The Route
Charter Flights from Miami to Sandy Cay
Sandy Cay sits at the southern end of the Exumas, about 296 nautical miles southeast of Miami and some twenty-four miles beyond George Town. Nobody lives on it and there is no airstrip, which is exactly why people fly down for it. The choice is not whether you can get there, it is which way suits your party, your bags and how you want the last stretch to the sand to look. A family with coolers, a couple going for the sandbar and friends heading to a boat will not pick the same one, and that is fine.
Charter flights from Miami to Sandy Cay 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 that lands beside the cay, a small plane to Exuma International, a helicopter for the 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 Sandy Cay Charter
Choose Your Aircraft
Flights to Sandy Cay: 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 Sandy Cay 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 Sandy Cay by seaplane with exclusive water landings and direct waterfront access.
Small Plane
Fly privately to Sandy Cay on aircraft such as the Cessna Grand Caravan, Piper Aztec or Piper Navajo.
Helicopter
Fly privately to Sandy Cay on helicopters such as the Bell 407, Agusta 109 or Sikorsky S-76.
Private Jet
Fly privately to Sandy Cay on Light Jet, Mid Jet or Super Mid Jet aircraft.
How It Works
How Private Charter Flights from Miami to Sandy Cay 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 sand.
Plan Your Sandy Cay CharterDistance and Aircraft
Close to Three Hundred Nautical Miles and Four Ways to Fly Them
Miami to Sandy Cay is about 296 nautical miles, across the Gulf Stream and down the length of the Bahamas to the bottom of the Exuma chain. How long it takes in the air depends on the aircraft, and the block time comes back with the quote for the one you choose. The private jet is the quickest, the others trade minutes for a lower view.
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, 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
A Runway at George Town, Water at the Cay
There is no airstrip on Sandy Cay. A small plane and a jet land at Exuma International near George Town on Great Exuma, and the last stretch to the cay is by boat. A seaplane clears in at George Town first and then settles on the water beside the cay.
Both Borders
Passports, the Manifest and Both Borders Filed for You
Sandy Cay has no border post, so every aircraft clears in at Exuma International, the port of entry on Great Exuma. 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, the Boat and Occasions Set Up With the Flight
Whatever the day is for is organised before you leave: catering on board, a car and a boat at the other end, flowers for a birthday. A proposal or an anniversary is planned into the flight as a custom experience rather than around it.
How Long the Day Runs
A Long Day Out or Several Nights in the Exumas
Some parties fly down in the morning and home the same evening, and the aircraft waits while you are on the sand. Staying a few nights on Great Exuma 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 Sandy Cay 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 Sandy Cay Flights
Booking a flight takes four steps, and only the first one is yours.
Plan Your Sandy Cay 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 between water and runway makes itself: calm water and a light party point to the seaplane, a load of coolers or a windy forecast to the runway at George Town.
- 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, the boat or ground transport on Great Exuma, 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 Cay
Where Charter Flights Miami to Sandy Cay Put You Down
Where your flight puts you down for Sandy Cay depends on the aircraft. Wheels end on the runway at Exuma International near George Town, floats end on the water beside the cay, and the cay itself has nothing on it but sand. Below is what waits at each end, and what a day out there can look like.
Plan Your Sandy Cay CharterExuma International for Runway Aircraft
Wheels Down
The small plane and the jet arrive at Exuma International near George Town on Great Exuma, a paved runway of 7,051 feet with a terminal, fuel and the border desk inside. Because the airport is a port 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 a morning flight 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 evening and no check-in at all.
The Water Beside Sandy Cay
On the Water
A seaplane is the one aircraft that reaches the cay itself. It clears in at George Town first, because an uninhabited cay is never a port of entry, and then flies the last short hop south. After that it settles on the water beside the sandbar, with no boat and no road in between. It is the shortest way from Miami to the sand, and the details are on the seaplane from Miami to Sandy Cay page. The trade is the water. A seaplane needs a calm enough surface to land, so on a rough winter morning the runway at George Town is the safer plan, and we tell you that before you book rather than on the day.
The Boat Out to Sandy Cay
The Last Leg
If you land on the runway, the cay is still about twenty-four miles to the southeast, off the far end of Little Exuma near Hog Cay. The road runs south from the airport through George Town to Little Exuma, and a boat covers the rest. This is the leg a runway cannot cover, and in return the runway works on mornings when the water is too rough for floats and carries more of what a day on an empty cay needs. We quote both ends so you can weigh them. The car and the boat are arranged with the flight, so the whole way from the aircraft to the sand is set before you land, coolers included.
The Sandbar at Low Tide
A Mile of Sand
The thing this cay is known for is not quite on the cay. It is the bank of sand that comes out of the water as the tide falls, running the best part of a mile into open shallows. At the bottom of the tide it is dry and you walk it, at the top it is gone and you swim over it. That is why the tide is the first thing we ask about once we have your date, and the hour of the flight follows it. If you want a table set out there, add a beach picnic, and anything unusual goes to custom requests. The beach scenes for the Pirates of the Caribbean films were shot here and on a sandbar a couple of miles south, which is why many people have seen the place before they know its name.
Flying Over the Exuma Banks
Seen From Above
The last part of the flight from Miami is the best part. The deep blue of the open water breaks into turquoise over the Exuma banks, and from a low flying aircraft you see the cays, the channels and the flats clearly on a sunny morning. Near the end the sandbar off Sandy Cay shows as a pale stripe in green water when the tide is out. It is one of the reasons people ask for scenic flights on the way down. Ask the crew to come in low over the banks if the day allows, and have a camera ready on the side facing the cays.
The Sandy Cay Iguanas
Nowhere Else
The Sandy Cay rock iguana lives on this one cay and on no other island in the world. The colony came back from a little over a hundred animals in the late nineties, after rats and a feral raccoon were removed, to more than two thousand within a decade. They are the reason the cay is left alone as much as it is. Nobody lives here, nothing is built on it, and visitors come and go on the same tide they arrived on. What there is to see around the rest of the cay is covered on the Sandy Cay destination page.
Coolers, Snorkels 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. There is no shop, no shade and no water on the cay, so everything the party needs travels with it. Coolers, snorkel gear, rods and an umbrella: 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 and the boat make sense, and the lighter you travel, the more the water landing beside the cay becomes the easy choice.
Onward Through the Bahamas From Sandy Cay
Domestic After Exuma
Sandy Cay also works as one stop of a longer trip. Once you have cleared in at Exuma International, every leg after it stays inside the Bahamas. The same charter can carry on to Great Exuma, up the chain to Staniel Cay and the Exumas, or across to Nassau and Harbour Island. That is how one cay becomes island hopping or a Bahamas day. The ready-made version of a single day is the Sandy Cay getaway day trip, and the rest of the islands are on the Bahamas destinations page.
Ready When You Are
Ready to Book Charter Flights to Sandy Cay 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 Sandy Cay 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 Sandy Cay: What to Know Before You Fly
Everything above is the day. What follows is the detail behind flights from Miami to Sandy Cay: what the crossing looks like, who sets the hour, who files the border and what people fly down to mark. Other flights to the Bahamas work the same way, some shorter, few longer.
Miami to Sandy Cay Charter Flights: Four Ways Down the Exuma Chain
The same three hundred miles of water seen from four different aircraft
The flight down is not dead time, whichever aircraft you take. Past the coast, harbour green turns to Gulf Stream blue, and further south the Exuma cays line up on turquoise banks. How you see it depends on the aircraft. A seaplane and a helicopter stay low enough to read the water, the helicopter with glass on every side. A small plane gives everybody a window. A private jet climbs over the weather and makes the long crossing the quick part. Near the end the sandbar off Sandy Cay shows as a pale stripe at low tide, the beach the Pirates of the Caribbean films used. That is why charter flights to Sandy Cay from Miami double as scenic flights for anyone by a window. The flats, the channels and the drop-off into deep water are just as clear, and nobody leans over a stranger to see them: the whole cabin belongs to your party. An afternoon return shows the same water in lower light, a second view rather than a repeat.
Private Flights to Sandy Cay from Miami: You Decide the Departure Time
Your hour, your names and a charter flight to Sandy Cay
Private flights to Sandy Cay 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 sand 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 the sandbar is too good to leave, the aircraft waits, and the hour home moves with you instead of a gate closing on you. On this route the hour matters twice, because the sandbar comes and goes with the tide. We plan the departure so you reach the cay when the sand is out, and a morning start leaves the most daylight for the boat and the beach. A long day out and a few nights in the Exumas are planned the same way: three times from you, one aircraft held for your party and nobody else's schedule anywhere in the day.
Miami to Sandy Cay Flights: The Crew Handles Both Borders
Passports are all your party carries on a Sandy Cay crossing
Miami to Sandy Cay flights cross an international border twice in one day, 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. Sandy Cay has no border post, so every aircraft clears at Exuma International near George Town 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 Exumas, and the aircraft lands where the United States can clear you. None of this is paperwork your party fills in at a counter. The passport list is all we need from you, and we send it on with the filings before the day, so nothing waits for you at the desk. If a detail changes on the day, the crew updates the filing.
Charter Flights Miami to Sandy Cay: Milestone Days and Bahamas Weekends
A long day out, a weekend or something to celebrate on Sandy Cay
Most people who fly down mark something. Charter flights Miami to Sandy Cay are booked for a birthday, a proposal, an anniversary or a weekend away with the people who matter, and an empty beach at the end of the Exumas keeps the occasion the point of the day. Some parties fly down for the day and are home for dinner, others stay a few nights on Great Exuma 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 low tide on the sandbar 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 Sandy Cay from Miami: Questions Answered
How long is the flight from Miami to Sandy Cay?
Sandy Cay is about 296 nautical miles southeast of Miami, at the southern end of the Exumas. How long that takes in the air depends on the aircraft and the field you leave from, so the block time comes back with the quote rather than as a number here.
A jet is the quickest, a seaplane and a helicopter take longer and fly lower. What really sets the length of the day is the border, the last leg to the cay and how long you stay on the sand.
What is the best way to get to Sandy Cay?
It depends on how you want to arrive and what you carry. A seaplane clears in at George Town and then lands on the water beside the cay, with no boat.
A small plane or a jet lands on the runway at Exuma International and handles more weight and rougher water, and a boat covers the last stretch. A helicopter is the choice for the view. We quote the options side by side so you can compare.
Do I need a passport to fly to Sandy Cay?
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 Sandy Cay?
Not on wheels. Sandy Cay is uninhabited and has no airstrip, and there is not going to be one. The nearest runway is Exuma International near George Town, a paved field with a border desk, where a small plane or a jet lands and clears.
A seaplane clears there as well and then lands on the water at the cay. Which of the two suits your day is the first thing we answer when you send your dates and your party size.
Where does the flight land for Sandy Cay?
That depends on the aircraft. Runway aircraft land at Exuma International on Great Exuma, about twenty-four miles northwest of the cay, and from there a car and a boat take you the rest of the way. A seaplane lands on the water beside the cay after clearing in at George Town. Every aircraft clears customs at Exuma International first.
Can you take a day trip to Sandy Cay?
Yes, as a long day. On a charter the aircraft waits for you, so the return is set by you and not by a timetable. Out early, back in the evening, with both borders handled and the hour planned around the tide on the sandbar.
If you would rather stay a night on Great Exuma, tell us when you enquire and the return is planned for that day. Many guests make it part of a few days in the Exumas.
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 coolers, snorkel gear, rods and anything with a battery, and the answer comes back with the quote rather than at the aircraft.
There is no shop, no shade and no water on the cay, so most parties bring more than they would elsewhere. If the load decides it, the aircraft is chosen around what you bring, not the other way round.
Is Sandy Cay good for families?
It suits families who like a quiet beach: the water over the sandbar is shallow at low tide and the rock iguanas that live only on this cay are a sight children remember.
Bring shade, water and food for the whole party, because nothing is sold on the cay. 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.
Can we fly on to another island from Sandy Cay afterwards?
Yes. Once you have cleared into the Bahamas at Exuma International, every leg after it is domestic. The same aircraft can carry on up the chain to Staniel Cay, across to Nassau or on to another island, as long as the next stop 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 the boat leg out to the cay follows the same rule.
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. On a long day trip that usually means several more hours on the sand, 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 cay, 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 Sandy Cay 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.
- 24/7 support
- Fast response
- No obligation
Explore
