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Planning a trip to The Bahamas next month in the F. Targeting Great Abaco/ Grand Bahama specifically.

Was hoping for some recent experiences,gotchas, and stories that are not listed in the Bahamas guide book from AOPA.

 

Merry Christmas 

Edited by Mooney1
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I am there now. First time flying there all the way down from Buffalo. Entering was fairly easy, haven't experienced any gotchas yet. Pretty simple process, stayed in Exuma Islands on Black Point and planning to fly over to Staniel Cay tomorrow. Hard to get around Exumas without a boat and a lot of the attractions require a boat, so renting one or befriending someone and trading plane rides for boat rides is useful :).

I flew from Boca Raton to Great Exuma Island to clear customs. $50 per plane and then $29 per person when you depart it must be from an AOE. Not all of the islands have fuel, so plan accordingly. Do you have some specific questions or looking for general advice on what to do when you're here and where in the Bahamas to fly into?

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8 hours ago, AlexLev said:

I am there now. First time flying there all the way down from Buffalo. Entering was fairly easy, haven't experienced any gotchas yet. Pretty simple process, stayed in Exuma Islands on Black Point and planning to fly over to Staniel Cay tomorrow. Hard to get around Exumas without a boat and a lot of the attractions require a boat, so renting one or befriending someone and trading plane rides for boat rides is useful :).

I flew from Boca Raton to Great Exuma Island to clear customs. $50 per plane and then $29 per person when you depart it must be from an AOE. Not all of the islands have fuel, so plan accordingly. Do you have some specific questions or looking for general advice on what to do when you're here and where in the Bahamas to fly into?

Great thanks for the reply! I have done a lot of Caribbean flying in corporate jets. First time in a SE. looking forward to it.

I am seeing a boat is very important at some locations.

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I have been to the Bahamas quite a bit, probably 30 or 40 times over the last 30 years.  Never Grand Bahama though.  I have made quite a few trips to Treasure Cay on Abaco, and we overfly Grand Bahama every time.  Looks nice and looks like good bonefish flats on the north side. I have only flown my own plane there four times, twice to Treasure, once to Long Island (Stella Maris) and once to Congotown (Andros).  The biggest issue for me is the timing.  It is not legal to fly after dark, and you need to clear customs when coming over from the US, and customs in many of the small airports closes pretty early, sometimes 4:30.  So during the winter when sunset comes early it is necessary to figure out how you can get to a customs station, clear customs, and then be on the ground before dark if you are going somewhere else.  It is always worthwhile to call ahead to your destination to find out (1) how late customs is open, and (2) if they actually have Avgas.  The manuals will say one thing, but if they haven’t gotten a fuel delivery in awhile, reality will be something else.  That is just how it is in the Bahamas.  Bring chocks (I have my own lightweight set) and tie down ropes.  There will be plenty of places to park usually, but chocks and ropes are usually on you.  Life vests are required and a raft is a very good idea.  You can rent both at Ft. Pierce, but call ahead and reserve or they might not have them when you get there.  My preference in the Bahamas is to stay away from the touristy areas of Freeport and Nassau.  There are lots of private places to rent everywhere.  You have to sort of make everything up on your own, but it is not very hard.  The out islands are much more enjoyable unless you just gotta have your all-inclusive.

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44 minutes ago, jlunseth said:

I have been to the Bahamas quite a bit, probably 30 or 40 times over the last 30 years.  Never Grand Bahama though.  I have made quite a few trips to Treasure Cay on Abaco, and we overfly Grand Bahama every time.  Looks nice and looks like good bonefish flats on the north side. I have only flown my own plane there four times, twice to Treasure, once to Long Island (Stella Maris) and once to Congotown (Andros).  The biggest issue for me is the timing.  It is not legal to fly after dark, and you need to clear customs when coming over from the US, and customs in many of the small airports closes pretty early, sometimes 4:30.  So during the winter when sunset comes early it is necessary to figure out how you can get to a customs station, clear customs, and then be on the ground before dark if you are going somewhere else.  It is always worthwhile to call ahead to your destination to find out (1) how late customs is open, and (2) if they actually have Avgas.  The manuals will say one thing, but if they haven’t gotten a fuel delivery in awhile, reality will be something else.  That is just how it is in the Bahamas.  Bring chocks (I have my own lightweight set) and tie down ropes.  There will be plenty of places to park usually, but chocks and ropes are usually on you.  Life vests are required and a raft is a very good idea.  You can rent both at Ft. Pierce, but call ahead and reserve or they might not have them when you get there.  My preference in the Bahamas is to stay away from the touristy areas of Freeport and Nassau.  There are lots of private places to rent everywhere.  You have to sort of make everything up on your own, but it is not very hard.  The out islands are much more enjoyable unless you just gotta have your all-inclusive.

Excellent info! We are looking at clearing in Freeport then going over to Walker Cay explore for a bit, then staying on Spanish Cay. I am approaching this as be fully self sufficient. Bring my own chocks, ropes, oil, and I am only counting on fuel at the larger ports of call (Marsh Harbor, Freeport, Nassau) anywhere else I am considering a bonus. Planning on typical “island” info as I call it. The guide as you mentioned will state one thing but I am sure it is going to be something else when we get there, already encountered that with pricing at Spanish Cay.

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Yeah, the guide only tells you that they have Avgas facilities.  To actually get fuel, the airport must (1) have a tank and a pump, and (2) have gotten a fuel delivery sometime in the last six months.  Its the second part that is iffy.  There have even been problems with that at Marsh, although not recently that I know of.  There has been a golf cart rental place on every island I have been to, it just takes a little work to find it.  Gives you alot more freedom to move around the island, although I have always prefered to rent a bike.  If you are a fly fisherman, then I probably don’t need to tell you this, but bring an 8-weight rod, a reel with good backing at least 20 pound, some flies, and some flats boots.  Most islands have a flat somewhere,  you can get off by yourself and enjoy some bonefishing, or get a guide.  

Practice your crosswinds before you go.  All the strips I have landed on out there are 90 degrees from the prevailing wind, which comes in off the ocean and is usually pretty stiff.  Don’t know about the F, but my 231 does not have great rudder authority.  To get it, I have to land differently, about 10 kts above normal landing speed, fly it down to the runway.  Trying to land in a Bahamas crosswind at normal landing speed is just to exciting for me.  Quite a few of the strips are in Bahamian pine forests, so you will have one wind above the treetops, and another swirling wind above the runway.

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On 12/24/2017 at 4:37 PM, flyboy0681 said:

Has anybody cleared customs at the new Boca Raton facility?

It's unfortunately not functional yet, they plan to open sometime in January. I had to clear at FXE before doing the flight back up to Boca Raton. I just got back from the Bahamas today. If you're going to travel down toward the Exuma Island Chains, here's some more recommendations / my experience:

Staniel Cay: MYES - walking distance to the Staniel Key Yacht Club. Nice place for lunch - probably the most crowded island in the Exumas. The Yacht Club is ritzy and there are nursing sharks near the boat dock. Here, you can find a boater to take you to see the swimming pigs and into the Thunderbolt Cave. Expect to pay about $100 or so for the boat ride over and a tour, but if you befriend some folks with a boat and trade plane rides you may be able to get in for free ;).

MYEB is Black Point and only 5 miles from Staniel Cay -- much more of an authentic island life experience without many amenities. Lots of beaches to yourself. If you're into food tourism, land at MYEB and walk the half mile into town. Right behind Lorraine's Cafe is a house where a lady bakes the most amazing bread you will ever taste. She charges about $6/loaf...the coconut cinnamon raisin was incredible, but I'm sure any of the flavors will be mind blowing. You can just knock on her door right before Lorraine's Cafe or ask the folks in the cafe (or really anyone on the island) where you can buy the bread and they will show you.

My only regret was not buying more. My wife and I spent most of our 3 days in Black Point. There was practically no one here around the Christmas time and I was the only aircraft parked in the airport. We enjoyed the town and it was fun to take day trips to Staniel Cay, Cat Island etc..

MYEN -- Norman's Cay - didn't make it over here, but apparently right next to the airport is a sunken DC3 that used to be a drug running aircraft. You can snorkel and see the wreck or even fly by and see it.

Cat Island is a fun day trip. MYCB is New Bight airport in Cat Island. Large runway and it's about 1 mile from Fernandez Beach Village. You can catch a taxi at the airport or it's about a 20 minute walk. Fernandez Beach here incredible for swimming. The most amazing water (not so much for snorkeling, for swimming and beaching and there are lawnchairs, etc. available for free)...once you're done swimming, hop back to the plane and land at Hawk's Nest airport on Cat Island..but even before you do that, inquire with the locals at the airport about Flour Cake and go buy some. It's a baked good that's famous throughout Bahamas as originating in Cat Island. There's a lady that bakes some and sells some. Unfortunately, when we came...the next batch wouldn't be done until 2pm and we had to go before then, but hopefully you will get to try it.

Okay -- back to Hawk's Nest resort. Supposedly, there is a $15 landing fee, but we were never charged. We landed, parked and had lunch there...and despite the beautiful resort having practically no guests on Christmas, the lunch facility stayed open and we had a really nice lunch with the fresh fish wrap. It was so good!!! The best lunch we've eaten while we were traveling around. Worthwhile stop at the resort for lunch and the facilities looked pretty good, so you may even want to look into lodging here at some point.

As far as customs, I cleared at Exuma International and Odyssey took good care, but their prices are steep for fuel. I ended up hitting up Governors Harbor (MYEM) in Eleuthra for the departure (you are supposed to depart the Bahamas from an AOE and pay a $29/per person departure fee) and got a nice deal on fuel at about $6.50/gallon on 100LL including the VAT fees. Earco Elite took good care of us. Fuel is cheaper here if you pay with cash, otherwise be prepared to pay an additional 5% credit card fee. It's like this pretty much everyone in the Bahamas where if you're not paying with cash, you will pay 5% more with a card.

Hope this info is helpful and gives you some ideas! Cheers and happy travels! ...now to fly the Mooney back up north to our home base in Buffalo...Brrr...

Edited by AlexLev
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23 hours ago, AlexLev said:

Right behind Lorraine's Cafe is a house where a lady bakes the most amazing bread you will ever taste. She charges about $6/loaf

We bought some from her too. It was a great in flight snack while we were Island hopping the Exhumas. That was a few years ago now, she only raised the price one dollar.

 

23 hours ago, AlexLev said:

MYEN -- Norman's Cay - didn't make it over here, but apparently right next to the airport is a sunken DC3 that used to be a drug running aircraft. You can snorkel and see the wreck or even fly by and see it.

It’s actually a C46?do=download

cheers,

Dan

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Just calculated that my total fuel cost from Buffalo, NY to the Bahamas and back was $1138 -- gotta love a Mooney! That includes at least 40 gallons purchased at $6-7+ fuel prices in the Bahamas, although I tried to keep my stops en route South to places with $4 fuel and below.

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