of broken chocks.

5. We had heard that you could pay your departure tax on arrival to save a trip to a customs airport on departure. We tried, they would not allow this or take our money at arrival. Speaking to some other pilots, it sounds like people do leave without clearing customs on the way out. We are kind of rule-abiding types, so we stopped at San Andros to clear customs and pay our departure tax on the way out, it was also fast and efficient.

6. Overall the runways were good quality, a little rough, but nothing to worry about. All fields expect the big ones use 122.8 and it was fun listening to people coming and going up the island chains.

7. Rick Ott + everyone else here, gave us oodles of awesome advice. The only place he steered us wrong was on the marshmellows for the pigs - we brought them four bags of the sweet yummy marshmellows, but they much preferred the bread leftover from the kitchen at the yacht club. I suspect there's a lot of uneaten marshmellows floating around the beaches about now. Also, on the pigs, don't get so close to shore that they can board your boat, because they can, and will.

[gsxrpilot]

This is on my bucket list as well. Is there any "bad" time of year to go to the Bahamas? 

[flyboy0681]

This is on my bucket list as well. Is there any "bad" time of year to go to the Bahamas? 

 

Good question. I would say the spring because the summers are miserably hot and humid and the winter could be unpredictable with cold snaps, like we are all getting this week. If you can reserve a place in the winter which doesn't carry a hefty cancellation fee, then that would work too.

[ArtVandelay]

Good question. I would say the spring because the summers are miserably hot and humid and the winter could be unpredictable with cold snaps, like we are all getting this week. If you can reserve a place in the winter which doesn't carry a hefty cancellation fee, then that would work too.

Have been there in the summer? The winds pick up in the afternoon, temperatures are moderated by the water, usually top around 90, you would need air conditioning at night. If you think 90 is hot, then yes you might not like it.

[ArtVandelay]

I seem to recall it was more than $5, but less than $100.

I just look up the fees:

Application fee $65

Regulatory fee $100

For an aircraft radio service 605, 159 forms

[Becca]

This is on my bucket list as well. Is there any "bad" time of year to go to the Bahamas? 

 

Hurricane season probably adds an element of unpredictibility.  The sea breeze and water probably makes summer bearable, so otherwise...

[Seth]

I do think a floating PLB, a life raft, and life vests are really good things to have if you have to ditch.

Add a handheld marine radio to that list

Would love to fly to the Bahamas at some point!

-Seth

[lahso]

My wife and I went to Long Island (Cape Santa Maria) in Aug 2013. First time taking the Mooney internationally, and it was a breeze. Flew out of Ft. Pierce, and landed at Stella Maris. Had a great time, would do it again, but probably go to Green Turtle Cay or North Eleuthera next time. 

[flyboy0681]

Hurricane season probably adds an element of unpredictibility.  The sea breeze and water probably makes summer bearable, so otherwise...

 

 

I flew to Eleuthera last August for a few days and it was hot.

[Bob_Belville]

We flew from KPBI to MHH in 1983. Snorkeling the week before Christmas was weird good.

 

I think we rented a raft and life vests @KPBI. We were out of glide range for only a few minutes. (Much less a pucker factor than KMKE/KMKG!)

[jlunseth]

A few things, and I will try not to duplicate what has already been said.

 

Flying at night is not allowed in the Bahamas, so you need to make your destination by sunset.  Most of the airports are not lighted anyway.  Also, in most places customs closes fairly early, like 4:30, so you need to call ahead to your destination airport and find out what time you must get there, in order to clear customs.  Once cleared through customs at your Airport of Entry, where you should make sure you get cruising permit, you can then go elsewhere in the Bahamas without having to clear customs.  There is a "head tax" or departure tax, it has been $25 per person for decades but I understand it has gone up to $29.  Make sure you keep enough cash to pay it on the way out.  There was also an issue about a year ago that the government was charging landing fees for aircraft, and then the fee that was charged at a given airport was different from other airports.  You should check into that, I have not ever been charged but have not been there for about a year.

 

Bring your own tie down ropes.  Most places will have good anchor points, but no ropes.

 

If you stop at Ft. Pierce, APP Jet Center, you can rent lifejackets and a life raft.  The life jackets are required by the Bahamas.  A life raft is not, but they are a small package and worth the investment.

 

If you look at a chart you will see that the best passage if you want as little time over water as possible, is roughly West Palm, to Freeport, then east over Grand Bahama, then to Abaco and south over Abaco.  Be aware that you will never get this route if you are on an IFR flight plan.  ATC will virtually always send you to Freeport, and then by direct route to your destination, however much overwatering that involves.  I don't mind it, but if you are concerned about it then you need to look into what it takes to fly VFR in the Bahamas.  I am typically IFR so can't help you much on that.

 

I did learn one trick the last time I went.  I live in Minnesota, and it is virtually impossible to make it to Ft. Pierce, rent the raft and jackets, and get over to the Bahamas before customs closes, without overnighting in Ft. Pierce.  Last time I thought to check on customs in Nassau.  It turned out they are open quite late, after dark during the winter.  The FBO there was also extremely helpful, they were able to get me through customs, fueled up, and a flight plan filed, in about a half hour, and for the first time I was able to make my destination (Congotown) in a single day from Minnesota.  Filing a flight plan at Nassau was not an easy thing, they must fill out a paper flight plan and that is whether you are going IFR or VFR, and it then needs to get faxed to the tower at Nassau.  The FBO then calls the tower to confirm they have the plan, and only then can you go.  But they were very quick about it for me. 

 

One other issue is filing your eAPIS manifest and making your call to US Customs to let them know your arrival time.  You can't just assume your cell phone is going to work in the Bahamas, in some places it will, in some it won't.  Internet connections are also not available for free at your local Starbucks, for one thing, there aren't any Starbucks.  I bring a WiFi laptop and an iPad, and have filed from both of them, but sometimes it takes awhile because of the slowness of the Internet.  As a last resort, you can usually ask one of the commercial airlines people at your airport of departure, they typically have one desk where you can borrow their computer and file.

 

Lastly, don't try bringing back any shells, particularly conch shells, you need a big bunch of documents to do that and it is just not worth it.

[ArtVandelay]

If you are just stopping in Bahamas for fuel, is the process abbreviated?

[Wistarmo]

Have been flying to the Bahamas for over twenty years and my wife and I go several times a year. For entering the Bahamas, the forms, number of forms, and fees seem to change with every trip. As I write this, we are currently in the Exumas. They wanted C7A's to enter, C7's to depart, and will be charging us $50 customs fee and $29 per person departure tax when we leave. An essential website is www.pilotpub.com. You can download the C7 forms and keep them on your computer for future trips, filling them out before you go and saving valuable beach time clearing customs/immigration. I also grab a handful of immigration cards there and U.S. Customs cards on the way in so that I can fill them out in advance.

Pilotpub also sells the Bahamas Pilot Guide which covers evey possible aspect of the trip. In 2014, you could buy it as an app for the iPad, but for 2015 you have to order a hardcopy. It is indispensable.

You can fly out directly from anywhere, but must return to a U.S. Customs port of entry closest to where you cross the coastline. Filing IFR eliminates all concerns about ADIZ crossing issues.

EAPIS is a royal pain, but gets easier with use. You can save passenger manifests for re-use for future flights.

Fort Pierce is a pleasure to return to, refuel, and get lunch.

After a couple of trips, just buy lifejackets and a raft.

Overall, it is much easier than years ago. GPS makes navigation a cinch. Foreflight covers the maps and FBO's. More and more FBO's are carrying 100LL blue AVGAS instead of the old 100 octane green AVGAS; haven't bought any of that in years.

If you are flying off the range of the maps in Foreflight, you can order a Caribbean Trip Kit from Jeppesen, which may be overkill, or an L-5/L-6 map from a number of sources.

Really, buy the Bahamas Pilot Guide and it will tell you everything you need to know. Check out my photo gallery.

[carl]

I flew to Bimini from Fort Lauderdale Fla.

In a 172, at 3000 feet.

I was always in view of a sport boat or a sailboat , they were everywhere.

 

The custom man said "what you come here for ?" I said "lunch" , and that was it. I was charged nothing in or nothing out. They charge a fee.?

Some airports may not have fuel.

 

Carl