Postcards

A general aviation paradise awaits just over the Caribbean horizon in the Bahamas

Fortunately for general aviation pilots, the adventure of visiting the Bahamas has nothing to do with flying. Instead, you'll find adventure throughout the islands after you've parked the airplane and stepped down to the beach for snorkeling, scuba diving, bone fishing, or deep-sea fishing. From many Out Island airports it's literally that simple: You land and walk to the beach or your hotel room.

Pilots bound for the Bahamas can truly have it all. If gambling, nightlife, and shopping are your things, you'll find world-class experiences at Nassau and Freeport — both a short distance via GA airplane from the coast of Florida. But for the real Bahamas experience, don't miss the Out Islands. At these smaller, remote islands you will find those surreal white and pink beaches lapped by that tremendously beautiful aqua water you see in all the travel brochures. No color correction in those photos; the water really is that spectacular.

I hadn't been to the Bahamas in more than a dozen years. Finally, last spring the opportunity to return presented itself, and I didn't hesitate. Those concerned about flying to another country or across vast stretches of ocean need not fear. The Bahamian government makes it easy to fly into their country, and with Bimini just 46 nm from the Florida coast, you won't be out of sight of land for more than a few minutes. (For reference purposes, it's about 70 nm across Lake Michigan.) Once you get to Bimini, you can fly the entire chain of some 700 islands and 2,000 cays without being out of sight of land — the weather in the Bahamas is almost always VFR.

About those cays — the word is pronounced "keys." Say it correctly and you'll feel like a native. Say it incorrectly and you'll be pegged for a first-timer.

You'll need life vests for all on board. Most of the FBOs along the south Florida coast rent life vests and lifeboats. A lifeboat isn't required, but it brings a certain peace of mind and occupies only a corner of the cabin. Of course you'll want it within reach, not buried somewhere in the baggage compartment.

As for the rest of the paperwork, see the accompanying sidebar. It can all be covered in just a few bullet points.

But you don't come to the Bahamas for paperwork. As has been said, who knows relaxation better than the country that invented the hammock?

For me, the relaxation started in Nassau, the nation's capital on New Providence Island. We departed Lakeland, Florida, and soon crossed the Florida coast. Departing the United States you need to file a Defense VFR (DVFR) or IFR flight plan. A DVFR flight plan is similar to a VFR flight plan and alerts U.S. authorities that you'll be flying through the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Put "ADCUS" in the Remarks section of the ?light plan so that ATC will advise Bahamian customs of your impending arrival. If you fly IFR to your first Bahamian destination — which must be an airport of entry — you'll hardly notice that you left the United States because Miami Center handles IFR traffic throughout most of the Bahamas.

Within minutes from any reasonable altitude, you'll see Bimini, where you can clear Bahamian Customs. But we tooled on to Nassau, which is surrounded by a terminal control area (what we in the United States now call Class B airspace). We taxied to Million Air, a flashy new FBO with all the amenities you'd expect from a first-class facility at a prime vacation destination.

A quick cab ride from the airport took us to Atlantis on Paradise Island, one of the most recognizable hotels in the world. This gigantic $850 million resort and casino features thousands of hotel rooms and The Dig, a life-size, underwater depiction of the ruins of legendary Atlantis. We had dinner in one of the 38 restaurants and strolled through the casino. You never know whom you'll run into — Arizona Senator John McCain was busy trying his luck at the craps table.

For a more subdued experience, we stayed at the British Colonial Hilton along a quiet cove overlooking the cruise ship docks. From the Hilton, you can walk the streets of old-town Nassau, which retains much of the charm you'd expect of a former British colony. The Bahamas is a small country of 350,000 people and with Nassau being the capital, you never know who might walk in. Just as we finished breakfast at the hotel, the deputy prime minister strolled in and joined us. Don't go to Washington, D.C., and expect Dick Cheney to sit down to breakfast with you.

Ready for some Out Island adventure, we left the city behind by departing Nassau, just as you might depart any major airport. Within a few minutes we were clear of the controlled airspace and Nassau departure told us "radar service terminated, squawk 1200," and we were direct to Marsh Harbour 90 nm to the northeast on Great Abaco Island. The island is famous for its fishing, and we had planned to bone fish, but the winds were a bit strong making for cloudy conditions in the water, so we toured the island instead.

Departing the town of Marsh Harbour, we took a rental car up the island to Treasure Cay and then a water taxi to New Plymouth, a tiny island that is home to one of the oldest towns in the Bahamas. The narrow streets are lined with classic colonial homes and shops. From there a water taxi took us to Green Turtle Cay, a quiet resort that I had visited on a previous trip. Since my first visit, Hurricane Floyd had ravaged the entire Abaco area. As a result, all of the resorts on the north end of the island are like new after major reconstruction.

You'll find many first-rate resorts on Abaco. We stayed at Abaco Beach Resort and Boat Harbour, a short drive from the airport. You won't find a more serene beach anywhere, with most rooms overlooking the water. If you love boats, you'll get your fill walking along the marina — undoubtedly wondering how much those monster yachts cost compared to an airplane.

When departing a nontowered airport such as Marsh Harbour, there is no special procedure. As in the United States, you just go. And we did — to the southeast for a quick stop at North Eleuthera to visit the new FBO. Previously, pilots landing at North Eleuthera could taxi to the government-owned pilot facility, but it was little more than a shack. Now, a modern FBO with fuel and customs service has opened to better serve pilots on the north end of Eleuthera. Previously, pilots in need of fuel had to go to Governor's Harbour farther south in the middle of the island.

A flight down Eleuthera and past Cat Island brought us to our next stop, Stella Maris on Long Island. This airport is unique in that it is the only one in the Out Islands where you can easily rent a light single for flying among the islands. So if you arrive via the airlines or on one of the Stella Maris Resort Club's charters, you can still check out an airplane and explore the islands yourself. The resort owns the 4,000-foot runway. A separate company operates the fueling and other services.

The resort sits atop a bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Owned and operated for many years by a group of German investors and pilots, Stella Maris is one of the most successful operations in all of the Bahamas. As you might imagine, the place is spotless and as efficiently run as is possible in the laid-back Bahamas. A European chef prepares all of the meals. For breakfast, make sure you ask for the German pancakes with apples.

For me, Stella Maris will always be remembered as the place where I first went scuba diving. Long Island and especially the Stella Maris resort are known worldwide for their diving. We took a boat offshore on the Caribbean side of the island. Within minutes I was over the side swimming with the fishes. Like flying, diving takes a lot of concentration, training, and preparation. I enjoyed my brief exposure to the activity and am anxious to try it again. Just remember that you shouldn't go flying for at least 12 hours after shallow dives and 24 hours after deeper dives.

For another perspective on Long Island, we drove to the northern tip of the island to visit another resort, Cape Santa Maria. While Stella Maris sits on a hill a short walk from the roiling ocean, the villas at Cape Santa Maria are just steps from a quiet and pristine beach cove. Like Stella Maris, Cape Santa Maria has its own runway, reported to be 2,600 feet and paved. But the manager admitted that that might be a bit optimistic. Perhaps it's more like 2,200 feet and made of packed coral. For full services and a sure thing regarding the runway, use Stella Maris and take a cab up the island to Cape Santa Maria.

With a little planning, returning to the United States can be just as uneventful as flying in the Bahamas. Pilots must depart the Bahamas from an airport of entry on an international flight plan. You can activate the flight plan soon after taking off by contacting Nassau or Freeport Radio on a frequency shown on any Bahamian chart. In fact, on an IFR flight plan from most Out Islands, you can typically reach Miami Center at about 7,000 feet and pick up a squawk code and head home. Regardless, you'll need to contact Miami Center or Radio to get a transponder code before penetrating the U.S. ADIZ.

When filing your flight plan, write "ADCUS" in the remarks section — hoping that the message will get to U.S. Customs at your U.S. airport of entry. You are required to give Customs at least one-hour notice of your arrival. This is the area where pilots can get into trouble. Failure to notify Customs can result in a $5,000 fine. There is no guarantee that ATC will forward the ADCUS message. The best solution is to contact Customs yourself, but that is often difficult from the Bahamas. Telephone connections to the United States, especially from the Out Islands, can be difficult. Sometimes U.S. cell phones work in the Bahamas, sometimes not. The best solution may be to borrow or rent a satellite phone, which works anywhere. (One source for such rentals is TravelCell at www.travelcell.com.) If that's not feasible, don't fret too much about it. Reminding Miami Center or Radio to call Customs is usually enough to put everything in order. Dozens of airplanes a day make the trip between the two countries without a hitch.

We filed IFR from Santa Maria and within a couple of minutes in the air had picked up our IFR clearance from Miami Center. We headed for Fort Lauderdale where we asked Ground Control to direct us to Customs. There, we got out and walked into the Customs building. They didn't ask to inspect our baggage, but they could have. South Florida is unique in that you don't wait in the airplane for a Customs agent. Instead, when landing at any of the following airports head inside yourself: Miami International, Tamiami, Opa Locka, Key West, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale Executive, Palm Beach, and Fort Pierce-St. Lucie County. At other airports, you are expected to stay with the airplane until an agent comes out to you.

In the end, pleasant memories of a trip to the Bahamas and the feeling of accomplishment for making the trip yourself will quickly blur any dealings with the bureaucracy.

E-mail the author at [email protected].

There and Back

Bahamas bound? Here's what you'll need

• Certified birth certificate (with a raised seal), passport, or other proof of citizenship for each person. Children traveling with only one parent need a notarized letter from the other parent granting permission for the trip and noting the travel dates.
• Pilot and medical certificate.
• Aircraft registration (including a letter from the owner providing permission if you don't own the airplane). But don't even think about flying internationally with the temporary pink slip registration.
• Airworthiness certificate.
• Weight and balance information and pilot's operating handbook.
• Aircraft radio station license and radio station operators license. These aren't required anymore for domestic flights, but are necessary for international ops.
• Twelve-inch registration numbers on your airplane (a temporary application is fine for older aircraft with smaller numbers).
• Life vests for each person.

Customs and ATC

En route to the Bahamas

• Before arriving in the Bahamas, fill out three copies of the C7A Bahamas Customs form. You'll keep one as your cruising permit in the Bahamas. Customs will take the other two.
• Complete one Bahamas immigration card for each person.
• File and activate a DVFR or IFR flight plan departing the United States. Don't forget to close the flight plan with Nassau or Freeport radio.
• The C7A form allows you to fly anywhere in the Bahamas, but you may need to show it at other airports of entry that you pass through.
• There is no night VFR flying in the Bahamas.

Leaving the Bahamas for the United States

• Return the C7A and immigration forms to Bahamian Customs at an airport of entry and hand them a completed C7 general declaration form.
• Pay a departure tax of $15 per person, including pilots.
• File an international flight plan to a U.S. airport of entry in Florida, noting "ADCUS." You can file by using the same 800-WX-BRIEF telephone number you use in the United States.
• Do your best to contact U.S. Customs directly at least one hour but not more than 23 hours in advance of your arrival. At least have Miami Center or Radio contact Customs on your behalf once you are airborne and at least an hour out from landing.
• Activate your flight plan and get a discreet transponder code before penetrating the ADIZ.
• Fill out a U.S. Customs general declaration form for each person and the ominous-sounding "Private Aircraft Enforcement System Arrival Report." Note that boaters arriving into the United States simply dock, call Customs on a toll-free number, and go home. Somehow, pilots are made out to be the bad guys.
• Taxi to Customs upon landing. You may need to remove all of your bags from the airplane and take them in for inspection.

See the International Operations area of AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/members/pic/intl/) for information you will find helpful in planning your Bahamian trip, including downloadable versions of many of the government forms. You may also call 800/USA-AOPA for printed copies of the information.

Need Some Help?

If you're nervous about flying internationally by yourself, you can easily join a group of enthusiastic pilots in an organized Bahamian fly-out. The Bahamian government sponsors nearly monthly flying trips to the Bahamas from various south Florida airports. These organized events are extremely helpful to those who have never flown in the Bahamas before. A $40 registration fee covers the pilot and airplane. Passengers are an additional $15 each. The price includes admission to all scheduled events. For more information and a schedule of fly-outs, visit the Web site ( www.flying.bahamas.com) or telephone 800/327-7678.