The Route
Charter Flights from Miami to Cat Island
Cat Island lies deep in the Bahamian Out Islands, about 273 nautical miles from Miami, long and thin with roughly 1,500 people on it. That makes it a crossing where the aircraft really shapes the day. The choice is not whether you can get there, it is which way suits your party, your bags and the end of the island you want to wake up on. A family with bags, a couple heading for a quiet beach and friends with dive gear will not pick the same one, and that is fine.
Charter flights from Miami to Cat Island are private: the whole aircraft is yours and nobody else is on board. You name the hour, we set the aircraft, the crew and the field it leaves from, and both border filings are ours. Your party brings passports and a bag, per the travel documents guidance.
Four aircraft fly this route and each has its own page: a seaplane to Cat Island, a small plane to New Bight, a helicopter with a view and a private jet. The choice right below this block shows you the difference in one look, and if you are still unsure, ask us: we quote them side by side for your date.
Plan Your Cat Island Charter
Choose Your Aircraft
Flights to Cat Island: Seaplane, Small Plane, Helicopter or Private Jet
Your island escape starts with the flight. You can choose between several aircraft for a private journey to Cat Island with breathtaking ocean views. Tell us your travel dates, group size and what you’re bringing. We’ll help you find the perfect aircraft for your needs and preferences.
Seaplane
Fly privately to Cat Island by seaplane with exclusive water landings and direct waterfront access.
Small Plane
Fly privately to Cat Island on aircraft such as the Cessna Grand Caravan, Piper Aztec or Piper Navajo.
Helicopter
Fly privately to Cat Island on helicopters such as the Bell 407, Agusta 109 or Sikorsky S-76.
Private Jet
Fly privately to Cat Island on Light Jet, Mid Jet or Super Mid Jet aircraft.
How It Works
How Private Charter Flights from Miami to Cat Island Work
Private charter flights from Miami follow the same six steps, whatever the aircraft. Here is what every one of them includes, from the first message to the moment you are on the island.
Plan Your Cat Island CharterDistance and Aircraft
273 Nautical Miles and Four Ways to Fly Them
Miami to Cat Island is about 273 nautical miles, one of the longer crossings to the Bahamas. How long it takes in the air depends on the aircraft: the seaplane is about an hour and three quarters, the others come back with the quote. A jet covers it in a fraction of that time.
The Whole Aircraft
One Party on Board and No Seats Sold
Every flight on this page is a charter, so the cabin is yours and the departure time is the one you give us. That is the difference to a scheduled seat with a change in Nassau, and it holds for all four aircraft. A larger party simply flies a larger aircraft or a second one, and the party still travels on one booking.
Where Each One Lands
Cat Island Runway for Wheels, the Water After Clearance
A small plane and a jet land on the paved runway at New Bight, in the middle of Cat Island. A seaplane clears at New Bight first and can then set down on the water near your beach. Where the helicopter lands is agreed with the operator before the day.
Both Borders
Passports, the Manifest and Both Borders Filed for You
New Bight is Cat Island's own airport of entry, so every aircraft clears on the island you came for rather than at a hub. Passengers carry a passport, children included, and everything else sits on our side. What counts as valid is in the travel documents guidance.
On Board and Ashore
Catering, Transfers and Occasions Set Up With the Flight
Whatever the day is for is organised before you leave: catering on board, a car at the other end, flowers for a birthday. On an island of small settlements that matters more than usual. A proposal or an anniversary is planned into the flight as a custom experience rather than around it.
How Long the Day Runs
Same-Day Return or Several Nights on Cat Island
The border desk at New Bight closes at half past five, so a day trip starts early and the aircraft waits while you are on the island. At this distance most parties stay a few nights, which is the same booking with a later return. Weather and delays is the only thing that moves the plan.
Departure Points
Departure Points for Private Flights to Cat Island from Miami
Where your flight leaves from follows the aircraft you pick and where your party is staying. These are the four fields we use around Miami for a flight to the islands. Select one to see exactly where it sits.
Miami Executive
Miami Executive Airport, TMB, Kendall
Kendall-Tamiami, a general aviation field in the south west of the county, and the easy start for a small plane or a helicopter. Parking sits close to the ramp, so the walk to the aircraft is short. Pick it when your party is staying south or west of downtown.
Opa-locka Executive
Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, OPF
Opa-locka Executive in the north west, with private terminal handling for every aircraft on this page. Most flights to the islands are dispatched from here, and a return from the Bahamas can clear US customs in the same place. If nothing else decides it, this is where the day begins.
Miami International
Miami International Airport, MIA
Miami International as a pickup, for a party arriving on an airline that wants to go straight on to the island. Set up flight by flight and confirmed with the operator before the quote. Allow extra ground time, because a big commercial airport keeps its own pace.
Fort Lauderdale Executive
Fort Lauderdale Executive, FXE
Fort Lauderdale Executive, for a party staying in Broward or further north. It has its own federal inspection station, so a return from the islands can clear there too. The aircraft comes to you rather than you driving south to it.
How to Book
Book Miami to Cat Island Flights
Booking a flight takes four steps, and only the first one is yours.
Plan Your Cat Island Charter- 01
Contact Us
Write to us on WhatsApp or by email. Send your dates, how many guests, where you are coming from and which aircraft you have in mind, or tell us you are not sure yet. Tell us the hour you would like to leave and whether you come back the same day. That is all we need to start.
- 02
Get the Options Back
We check what is free on your date and send the aircraft that fit your party, side by side: seats, bags, time in the air and the price of each. That is usually where the choice makes itself: a quiet beach and light bags point to the water, a load of gear or a tight schedule to the runway at New Bight or a jet.
- 03
Confirm and Pay
You pick the aircraft, and we fix the departure point and the landing site. Then everything around the flight: catering on board, a car or ground transport on the island, flowers if the day is a special one. You approve it, you pay, and the boarding time comes back to you.
- 04
Be There 30 Minutes Before
There is no terminal queue on a charter. Arrive half an hour before the time we sent, walk to the aircraft with your bags and take off.
On the Island
Where Charter Flights Miami to Cat Island Put You Down
Where your flight puts you down on Cat Island depends on the aircraft. Wheels end on the runway at New Bight in the middle of the island, floats clear there and can then end on the water, and the island is long enough that the end you land at matters. Below is what waits there, and what a day can look like.
Plan Your Cat Island CharterNew Bight Airport on Cat Island for Runway Aircraft
Wheels Down
The small plane and the jet arrive at New Bight, a paved runway of about five thousand feet across the middle of the island, with customs and immigration in the one terminal building. Because New Bight is an airport of entry, the formalities happen where you step out, usually in minutes, since the crew filed everything before departure. The desk keeps daytime hours, so on a crossing this long an early slot is the easier one. Tell us at the enquiry if anyone travels on a passport other than a United States one. From the apron a car is waiting if you booked ground transport, and the aircraft stays parked there for your return. On a day trip that means the same walk back in the afternoon and no check-in at all.
The Water Off Your Beach for the Seaplane
On the Water
A seaplane cannot make its first Bahamian landing on the water. It clears at New Bight like everybody else, and after that it can set down on the water close to the beach you are staying on. Every water set-down carries its own approval from the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority, which we arrange before the day. It is the way to step off almost onto the sand, and the details are on the seaplane from Miami to Cat Island page. The trade is the water. A seaplane needs a calm enough surface to land, so on a rough winter morning the runway is the safer plan, and we tell you that before you book rather than on the day.
Arthur's Town and Hawks Nest on Cat Island
The Other Two Strips
Cat Island is about 48 miles long, so the end you land at can decide an hour in a car. Arthur's Town has its own runway at the north end and is on the ports of entry list as well, so a party staying north can clear there. At the southern tip, Hawks Nest has a private paved strip of 3,100 feet beside a resort and a marina. It has no runway lights, so it is a daylight arrival, and its use is arranged rather than assumed. Which strip is right is decided at the enquiry from where you are staying, and it comes back with the boarding time, bags included.
The Bight and Fernandez Bay
Where the Hotels Are
The settlements around the middle of the island sit within a few minutes of the New Bight runway, which is why it is the usual arrival. Fernandez Bay is the sheltered curve on the western shore, a mile of white sand with calm water and almost nobody on it. Around 1,500 people live on the whole island, so quiet is simply how it is. What there is to do once you are there is covered on the Cat Island destination page. If you want a table waiting when you land, add a fly and dine day, and anything unusual goes to custom requests. A car can be waiting through ground transport, and on an island this long that is worth arranging before you fly.
Flying Over the Reef
Seen From Above
The last minutes from Miami are the best part of the flight. The deep blue breaks into turquoise over the shallows, and from a low flying aircraft you see the reef, the sandbars and the flats clearly on a sunny morning. Coming in, the whole length of Cat Island shows at once: the calm bays on the west, the pink sand of Greenwood Beach on the Atlantic side and the ridge down the middle. It is one of the reasons people ask for scenic flights on the approach. Ask the crew to come in low over the reef if the day allows, and have a camera ready on the side facing the island.
Cat Island's Hermitage on Mount Alvernia
The Signature Sight
Mount Alvernia, also called Como Hill, is the highest point in the Bahamas, and on its summit stands the Hermitage, a small stone monastery built in 1939 by Father Jerome, with the stations of the cross cut into the rock along the path up. It is a short climb from the road near New Bight and it is the one thing almost everybody who lands here ends up seeing. Greenwood Beach, eight miles of pink sand near Port Howe, fits into the same day, and a beach picnic goes on the sand. Further along the island are the Healing Hole, the Mermaid Pool and the blue holes, a few minutes apart by car, so they fit into the same day as the flight from Miami.
Bags, Gear and Payload by Aircraft
What Each One Carries
What you can bring is a question of weight, and every aircraft answers it differently. Floats carry less than wheels, a helicopter less again, and a jet the most. Golf clubs, dive tanks, rods, a cooler for the boat: tell us at the enquiry and the right aircraft comes back with the quote. The baggage guidance explains the trade between passengers and weight. Anything bigger than luggage travels as island logistics instead. The simple rule: the more you carry, the more the runway aircraft make sense, and the lighter you travel, the more the water landing near your beach becomes the easy choice.
Onward Through the Bahamas From Cat Island
Domestic After New Bight
Cat Island also works as the first stop of a longer trip. Once you have cleared in at New Bight, every leg after it stays inside the Bahamas. The same charter can carry on to Long Island, Staniel Cay and the Exumas, Harbour Island or Nassau. That is how one island becomes island hopping or a Bahamas day. The ready-made version of a stay is the Cat Island getaway, and the rest of the islands are on the Bahamas destinations page.
Ready When You Are
Ready to Book Charter Flights to Cat Island from Miami?
Send your date, the number of guests and the aircraft you are leaning towards. You get back what is free, what each option costs and when it can leave, and nothing is booked until you say so.
Add-Ons
Charter Flight to Cat Island Add-Ons
Name the ones you want when you send your dates and they are priced together with the flight.
In Detail
Flights from Miami to Cat Island: What to Know Before You Fly
Everything above is the day. What follows is the detail behind flights from Miami to Cat Island: what the crossing looks like, who sets the hour, who files the border and what people fly over to mark. Other flights to the Bahamas work the same way, some shorter, some further.
Miami to Cat Island Charter Flights: Four Ways Over the Out Islands
The same long stretch of water seen from four different aircraft
The crossing is not dead time between two airports, whichever aircraft you take. Leaving the coast, the water turns from harbour green to the deep blue of the Gulf Stream, and the banks beyond come up turquoise. How you see it depends on the aircraft. A seaplane and a helicopter stay low enough to read the water, and the helicopter has glass on every side. A small plane gives everybody a window. A private jet climbs over the weather and turns the long crossing into a short one. On a clear morning the way in shows the whole island, pink sand on the Atlantic side and calm bays on the west. That is why charter flights to Cat Island from Miami double as scenic flights for anybody sitting by a window. The flats and the sandbars on the bank side are just as clear, and so is the dark line where the reef starts. Nobody on board has to lean over a stranger to see it, because the whole cabin belongs to your party. An afternoon return shows the same water in a lower light, so the way home is a second view, not a repeat.
Private Flights to Cat Island from Miami: You Decide the Departure Time
Your hour, your names and a charter flight to Cat Island
Private flights to Cat Island from Miami have no timetable. The day is built around the hour you name, not around a departure board. You pick the hour you want to lift off, the hour you want to be on the island and the one you want to be home, and the whole plan is built backwards from those three times. The aircraft is held for your party, so a change a few days before is a message to us. Half an hour before departure is the whole check-in. Your party walks from the car to the aircraft, the bags go on in front of you and the only names on the list are yours. The same freedom holds on the way back. If lunch runs long or the water is too good to leave, the aircraft waits, and the hour home moves with you instead of a gate closing on you. A long weekend and a day trip on the island are planned the same way: three times from you, one aircraft held for your party and nobody else's schedule anywhere in the day. A morning departure puts you on the sand before the heat builds, and because the desk at New Bight closes at half past five, the hours on the island are planned around it. Every hour in between belongs to your party and to nobody else.
Miami to Cat Island Flights: The Crew Handles Both Borders
Passports are all your party carries on a Cat Island crossing
Miami to Cat Island flights cross an international border twice, and that is the part that goes wrong when nobody prepares it. The Bahamas asks for a declaration filed from Florida, clearance at a port of entry on arrival and a US return filed before you head home. New Bight is Cat Island's own airport of entry, so no aircraft on this page has to stop in Nassau first. The crew files all of it. Your party carries a valid passport and nothing else, children included, per the travel documents guidance. What may travel is in the baggage guidance. A name added or dropped before the day is a message to us, and a departure moved by weather runs under the weather and delays policy. Coming home works the same way in reverse. The return is filed before you leave the island, and the aircraft lands where the United States can clear you, which is part of the plan we send with the quote. None of this is paperwork your party fills in at a counter. We send your passport list on with the filings, so nothing waits for you at the desk, and a change on the day is the crew's to update.
Charter Flights Miami to Cat Island: Milestone Days and Bahamas Weekends
A long weekend, a day trip or something to celebrate on Cat Island
Most people who fly over mark something. Charter flights Miami to Cat Island are booked for a birthday, a proposal, an anniversary or a few quiet days away with the people who matter, and the island has more beach than people to hold it. Some parties fly over for the day and are home for dinner, others stay a few nights and book the return for the day they want. The whole party travels together on one booking. If there is something to celebrate, say so when you book: catering, a private chef and flowers travel with you, set up before you board. The date comes first and the aircraft is planned around it, so a dinner booking or a boat leaving at a set hour decides when you fly, not the other way round. Tell us the occasion and the number of guests with your date, and the quote comes back with the aircraft, the hours and whatever you asked to have on board, ready for you to confirm with one reply.
Questions
Charter Flights to Cat Island from Miami: Questions Answered
How long is the flight from Miami to Cat Island?
Cat Island is about 273 nautical miles from Miami, deep in the Out Islands. A seaplane covers it in about an hour and three quarters in the air. For a small plane, a helicopter or a jet the time depends on the aircraft and the field you leave from, and it comes back with the quote.
A jet is over in a fraction of the time. What really sets the length of the day is the border and how long you stay, and at this distance most parties stay at least one night.
What is the best way to get to Cat Island?
It depends on where you want to end up and what you carry. A small plane or a jet lands on the paved runway at New Bight and handles the most weight. A seaplane clears at New Bight and can then set you down on the water near your beach.
A helicopter gives you the view all the way. We quote the options side by side so you can compare. Scheduled travel usually means a change in Nassau, which takes most of the day.
Do I need a passport to fly to Cat Island?
Yes, every passenger needs one, children included. The Bahamas is another country, and a private aircraft does not change that. We take the passport details once when you enquire and file the manifest for both sides before departure. The travel documents page lists what each passenger sends and by when, including the cases that need more notice. Nothing else has to be printed or carried.
Can a plane land on Cat Island?
Yes. Cat Island has three runways: New Bight in the middle, paved and with a border desk, Arthur's Town at the north end and a private strip at Hawks Nest in the south. Hawks Nest has no runway lights, so it is a daylight arrival.
The first landing in the Bahamas has to be at an airport of entry, which on this island means New Bight or Arthur's Town. Which end suits your day is the first thing we answer when you send your dates and your party size.
Where does the flight land on Cat Island?
That depends on the aircraft and on where you stay. Runway aircraft land at New Bight, and Fernandez Bay is a few minutes away by car. The island is long, so a stay at the south end or the north end changes the drive. A seaplane clears at New Bight first and can then set down on the water near your beach. Both options clear customs on arrival at New Bight.
Can you take a day trip to Cat Island?
Yes, although at this distance it is the less common way to fly it. On a charter the aircraft waits for you, so the return is set by you and not by a timetable.
The desk at New Bight closes at half past five, so a day trip leaves Miami early. If you would rather stay a night, tell us when you enquire and the return is planned for that day. Many guests stay several nights.
How much baggage can we take?
It is a question of weight, not of the number of bags, and it differs by aircraft. Floats carry less than wheels, and a jet carries the most. Say what is coming when you enquire, including golf clubs, dive gear, rods and anything with a battery, and the answer comes back with the quote rather than at the aircraft.
Dive gear and fishing rods are common on this route, so they are rarely a problem once we know about them. If the load decides it, the aircraft is chosen around what you bring, not the other way round.
Is Cat Island good for families?
It suits families who want space: more than fifteen beaches, shallow water on the west side and almost nobody else on the sand. Children need passports like everybody else. On a charter there is no terminal and no queue, which is usually what makes the difference with small children. Because of the distance, families usually stay a few nights rather than flying back the same day.
Can we fly on to another island from Cat Island afterwards?
Yes. Once you have cleared into the Bahamas at New Bight, every leg after it is domestic. The same aircraft can carry on to Long Island, the Exumas, Eleuthera or Nassau, as long as the next island has a place for it to land.
Tell us the shape of the whole trip when you enquire and it is quoted as one booking. Where the next island only has water to land on, that leg switches to a seaplane.
What happens if the weather is bad on the day?
Every aircraft handles weather differently. A seaplane needs calm enough water to land, a small plane and a jet use the runway and a jet can climb above much of it.
If conditions are below what is safe, the crew moves or cancels the flight and the weather and delays policy says what that means for your booking. That call is always the crew's, and a delay of an hour or two often solves it.
Is a charter cheaper than a scheduled flight?
No, and it is not meant to be. A scheduled seat is cheaper because someone else picked the time and you share the aircraft. A charter buys you the aircraft: your departure, your return, your party only.
To Cat Island that usually means no change in Nassau and several more hours on the island, and no waiting in a terminal on either side of the water, which is the comparison worth making.
We send the price for the whole aircraft, so you can split it across your party and compare fairly. Tell us what matters most, the time on the island, the landing point or the budget, and we suggest the aircraft that fits it best.
Can I bring a pet on a charter flight?
Yes, pets travel in the cabin with you. The one thing we ask is that you tell us at the enquiry, with the type of animal and its weight, so the seating and the load plan are right from the start.
Next Step
Ready to Book Miami to Cat Island Charter Flights?
Send your date, the number of guests and where you are leaving from. You get back the aircraft that fit, the boarding time and what the whole day costs, before anything is booked.
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