The Charter
Private Plane Miami to Cat Cay
A charter is not a ticket. You are not buying a seat next to strangers, you are booking the aircraft. That one difference decides everything else about the day: who is on board, what hour it leaves, and which island it puts you down on at the far end.
Cat Cay sits about fifty nautical miles straight out from Miami, at the near end of the Bahamas, and North Cat Cay has a strip of its own.
That is close enough to be a morning rather than a trip, and far enough that a schedule would send you round by way of somewhere larger first. A chartered aircraft has no reason to do that, because the only party it is waiting for is yours.
Everything between the two ends is ours: the departure point in Miami, the aircraft and the crew, the clearance on the way in and the travel documents the Bahamas wants before you leave Florida. Your party brings passports and a bag, and turns up shortly before the boarding time rather than hours ahead of it.
It is one of the shortest crossings we fly out of the city and one of several small plane routes from Miami. The same aircraft carries on up the chain and across the rest of the Bahamas.
Plan Your Cat Cay Charter
How It Works
How a Private Plane to Cat Cay from Miami Actually Works
Six things change the moment the aircraft belongs to one party for the day, and none of them are about the aircraft itself.
Plan Your Cat Cay CharterThe Manifest
The passenger list for the flight is written by you and nobody adds to it
A charter carries the people you name and no one else. There is no seat map to be assigned around, no stranger in the row behind, and no reason to arrive early to secure anything.
It also means the party can change up to the day before: a name added, a name dropped, a child who turns out to be coming after all. We refile and the flight is the same flight, leaving at the same hour for the same island.
The Clock
The departure time for the flight to Cat Cay is a decision, not a listing
Scheduled service leaves when it leaves. A charter leaves when you want it to, inside daylight and inside what the crew is legally allowed to fly.
On a crossing this short that turns the whole shape of the day around: leave after breakfast and you are standing on Cat Cay before the morning is over, with the afternoon still ahead of you. If your morning slips, the aircraft waits, because it has nowhere else to be.
The Terminal
You walk out of a private terminal at both ends of the Cat Cay run
Both ends of this route are general aviation. In Florida you park, walk to the aircraft and go, with the outbound filing already done from the departure point.
At the far end the strip runs down the length of the island and whatever is meeting you is waiting beside it. There is no terminal to cross, no queue to join, and nothing for your party to carry further than the door.
The Return
The way home from Cat Cay belongs to you the same way the way out does
A return leg on a scheduled service is the hour somebody else published. On a charter it is the hour you name on the morning, and it can move again while you are still on the island.
That is what turns a crossing into a day rather than a schedule to work backwards from: the boat can come back late from the flats, lunch can run long, and the aircraft is still sitting on the strip when you are ready.
The Weather
Weather is the one thing a Cat Cay charter does not make more flexible
Everything else on this page bends. Weather does not, and we would rather move a day than fly it badly. You hear from us as early as we know, and the flight is rebooked rather than flown.
Because the aircraft was held for your party and nobody else, moving it is a conversation and not a queue for the next available seat on a route that only has a handful of them.
After You Land
What happens on the ground is arranged before you leave Florida
A golf cart at the strip, a boat waiting at the dock, a table held for the afternoon: all of it is set up with the flight rather than found on arrival. On an island this size that is the difference between a morning spent well and a morning spent asking around.
Tell us what the day is meant to look like when you send the dates and it comes back arranged, with ground transport and anything else you asked for priced alongside the aircraft.
Departure Points
Departure Points for a Private Plane Charter from Miami to Cat Cay
The aircraft is booked for your party alone, so the departure point is yours to pick rather than something a timetable decides. These are the four we fly from around Miami. Select one to see exactly where it sits.
Miami Executive
Miami Executive Airport, TMB, Kendall
Kendall-Tamiami in the south west of the county, a general aviation field where the distance from the car to the aircraft is measured in steps. Nobody is waiting on a boarding call, because the only people on the flight are the ones who booked it. It is the shortest drive from the south and west of Miami-Dade.
Opa-locka Executive
Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, OPF
The executive airport north west of the city, where your group waits in a private terminal and walks out when it is ready. Most island days leave from here, and the same building clears the return into the United States. There is no check-in queue, so the morning is built around your day.
Miami International
Miami International Airport, MIA
A pickup rather than a base, for a party already off an airline flight that wants the island leg from the same airport. Arranged per flight and confirmed with the operator before it is quoted. It is the one departure point that costs you time, because a commercial field runs to its own order.
Fort Lauderdale Executive
Fort Lauderdale Executive, FXE
Fort Lauderdale Executive, chosen when the group is north of Miami and the drive south would eat the hour the flight saves. The return clears in its own building there, so a day need not end where it began. The aircraft positions to meet you.
How to Charter
How to Book Before Flying Private Plane from Miami to Cat Cay
Chartering an aircraft is not booking a seat. There are four steps, and only the first one is yours.
Plan Your Cat 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 where you want to travel. Tell us the hour you would like to leave. On a crossing this short we can usually work to it.
- 02
Get Aircraft and Prices Back
We check what is free on your date and send the aircraft that fit your party. Seats, baggage and flight time for each one. You are pricing the whole airframe rather than a headcount, so a smaller group on the same aircraft costs the same as a full one.
- 03
Confirm and Pay
You pick the aircraft, and we set the pickup point and the landing site. Then everything around the flight. Catering on board, a golf cart or a boat waiting when you land, ground transport to the dock or back to the strip. Flowers if the day is a special one. You approve it, you pay, and your boarding time, departure point and everything included come back to you.
- 04
Just Arrive 30 Minutes Early
You will have no terminal and no queue. Just make sure you are there 30 minutes before. Then you take off, land right at your destination, and enjoy the day.
On the Island
Where a Private Plane Charter to Cat Cay from Miami Puts You Down
The aircraft comes to a stop on the island you picked, and from that moment the day is unscheduled. There is no return departure to work back from and no group to keep together, so what follows is a menu rather than an itinerary.
These are the things parties on this route actually ask for, in the order they ask for them.
Plan Your Cat Cay CharterClearing In at the Island Itself
The Near EndArriving in the country is the one fixed point of the day, and on this crossing it does not cost you a separate landing. Cat Cay appears on the Bahamian list of ports of entry in its own right, which is rare for an island of this size and is the reason the whole thing works as a morning.
What that buys a private party is time. A flight that has to arrive somewhere else first loses an hour and a landing to it, and an hour is the difference between a day out and an overnight. Here the paperwork is lodged before you leave Florida and your part of it is standing still for a few minutes.
After that the day is yours until you say otherwise. Nobody is holding a return time over you.
North Cat Cay and Its Members
Who Lands There
The northern island is privately owned and has been run as a members club since it was rebuilt after the hurricane of 1965. The marina, the houses and the field belong to the island rather than to the public, so landing on it is for members and the people they invite.
That is the island's own rule and not a condition of ours, and it is worth saying at the enquiry rather than at the door. If your day is on North Cat Cay, tell us and the flight goes straight in.
Ask for ground transport at the same time and a cart is beside the aircraft when the door opens, which on an island this size is worth more than it sounds.
South Bimini, Ten Miles North
The Open Option
Ten miles up the chain there is a second field, and it is open to anyone. For a party without an invitation to the club that is the landing site, and the last stretch south is a boat rather than a connecting flight. This is the part of a charter that is easy to miss until you need it.
Two fields within ten miles of each other means the question is never whether the day can happen, only which end of the chain it starts at. Both are short runs from Florida and both are decided at the enquiry rather than on the morning.
Gun Cay and the Old Light
The Landmark
Immediately north of Cat Cay sits Gun Cay, and on its southern point stands a lighthouse that has been there since 1836. It is the mark every boat and every aircraft on this stretch of water lines up on, and it is the first thing most parties recognise on the way in.
Gun Cay is open, unlike its neighbour, which makes it the natural stop for a party that came for the water rather than the town. What you do there is a boat question rather than an aircraft one, and it is worth asking for with the flight so that something is waiting.
A Boat Waiting When You Stop
Arranged in Advance
Almost every day on this chain has a boat in it somewhere, because the islands are small and the water between them is the point. The difference a charter makes is that the boat can be booked against a landing time you actually control rather than against a published arrival.
Tell us at the enquiry what the afternoon is meant to look like and it comes back arranged and priced with the aircraft. A skiff for the flats, a tender to take the party south, a table held for lunch. Anything more particular than that is a custom request and we would rather hear it early than well.
Fifty Miles of Open Water
Under an Hour
Cat Cay lies about fifty nautical miles from Miami, which is one of the shortest crossings out of the city and shorter than plenty of drives inside it. The water underneath changes colour twice on the way and the islands come up ahead long before you are down.
Because the flight is a small part of the day rather than the day itself, moving it by two hours moves everything by two hours and costs you none of the island. That is a different proposition from a long crossing, where the schedule decides the shape of the trip.
Staying Over Instead
Your Own Clock
Plenty of parties come out for the morning and go home in the afternoon. Plenty of others find that the day is worth two, and on a charter that is a decision rather than a rebooking. The aircraft can be released and brought back on a date you name, or it can wait.
Which of those makes sense depends on how long you are staying, and it is worth raising at the enquiry so that both versions come back priced. A single island and back is a day trip; a longer run is a fly and dine day or something built to order.
Carrying On Up the Chain
Your Itinerary
Cat Cay is often the first stop rather than the whole trip, and arriving into the country here is what makes that simple: once your party is through, every leg after it is domestic. An aircraft that belongs to you for the day can string those legs together in any order you like.
Grand Bahama, Nassau, Harbour Island, Andros and Staniel Cay and the Exumas all take the same type, and none of them require going back to a hub first. That is the shape of an island hopping day or a longer Bahamas day. The full list is on the Bahamas destinations page.
Ready When You Are
Ready to Book a Private Plane Charter to Cat Cay from Miami?
Send the date and the number of guests. You get the aircraft that are free, what each one costs and the hour it can leave, and nothing is held until you say so.
Add-Ons
Private Plane to Cat Cay Add-Ons
Tell us which of these you want when you send your dates and they come back priced with the aircraft.
In Detail
Private Plane Charter Miami to Cat Cay: Fifty Miles, One Aircraft, One Private Island
Everything above is the day. What follows is the detail behind it: who is on board, who does the paperwork, which of the two strips on this chain the aircraft uses, and how late the hour can still move on a flight to the Bahamas.
Private Plane Miami to Cat Cay: Flying Low Over the Reef and the Flats
Room enough and a window each on a Cat Cay private plane
The crossing is not dead time between two airports. The cabin is yours for it, so what is below is part of the day rather than something to sit through. Cat Cay sits about fifty nautical miles straight out from Miami, at the near end of the Bahamas, and North Cat Cay has a strip of its own. An occasion suits a charter for the same reason a family does: the cabin belongs to one party, so the day can be built around the occasion instead of around a timetable somebody else published months ago. The outbound paperwork for Florida and the inbound paperwork for the Bahamas are both lodged before anybody boards, so there is nothing to hand across a counter and nothing to print at home the night before. What you are buying is the airframe for the day, not a count of people in it. The cabin belongs to your party and nobody else, so the crossing is yours to spend as you like. what travels with you is arranged before you board.
Private Plane to Cat Cay from Miami: You Decide the Departure Time
Your hour, your names and a private plane to Cat Cay
Nobody hands you a timetable on a charter. The day is built around the hour you name. You name the hour you want to lift off, the hour you want to be standing on Cat Cay and which water in the city suits your morning. The aircraft belongs to your party for the day, so all three are your decision rather than a departure somebody else set, and a change the week before is a message to us. Half an hour before the lift-off is the whole of the check-in. Your party walks from the car to the aircraft, the bags go on in front of you, and the list for that flight carries your names and nobody else's. Nothing about the morning waits on a stranger. Where there is no field at all, and most of the cays around you have none, the same day runs on a seaplane and comes down on the water instead. And the crossing is a reason in itself. The windows are deep and the aircraft crosses low, so there is room for everybody to sit and watch the water change instead of taking turns at one of them.
Private Plane Charter from Miami to Cat Cay: The Crew Files Both Borders, You Carry a Passport
Passports are all your party carries on a Cat Cay crossing
A private plane from Miami to Cat Cay crosses an international border twice in a day. It is the part that goes wrong when nobody files it in advance. Entry into the Bahamas asks for a declaration filed from Florida, clearance at a port of entry on arrival and a US return filed before you leave, which is what sets where you may land coming home. On a Crown Air charter the crew files all three. Passports for everyone, children included, per the travel documents guidance. What may travel sits in the baggage guidance. That same filing sets where you land coming home: a return from the islands clears at None, so a day that began on the water finishes on a ramp and a departure moved by weather runs under the weather and delays policy. If the party changes before the flight, the crew refiles. A name added, a name dropped: that is a message to us rather than a problem for you.
Flying Private Plane from Miami to Cat Cay: Milestone Days and Bahamas Weekends
A day trip, a weekend or something to celebrate on Cat Cay
A private private plane from Miami to Cat Cay is booked when the day is worth marking: a birthday, a proposal, a graduation, a weekend away with the people who matter. The flight is short enough that the occasion, not the travelling, is what the day is about. That is what a private plane from Miami to Cat Cay is for. An occasion suits a charter for the same reason a family does: the cabin belongs to one party, so the day can be built around the occasion instead of around a timetable somebody else published months ago. Some parties fly over for the day and are home the same evening. Others stay on and book the return for the day they want. Both are the same charter, and the whole group travels together on one booking. If there is something to celebrate, say so when you book: catering, a private chef, premium beverages and flowers travel with you. Everything is in place before you board in Miami.
Questions
Private Plane Miami to Cat Cay: Questions Answered
What does a private plane charter from Miami to Cat Cay include?
The aircraft and the crew for your party, the border paperwork at both ends, and the ground arrangements you ask for. You are booking the airframe rather than seats on it, so the figure covers the flight whether four people travel or eight. Catering, a golf cart or a boat waiting on arrival and onward transport are added when you ask for them and come back priced with the aircraft.
Can we set our own departure time?
Yes, within daylight and within what the crew is allowed to fly. That is the main thing a charter buys you. The hour is set when you confirm and can still be moved afterwards if your day changes, because the aircraft is not going anywhere else and there are no other passengers to inconvenience.
On a crossing this short most parties leave after breakfast and are on the island before the morning is over, but both ends of that can move. Tell us the hour you actually want rather than the one you think is on offer.
Is anyone else on the flight?
No. A charter carries the people you name and nobody else. There is no seat assignment, no other party sharing the cabin, and no risk of the flight leaving without part of your group. It also means the list can change up to shortly before departure: a name added or dropped is a refiling on our side rather than a rebooking on yours.
Can anyone land on North Cat Cay?
The island is privately owned and run as a members club, and the field on it belongs to the island rather than to the public. Landing there is for members and the guests they invite, and that is the island's rule rather than ours.
If your day is on North Cat Cay, tell us at the enquiry and the flight goes straight in. If it is not, South Bimini is ten miles up the chain with a public field, and the last stretch is a boat ride.
Do we have to connect through Nassau?
No. Nassau is the hub scheduled travel uses and it lies a long way east of the Biminis, so routing through it would add hours to a crossing that takes well under one. A chartered aircraft flies the direct line and lands at the field you chose. Clearing into the country is arranged by the crew on the way in, and every leg after that is domestic.
How early do we need to be at the departure point?
About thirty minutes. There is no terminal to cross and no queue to join at either end, because both ends of this route are general aviation. You park, walk to the aircraft and go. The outbound filing is already done from our side before you arrive, so there is nothing to hand in and nothing to print.
Can we change the passenger list after booking the plane?
Yes, up to the day before in most cases. A name added or dropped means we lodge the manifest again, and the flight is otherwise unchanged. Tell us as early as you can, because it is the paperwork that needs the notice and not the aircraft.
Can we add Bimini or another island to the same day?
Often yes. Once the aircraft is yours it can string legs together in whatever order suits you rather than return to a hub between them, and the fields up and down this chain take the same type. Send the whole plan at the enquiry and it comes back as one day rather than as separate flights.
What happens if the weather turns on the day?
The day moves. Weather is the one thing a charter does not make flexible, and we would rather move a flight than fly it badly. You are told as early as we know, and the aircraft is rebooked to a date that works for your party. Because it was held for you and nobody else, moving it is a conversation rather than a queue for the next available seat.
Is a private charter better value than scheduled flights for a group?
It depends on the size of the party and what the day is worth to you. The aircraft costs the same whether it is full or not, so the figure per person falls as the group grows, and a party of six or eight is where the comparison usually turns.
What a fare comparison never shows is the connection you do not make and the hours you get back at each end. Send the date and the headcount and you get real numbers rather than an estimate.
Can you collect us from the dock?
Not on wheels. A private plane runs field to field, and on these islands that means the strip. If the pickup needs to be a dock, a marina or a beach, the same day runs on a seaplane instead and we can meet you there.
How do we start?
Send the date, the number of guests, where you are leaving from and the hour you would like. You get back the aircraft that are free, what each one costs, the boarding time and what is included, and nothing is held until you say so.
If the day has anything else in it, a boat booked for the morning or a table held for the afternoon, say so at the same time and it comes back priced alongside the aircraft.
Can I bring a pet on a private plane charter?
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 a Private Plane to Cat Cay from Miami?
Send the date, the number of guests and the hour you would like to leave. You get the aircraft that are free, what each one costs and what is included, before anything is booked.
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