Has anyone successfully rented an aircraft to fly to The Bahamas from FL?

[Spode]

Hi


One of my bucket list items is to fly from Miami over to The Bahamas.


To do that I need to go over to the USA (I'm in Australia) and rent an aircraft (I fly a C172). I've searched on here and the web and found many links to places that hire, but the only one who has replied to emails and said they rent out internationally, is Naples Air Centre. So far they are very helpful in guiding me but in the interests of competition, I am trying to find others.


I contacted about 10 companies and most said no to international rental, or that they would require an ATPL, or didn't reply.


Does anyone have actual recent experience with a company that they rented an aircraft from to fly over to The Bahamas for a week?


I will have an Australian PPL and part of this process will be to convert it too.


Thanks for the help
Ryan

[dont overfil]

I've rented to go to the Bahamas many times. Last time was 2011.
I used Air Orlando at Orlando Executive. They are now called TraxAir.
Used to be really good to deal with. You will need an FAA PPL or 61.75 certificate and you will need to show them you can fly on instruments.

[Prophead]

Have a look at Pilots Paradise. You can rent a villa that comes with an aircraft and fly it to the Bahamas.

[PA28181]

Dean Aviation @ Tamiami. we took two 172's for a tour of the Bahama's some years ago. Not sure if their still working.

[Spode]

Thanks for the tips. Dean says no international hire now, TraxAir wants an instrument rating which is not part of my PPL, and Pilots Paradise looks good but are Piper only, and I am flying a Cessna. I will keep searching.

[PA28181]

Cessna/Piper/Piper/Cessna all much of a muchness, go do an hour of circuit bashing in a Piper and your ready to go if that company ticks the other boxes.

[maximus610]

Florida Flyers

Hi Spode, try Florida Flyers in St Augustine, their requirements are minimum 250h TT with PPL only or an IR for Bahamas renting. They do have Cessna's too.

Good luck,

Maximus

[Eddie Seymour]

Yep done it, I used Pilots Paradise, know them very well. If you need some help private msg me.

[Captain Stravaigin]

I flew to Grand Bahama from FXE with an instructor in a 172 back in 2001. Airborne Systems. We had to clear customs at FLL on t way back.

[Pace]

Watch the Sharks in single engine Pistons if you go down as there are plenty in those waters

Pace

[9 lives]

Pilots Paradise looks good but are Piper only, and I am flying a Cessna. I will keep searching.

Self limiting thinking. Historically, I'm a "Cessna" man too, but there is nothing wrong with renting a Piper for this purpose. Indeed I would find it to be slightly superior, should you need to ditch it. You will be a better Cessna pilot, if you've flown other types - what a good opportunity this could be for that!

[AdamFrisch]

You need a visa to be able to do it. ESTA does not work for private flight, so you need to apply for a B visa at your local US embassy.

[Eddie Seymour]

I did not need a Visa and was able to clear at Ft Pierce immigration under ESTA no issue.

[dont overfil]

Originally Posted by AdamFrisch

You need a visa to be able to do it. ESTA does not work for private flight, so you need to apply for a B visa at your local US embassy.

Long thread about this a couple of years ago.
If you are a visitor to the USA on a visa waver you can use a light aircraft for an excursion to the Bahamas. However you cannot make your initial arrival to the USA in a light aircraft on a waver.
The details were on a sticky at one time.

[PA28181]

Watch the Sharks in single engine Pistons if you go down as there are plenty in those waters

After doing the tour of the Bahama's, and seeing those dark shapes in the water, I vowed next visit would be in a boat......

As for visa, never even thought about and immigration at FL weren't bothered...

[custardpsc]

https://www.eapisfile.com/Docs/eAPIS/private_flyers_guide.pdf page 20

short answer - You can arrive on a private flight from Bahamas ( contiguous territory or adjacent island) if you have already been admitted to the usa less than 90 days ago and be readmitted for the remainder of those days.

This seems to relate to the fact that some airports of entry can't screen you / determine your immgration status - the stamp in your passport is just a readmission of your previous entry ( a bit like a night club hand stamp... ) . But, there was a thread on here a while back about needing a B1 or other physical visa in your passport to enter if you didn't fulfil these conditions (eg flew in from say canada without having been in the us recently) and a special one time issuance of a B1 being done at the border with a $500 charge for someone who didn't have it.

[ahwalk01]

I did this last year out of Naples (Naples Air Center) - one checkout flight and you're away.

Alex.

[Kai Tak]

I rented here for a Bahama's trip a few years ago:

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