Helicopter Charter from Fort Lauderdale

The answer follows the destination. From downtown, Bimini is 52 nautical miles, Freeport 82, Key West 129 and Nassau 164, all in a straight line. A helicopter covers them low, so there is no table figure for the time: it comes from the helicopter, the wind and the landing area ahead, and it reaches you with the boarding time.

Yes. The Bahamas is another country, so each passenger needs a valid passport, plus a visa where their nationality calls for one, and children need their own.

Our side files the outbound and inbound paperwork, names the port of entry and sends a checklist once you confirm. Staying inside Florida, as on a flight to the Keys, crosses no border and photo identification is enough.

The options run from airports and private terminals to hotel and resort pads, private land with the owner's consent and, if the yacht and the operator agree, a deck at sea.

None is automatic: every site needs approval, and noise rules, obstacles and local limits decide what is possible that day. We confirm the exact pad before you fly, line up a fallback and say at once when a request cannot go ahead.

From Fort Lauderdale Executive or from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, and on request from the Pompano Beach airfield to the north. Choose the one that saves you the most driving rather than the one nearest the island. Give us your hotel or your address and we reply with a departure point and the boarding time.

On the way out, the first landing in the Bahamas is a clearing stop at a port of entry, after which the day continues once that paperwork is closed. On the way back the flight is cleared by United States Customs ahead of anyone going home, and Fort Lauderdale Executive has a federal inspection station for exactly that. The filings are ours, not yours.

Yes, and Bimini is the shortest way to do it. You leave in the morning, spend the middle of the day on the island and fly home in the evening, with the helicopter kept for you rather than sent away. We file both borders ahead of time, so the single item on your list is a passport.

A helicopter has a weight and volume limit, so the allowance is worked out per flight. Soft bags stow far better than rigid cases, and what fits depends on the aircraft, the number of passengers, the fuel and the weather. We settle your allowance before the day. Golf clubs, fishing gear and dive equipment can usually come if they are declared when you book.

Visibility, cloud base and wind decide helicopter flying, along with the condition of the landing site, so even a bright morning can delay a departure.

We start reading the forecast a day ahead and warn you the moment a delay seems probable, with a later hour, another pad or a different helicopter on the table. The final word on safety is the operator's and the commanding pilot's.

Inside Florida it is often possible, and for the Bahamas it sometimes is. A crossing needs customs notice and a named port of entry, and a private pad needs its owner's permission, so the notice period cannot shrink to nothing. Busy weeks limit availability too. Send us the date and both ends of the trip, and a flight planner will say what works.

How many it carries depends on the helicopter that flies your date, since the Bell 407, the Agusta 109 and the Sikorsky S-76 have different cabins and the luggage shares the same capacity as the passengers. The whole helicopter is yours, on a single manifest. A bigger party splits across two helicopters or two legs, which we settle well before departure day.

Often, which is why we ask for the property or the boat instead of only the island. Resort pads, private land and yacht decks call for permission, a check on noise and obstacles and sometimes the operator's own consent, so the answer is confirmed for your date, not promised here. When a direct set-down is not possible, we use the closest suitable site instead.

No. There is no timetable and no seat to buy: you charter the whole helicopter and choose the hour. The word taxi describes the convenience, a short private hop on request, and not a fixed route. Pickup, destination and departure time are agreed with you, and the quote shows all three before anything is confirmed.

Seldom by a margin worth noting. The islands are reachable from every South Florida starting point, so what counts is the drive to the pad. Choose the departure closest to your bed and we confirm it together with the boarding time.

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.

Pricing is for the whole helicopter rather than for seats, and it moves with the aircraft that flies your date, the weight of your party and its bags, and the time the helicopter spends waiting.

Distance matters as well, so the destination is the first thing we ask. Send those details and you get a single all-in figure back before anything has to be paid.