Flying in the Bahamas

chrisesp

chrisesp

New Member
Does anybody here have experience flying in the Bahamas, I am aware of all the procedures to get there, but I am wondering if you can just fly around pick an Island land, then jump out of the plane and enjoy your own private beach for a day. I am thinking about taking this trip this summer, can anybody tell me if it's worth it or no?
 
You need to stop at a Port of Entry (POE) first, and fill out the Cruise Declaration. Then you can visit any island you like. Remember that you need to leave a POE before arriving at US territory (customs) because they will ge looking for your inbound General Delcaration.

There is an excellent Bahamas guide available in most pilot shops (and through Sporty's.)
 
I saw a show on the travel channel once about a guy in a seaplane. I'm guessing you probably dont have a seaplane rating but maybe when you're down there you could get it. A lot of the smaller more private islands didnt seem to have runways. So if your taking someone special ; ) then you might wanna get a seaplane and skip around to those. Just a thought....have fun.
 
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You need to stop at a Port of Entry (POE) first, and fill out the Cruise Declaration. Then you can visit any island you like. Remember that you need to leave a POE before arriving at US territory (customs) because they will ge looking for your inbound General Delcaration.

There is an excellent Bahamas guide available in most pilot shops (and through Sporty's.)

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Not to get off topic or anything, but Jesus John, your avatar is freaky looking. I like it!!!
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Yeah, what JT said. After you leave the US through a PoE, you're pretty much cool to go wherever. Just remember to file a DVFR or IFR flight plan on the way back, and be close to your ETA coming back into the PoE. I know the customs guys in FPR get pretty anal about that......
 
You know it's funny. I've only come through FPR once for customs clearence. They were by far the least friendly location I saw. Both PBI and FLL (while much busier) were friendly and quick to clear us. Going through FPR they not only took their time (he had to finish his personal cell phone call) but then had the audacity (sp?) to tell us that cell phones were not permitted in the building. Neither of us had our cell phones on. Just with us. Go figure.

Anyhow. Just file a DVFR to get back in and open it with either Freeport Radio or Miami Radio on the way back in. They will give you a sqwuak code for ADIZ penetration. Also, give customs a call right before you leave with a ETA so they can excpect you.

Ethan
 
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You know it's funny. I've only come through FPR once for customs clearence. They were by far the least friendly location I saw. Both PBI and FLL (while much busier) were friendly and quick to clear us. Going through FPR they not only took their time (he had to finish his personal cell phone call) but then had the audacity (sp?) to tell us that cell phones were not permitted in the building. Neither of us had our cell phones on. Just with us. Go figure.

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It's a crap shoot. Almost all of the customs/immigration officials in Florida are either semi-retired or so senior they are close. They certainly can't be hurried. Sometimes they are just plain rude. I've had rotten treatment in all of them, and I also have had pleasant experiences from each place.

What cracks me up is when they hand you a form you've never seen before and you say what's this, and they say "We've always used that form." It does no good to say "Oh really? I've been flying through here for the last 18 years and never seen it before." They just insist it's the form they always use. And it changes everytime you go through ...

I suppose we shouldn't complain because US Customs/Immigration service is free.

The Bahamians agents are a direct contrast. Even though they charge, I have found that you can avoid "overtime" charges, or any other "extra" charges by bringing your cooler in with you. They LOVE Sunny Delight and similar products. But even though they hit you for extra charges once in a while they are always polite and nice.

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Also, give customs a call right before you leave with a ETA so they can excpect you.


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This is nearly impossible unless you have a satellite phone. As of last summer there were no international phones available at any of the Bahamian ports, so you have to buy a phone card from a local store and make an international call to USA. The charges have come down, but I remember using up 3 $5 cards just to call FPR customs.

My old cell phone roamed in the Bahamas, but the charges were outrageous, almost $20 to make one call. The new cell phones I've seen DO NOT roam in the Bahamas unless you make prior arrangements with your company. Probably because they were sick of the complaints about the high roaming charges.
 
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I suppose we shouldn't complain because US Customs/Immigration service is free.

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Unless you count the fee for the cool sticker to put on your airplane every year......
 
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I suppose we shouldn't complain because US Customs/Immigration service is free.

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Unless you count the fee for the cool sticker to put on your airplane every year......

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LOL! That's true.
 
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This is nearly impossible unless you have a satellite phone. As of last summer there were no international phones available at any of the Bahamian ports, so you have to buy a phone card from a local store and make an international call to USA. The charges have come down, but I remember using up 3 $5 cards just to call FPR customs.


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True. I suppose you could have flight service call (either Freeport of Miami). Actually, come to think if it, there was a phone in Marsh Harbor, just to the left of the customs window.

Ethan
 
Anyone have any horror stories flying to the bahamas? Myself and a few other instructors from my school are talking about taking the trip in March. Then we talk to the one guy here who has done it and he said be prepared to pay out the nose fo a million different fees at each Island whether you have a cruise permit or not. He also said they were forced to pay cash for fuel and were threatened with having their plane impounded for refusing to pay cash. Maybe we will just fly to alaska.
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True. I suppose you could have flight service call (either Freeport of Miami). Actually, come to think if it, there was a phone in Marsh Harbor, just to the left of the customs window.


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It's a local phone though. You could use your calling card, if those still exist! I wish US Customs would get a Bahamian 800 #.

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Anyone have any horror stories flying to the bahamas? Myself and a few other instructors from my school are talking about taking the trip in March. Then we talk to the one guy here who has done it and he said be prepared to pay out the nose fo a million different fees at each Island whether you have a cruise permit or not. He also said they were forced to pay cash for fuel and were threatened with having their plane impounded for refusing to pay cash. Maybe we will just fly to alaska.

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Well .... I've been flying in the Bahamas (both 91 and 135) since 1990. I never had anyone threaten to impound my plane, although I got in some hot water at the afore mentioned Marsh Harbour once....

Back in '92, I was picking up some folks who were on a little vacation. They worked for the owner of the aircraft, so it was 91. It's pretty standard procedure to put "co-pilot" down on one of the pax bahama custom cards so they can get out of paying the $15 fee. Well I took one of the secretary's cards and changed her occupation to "co-pilot." Problem was, they had already split the 2 part form and I only had the bottom part.

The Bahamian customs officer had a hissy fit! He was stomping around in Customs telling me I was falsifying documents, in danger of fraud and he could have me arrested! I was scared spitless.

Later on I figured out that you can only do that if you have BOTH copies - and if he had submitted a copy that didn't match the original HE would get in trouble. My bad for being stupid...

Otherwise, every Bahamian customs person has been great. I have run in to cash only places, but I was forewarned so I had some cash on me all but once. North Eleuthra's credit card machine was on the blink and I had no cash - and I desperately needed fuel. THEY TOOK MY IOU!

I paid them 3 days later when I picked up the passengers I dropped off, which sort of explains it, but is still pretty amazing to me.

On another trip I asked a guy from customs in Rock Sound if he needed anything from the US, since I was coming back 3 days later. He said he needed two exhaust pipes for a 1975 Olds Toronado. They were hard to find but I found them for $80 a piece. They barely fit in the Shrike Commander, but I got them there (those things are almost 7 ft long!)

He gave me $200 for them and waved me through customs very quickly
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Maybe we will just fly to alaska.
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Not a bad idea there....
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Of course, unless you have he range to get from Bellingham to Ketchikan unrefueled then you're still going to have to go through Canadian customs.

It's about 600 miles, however, the terrain is EXTREMELY remote with hardly any divert options and very mountainous and a lot of water. Probably not something you want to do in a single.....
 
Hey Tallflyer,
I thought maybe I would fly up there and start handing out resumes. Any advice on the job front in alaska. I tried to get hired at Take Flight alaska but I had no cessna time and so that got me nowhere. I am at 520 hours right now and just starting my ME then MEI. I have read that there are a few places that hire SIC in a caravan with only 500 TT but not sure if there is any truth to this. Any advice you can give is greatly appreciated.
From one tallflyer(I'm 6'6") to another
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Your best bet for getting hired at ANY Alaskan operator is having some Alaska time. That goes for SIC position as well. In addition to having some aeronautical experience in the state, someone already living in Alaska has shown that they more or less know what living in Alaska is all about and is willing to stick around for a bit.

Take Flight (where I train incidentaly) has a general policy of hiring instructors that have come through their school. Last month was an unusual situation in that 4 of their instructors got hired at the same bush carrier at the same time. That's the only reason they were willing to even consider looking around for instructors.

If you really want to fly in Alaska my advice to you is this: Move here to Anchorage, and complete your ME and MEI at Take Flight. Treat the whole experience at a job interview and bust your @ss. At that point I would imagine they might look upon you pretty favorably. Doing a mountain checkout in a 172 wouldn't hurt either.

If you want to check into Caravan SIC positions, check out Hageland's and PenAir. You'd initially be working for peanuts at both companies, but both (PenAir especially) have lots of other cool equipment to move up into. However, I can't stress enough that a virtual prerequisite to flying in Alaska for a living is first living here. Hage;and's even goes so far as to say this on their employment page.

Good Luck.....
 
Let's see if I understood everything correctly:

You can leave Florida on the flight to the Bahamas from any airport, as long as you make your first landing on the Bahamas at an AOE? So basically I could take off in Vero Beach and make the first landing in Freeport?

On the way back you have to leave the Bahamas from an AOE - lets say again Freeport - and clear customs in Florida in PBI, FLL or FPR before you continue your flight to destination?

Someone please tell me if I'm right or wrong...
 
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Let's see if I understood everything correctly:

You can leave Florida on the flight to the Bahamas from any airport, as long as you make your first landing on the Bahamas at an AOE? So basically I could take off in Vero Beach and make the first landing in Freeport?

On the way back you have to leave the Bahamas from an AOE - lets say again Freeport - and clear customs in Florida in PBI, FLL or FPR before you continue your flight to destination?

Someone please tell me if I'm right or wrong...

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You are correct sir!
 
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