Airplane rental in the Caribbean
 

Hi,

My name is Will and I'm a private pilot who is looking for an airplane to rent in the Caribbean or in south Florida. My plan is to rent a Piper or Cessna and then do some island hopping for three weeks in the Caribbean (Bahamas, Leewards islands and Windward islands) this autumn. I have around 150h of flight time, JAA PPL and night qualification.

Do anyone know where I could rent an airplane in the Caribbean or in Florida? Maybe on Bahamas, Guadeloupe, Saint Lucia, St Martin or Martinique? Any suggestions and information is appreciated!

Best regards,
Will

Well first of all you need to have the proper license, other then for the French Islands and few other you go nowhere with a JAA license.

The easiest place to get your license converted is the DR, it`s really a piece of cake, but then again no chance of renting a plane solo, same in probably most of the other islands.

Your only option is to get an FAA license, there are several companies in Florida (PM me and I will name you a few) that rent planes for solo/PIC flights to the Bahamas, very few, for insurance requirements will allow you to take them to many other Islands, the one I rented wasn`t allowed to go further south then TC.

It will be also very expensive as you will be taking a plane for several days, they will probably charge you extra/day.

I would stick with the Bahamas, Key West and South Florida...way less of a pain in the a** in bureaucracy also.

An other big problem is that you wanna do this flying in the hurricane season.

Thank you for your answer! Yes I definitely need a FAA license and as you say it shouldn't be to much of a problem to get it. My plan is to go there during late November and December. As far as I know this should be pretty ok with regards to hurricanes.

I will contact you about companies in Florida. Thanks Again!

When you fly south from the Bahamas , make sure your have a descent life raft. I used to do regularly in a Aztec back in 2004....ditching is your biggest worry!

Hello there !!
 

I do have the same question about plane renting so thanks you for the light!! 💡😃
Also I would be really interested about any flight school suggestions to get the FAA licenses as well and plane renting location .
Many thanks

King Regards

You can get an FAA PPL based on your JAA/EASA PPL. Look up FAA website for foreign licence verification. No need to get a FAA PPL if you're doing just a few leisure flights.