The Crossing
Seaplane from Miami to Cat Cay by Private Charter
The Cat Cays sit on the western edge of the Great Bahama Bank, about ten miles south of Bimini and they are among the first Bahamian ground a Florida departure reaches. North Cat Cay and South Cat Cay lie roughly 60 statute miles from downtown Miami, a little over 50 nautical and almost every mile of that is open water.
The crossing runs about 30 minutes in the air. The aircraft lifts off Biscayne Bay, turns southeast and flies it low enough to read the water. The deep blue of the Gulf Stream gives way to the pale green of the bank while you are still looking at it. Then the floats settle in the lee of the cays.
Everything between those two moments is ours: the departure point in Miami, the aircraft and the crew, both border filings and the travel documents the Bahamas wants before you leave Florida. Your party brings passports and a bag.
A seaplane from Miami to Cat Cay is one of several seaplane routes out of the city and it is the one that ends on water rather than on a runway. The aircraft is chartered whole and carries up to nine.
One thing sets this crossing apart from every other stop in the chain. North Cat Cay is a private club, so the marina, the houses and the airstrip belong to members and their sponsored guests and coming ashore is arranged before the date is fixed.
Plan Your Cat Cay Charter
How It Works
How a Seaplane Miami to Cat Cay Actually Works
The Cat Cays are a different country, so a day there is two border crossings in one day. Filed in advance it is paperwork. Left to the morning it is the reason an itinerary falls apart. The distance is the short part. Two governments want the passenger list before the aircraft moves and both filings sit on our side of the desk rather than yours.
This island asks for one more thing that the public stops in the chain do not, because North Cat Cay is private and the permission to come ashore is part of the planning. What follows is the whole sequence in order, from the water at the Miami end to the ramp where the day finishes on the way home.
Plan Your Cat Cay CharterDistance and Time
Sixty miles of open water, about thirty minutes of it in the air
Downtown Miami to the Cat Cays is roughly 60 statute miles, a little over 50 nautical, almost all of it water. On floats that is about 30 minutes airborne, plus the taxi out and the water landing at the far end. The island's own figure is fifty nautical miles south of Miami, which is the same crossing measured from a different point on the map.
The Whole Aircraft
The aircraft is chartered whole, so your party flies to Cat Cay together and comes home together
The aircraft stays with your party rather than turning around, so six hours in the islands means six hours. Up to nine travel on one booking. That also decides how the day is planned: the return moves with your party rather than with a timetable somebody else set.
Water Landing
The floats land on the water beside the cays, so there is no runway and no ferry
North Cat Cay carries a private airstrip, identifiers CXY and MYCC and it is kept for the island's members and the guests they sponsor. A seaplane needs none of it: the floats put the party down on the water in the lee of the cays. The mechanics sit in the water landing guide.
Leaving Miami
Leaving Miami for Cat Cay means the manifest is filed before you reach the dock
Every passenger needs a valid passport, children included and a driving licence will not do. What counts as valid is in the travel documents guidance. Names and numbers go in from our side, in advance. That happens once, when the party is confirmed, rather than again on the morning of the flight.
Arriving at the Cat Cays
Arriving in the Bahamas means clearing at a port of entry and Cat Cay is on that list
The Bahamas lets an aircraft arrive only at a designated port of entry. Cat Cay is one of them and sits on the customs list under Bimini, beside the North Bimini dock and the South Bimini airport, so the clearance can happen at the island itself.
Because the island is private, an arrival there is agreed with the club before the date is fixed. Where that is not the arrangement, the aircraft clears ten miles north at North Bimini and the last few minutes down to the cays are flown afterwards.
The Way Back
The way back carries its own clock and it ends usually at US customs in Opa-locka
Water landings run only from 30 minutes after sunrise to 30 minutes before sunset, so nothing on floats arrives in the dark and the return leg carries a deadline from the moment the date is set.
Customs officers keep daytime hours rather than the daylight, so in practice the desk closes before the sun does and the two clocks together set the last useful departure for your date. A return that would arrive after dark needs a lit runway rather than water.
The return is filed with US Customs before you leave and that filing decides where the aircraft may put down in South Florida. Opa-locka Executive is where a return from the islands clears, so a day that started on the water often finishes on a ramp. We take care of both ends of any chartered flight from Miami to the Bahamas.
Departure Points
Departure Points for a Seaplane Miami to Cat Cay
A seaplane needs no airport at the Miami end, so the departure point follows your morning rather than the aircraft. Two of these four put you on the water, two on a ramp.
Miami Seaplane Base
555 NE 15th St, Miami
The water departure, on Biscayne Bay just north of downtown. Boarding is from the dock, so nothing between the car and the aircraft looks like an airport. The shortest ground leg for Brickell, downtown and the beach and the usual choice when a yacht is the other half of the day.
Opa-locka Executive
Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, OPF
The executive airport north west of the city, with private terminal handling at both ends of the day. It is also where a return from the islands clears US customs, which is why an international day that leaves from the water often comes back here rather than to the dock it started from.
Miami Executive
Miami Executive Airport, TMB, Kendall
Kendall-Tamiami, in the south west of the county. When the aircraft for your date is already based at this field, the charter starts without a positioning leg. That matters most on a same day return, where an hour lost in Florida is an hour lost at the far end.
Miami International
Miami International Airport, MIA
A pickup rather than a base and the right one when the party is already landing at MIA and the onward leg should leave from the same airport. No aircraft is stationed here, so it is arranged per flight and confirmed with the operator before it is quoted.
How to Charter
How to Charter a Seaplane to Cat Cay from Miami
Chartering a seaplane 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. A seaplane lands on water and on runways. Your pickup can be a marina, a hotel dock or a beach, and an airport works just as well.
- 02
Get Aircraft and Prices Back
We check what is free on your date and send the seaplanes that fit. Seats, baggage and flight time for each one. Every aircraft costs a little differently, so we can find the best fit for you.
- 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 car or a golf cart waiting when you land, ground transport to your hotel or back to the airport.
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 Miami to Cat Cay Seaplane Puts You Down
North Cat Cay is a T-shaped island on the western edge of the Great Bahama Bank, with the marina and the houses on the sheltered side and the Gulf Stream falling away on the other. The water landing puts you between the two. South Cat Cay lies below it and is still under development.
What follows is what a day around the Cat Cays is built from, from the island itself outwards.
Plan Your Cat Cay CharterThe Island Is a Private Club
Members and Guests
North Cat Cay is owned by the people who belong to it and run as a private club, which is the single fact that shapes a visit. The marina, the houses, the golf course and the airstrip are for members and the guests they sponsor rather than for anybody who arrives.
That is worth settling before a date is fixed rather than after. If you are a member or you are coming at a member's invitation, the arrival is arranged with the island and the clearance happens there. If not, the day is built around the water beside the cays, which belongs to nobody and is the better half of it anyway.
Honeymoon Harbour and the Stingrays
Shin Deep
Honeymoon Harbour lies at the north end of Gun Cay, minutes from the Cat Cays by boat and it is the shallow bight the southern stingrays come into. They arrive in water you can stand in and they are used to people, so this is the one stop that works with children along.
Nothing about it needs booking a month out, but it does need the tide and the hour. Add water toys if the party wants the afternoon on the water, or a dock pickup if a boat is meeting you.
The Gun Cay Lighthouse
Standing Since 1836
Gun Cay sits immediately north of the Cat Cays and carries a lighthouse that was established in 1836. It is the landmark on this stretch of the bank and from the air it is the turn: once it is off the wing, the cays are underneath you.
The light is also the reason Cat Cay has the history it has. Queen Victoria granted the original deed to the island in 1873 to a captain who had kept that lighthouse, which is a small thing to know and a good one to say out loud when you fly past it.
The Drop Off and the Gulf Stream
Fishing Days
West of the cays the bottom falls off the bank into the Gulf Stream within sight of the beach, which is the reason this address has been a fishing one for the better part of a century. Mahi-mahi, wahoo, marlin, snapper and grouper are all taken in the water around here.
That is why parties book a full fishing day by seaplane or bonefishing and flats access on the bank behind the islands. Rods and gear travel, within the payload for the aircraft on the day and they are declared when you book rather than weighed at the dock.
The Sandbars on the Bank
Low Water Only
East of the cays the bank is shallow for miles and at low water parts of it dry into open sand in the middle of the sea, with nothing on it and nothing around it. That is where a beach picnic goes.
Low water is what decides the hour, not the one you would prefer and it is the single part of a day out here that is set by the sea rather than by the aircraft. Say if the sandbar is the point of the day, because the tide table then picks the departure time .
Ashore on North Cat Cay
For Those Who May
Ashore the island is small enough that a golf cart is the transport and long enough to hold a marina on the lee side, a nine-hole course laid out in the 1930s for the Duke of Windsor and a breakwater lighthouse built in 1933 that still works.
The club has been through a good deal to still be there. Hurricane Betsy took most of it in 1965 and it was rebuilt and reorganised as a member-owned club afterwards. A golf cart waiting and a meet and greet are both arranged with the flight where the arrival is into the club.
Bimini, Ten Miles North
The Public Island
Ten miles north is Bimini, which is public, has the marinas, the beach clubs and the bars and is a port of entry in its own right. For most parties the honest shape of the day is both: the quiet water down here and the island up there.
The crossing that serves it is Miami to Bimini by seaplane and the packaged version is the Bimini getaway day trip. A second set-down changes the timing rather than the aircraft, so it is worth naming when you send the date.
Onward Down the Chain
Same Aircraft
A private seaplane charter Miami to Cat Cay also works as the first leg rather than the whole day. The same aircraft carries on east and south to Grand Bahama, Nassau, Harbour Island, Andros or Staniel Cay and the Exumas.
That is what turns one stop into island hopping or a wider Bahamas day. Overnight changes the baggage rather than the route.
If a yacht is meeting you, the aircraft can set the party down alongside instead of at a pier. That is a yacht transfer and out here, where the marina is not open to everyone, it is the reason a good number of these flights happen at all. The rest of the chain is on the Bahamas destinations page.
Ready When You Are
Ready to Book Seaplane Flights from Miami to Cat Cay?
Send the departure point, the number of guests and from when to when. You get back what is free on your dates, the boarding time and what the day costs, before anything is booked.
Add-Ons
Seaplane to Cat Cay Add-Ons
Anything else you have in mind is arranged with the flight.
In Detail
Seaplane from Miami to Cat Cay: The Gulf Stream, the Bank and a Water Landing
Everything above is the day. What follows is the detail behind it: the crossing, the two borders, the island itself and what charter and private actually change about a flight to the Bahamas.
Seaplane Miami to Cat Cay: Flying Low Over the Reef and the Flats
Room enough and a window each on a Cat Cay seaplane
The crossing is not dead time between two airports. A seaplane runs low and slow, so the water under the wing is the first thing the day gives you. North Cat Cay and South Cat Cay lie roughly 60 statute miles from downtown Miami, a little over 50 nautical and almost every mile of that is open water. The crossing runs about 30 minutes in the air. On the ocean side the bottom falls away within sight of the beach into the Gulf Stream, which is what makes this a fishing address and why a fishing day by seaplane is booked from the same landing. The bank shelves west of the cays into sand you can stand on at low water, so a beach picnic and water toys are the two things guests add most often to a day out here. A seaplane from Miami to Cat Cay is one of several seaplane routes out of the city and it is the one that ends on water rather than on a runway. Every seat is a window seat on seaplanes in the fleet of this size, so nobody watches the crossing over someone's shoulder. Other seaplane routes from Miami fly the same way.
Seaplane to Cat Cay from Miami: You Decide the Departure Time
Your hour, your names and a seaplane 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. If the drive is shorter the other way, the same day runs out of Fort Lauderdale. 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. Parties meeting a boat go alongside on a You choose the hour and the stay. And the half hour across 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.
Miami to Cat Cay Seaplane: The Crew Files Both Borders, You Carry a Passport
Passports are all your party carries on a Cat Cay crossing
A seaplane 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. Your party carries a valid passport and nothing else. 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 Opa-locka Executive, 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. A return clears at Opa-locka Executive, and a weather delay 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.
Seaplane Miami Cat Cay: Milestone Days and Bahamas Weekends
A day trip, a weekend or something to celebrate on Cat Cay
A private seaplane 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 seaplane Miami Cat Cay charter is for. A seaplane Miami Cat Cay charter is booked when the day matters more than the fare: a member bringing guests over, a crew joining a boat at the marina, a birthday spent on water nobody else is standing in. 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
Seaplane from Miami to Cat Cay: Questions Answered
How long is the flight from Miami to Cat Cay?
About 30 minutes in the air. The Cat Cays lie roughly 60 statute miles from downtown Miami, a little over 50 nautical, almost all of it open water.
The exact block time depends on the aircraft and the departure point and it is confirmed with the boarding time before you book. What sets the length of the day is not the flight. It is the two border filings and how long the aircraft waits for you.
Do I need a passport to fly to Cat Cay?
Yes. Cat Cay is in the Bahamas, so this is an international flight and every passenger needs a valid passport, children and infants included.
Full names and passport numbers go in when you book rather than at the dock, because both border filings are made in advance from our side. There is no check-in desk on this route and nothing to hand over at the slip.
Can anyone visit Cat Cay or is it members only?
North Cat Cay is a private island run as a members club, so the marina, the houses, the golf course and the airstrip are for members and the guests they sponsor.
That is the one thing to settle before a date is fixed: if you are coming as a member or at a member's invitation, the arrival is arranged with the island. If not, the day is built around the water beside the cays and around Bimini ten miles north, which is public.
Where does a seaplane land at Cat Cay?
On the water. The airstrip on North Cat Cay, CXY and MYCC, is private and a seaplane does not need it: the floats put the party down in sheltered water in the lee of the cays and a tender or the marina takes it from there.
That is the whole argument for floats on this crossing, because the alternative is a runway on another island and a boat ride afterwards.
How does customs work on a seaplane flight to Cat Cay?
The Bahamas lets an aircraft arrive only at a designated port of entry and Cat Cay is on that list, filed under Bimini beside the North Bimini dock and the South Bimini airport. So the clearance can happen at the island itself rather than as a detour.
Where the arrival is not into the club, the aircraft clears at North Bimini ten miles north and flies the last few minutes afterwards. None of the paperwork is yours: we make both filings and arrange the clearance.
Can you do Cat Cay as a day trip from Miami?
Yes. Out in the morning, back before dark, with the aircraft staying with your party rather than turning around, so six hours in the islands means six hours. Both borders are filed in advance from our side and the clearance is planned into the hours the officers keep, so the day needs nothing on your list. Nothing about it is shared with anyone.
How late can we fly back from Cat Cay on the same day?
A seaplane needs daylight on the water. Landings run from 30 minutes after sunrise to 30 minutes before sunset, so the day has a hard end rather than an open one. Customs officers keep daytime hours as well, which usually closes the day earlier than the sun does.
Both clocks move through the year, which is why the latest departure for your date comes with the quote. A return arriving after dark lands on a lit runway instead of on water.
How many people can fly to Cat Cay on one charter?
Up to nine. The aircraft is chartered whole rather than sold by the seat, so your party travels together on one booking and comes home on the same aircraft.
How many seats are usable on your date also depends on the payload once baggage is aboard, so it is confirmed with the quote. Send the headcount and say whether children are travelling: they count as passengers on an international manifest.
How much luggage can we take and can we bring rods or dive gear?
Rods, dive gear and hard cases all travel regularly, within the payload for the aircraft on the day. The limit is a weight rather than a bag count, which is why bulky equipment is declared when you book rather than weighed at the dock: it comes out of the same payload the passengers do. Valuable gear leaving the United States can be registered with US Customs in advance.
What happens if the weather stops the Cat Cay flight?
Water operations depend on wind and sea state as well as visibility and the bank west of the cays is open to it, so a departure can move on a day that looks clear from the beach. Summer afternoons move return legs more often than mornings.
The call belongs to the operator rather than the guest and you are told before you book how a moved departure is handled. Because the aircraft carries only your party, a new slot is agreed with you rather than assigned to you.
How far is Cat Cay from Bimini and can we do both in a day?
About ten miles, which is minutes in the air and a short run by boat. Doing both is common and it is often the sensible shape of the day: Bimini is public and has the marinas, the beaches and the bars, the Cat Cays and Gun Cay have the quiet water and the lighthouse. Say so when you send the date, because a second set-down changes the timing rather than the aircraft.
Can you fly to Cat Cay from Fort Lauderdale or the Florida Keys instead?
Yes. The cays are reachable from every departure point in the corridor and the crossing from Fort Lauderdale is marginally longer than the one from Miami, which is worth very little once the drive is counted.
The right departure point is the one closest to where you are staying, not the one closest to the island. Say where the morning starts and the answer comes back with it already chosen.
What does a private seaplane charter from Miami to Cat Cay cost?
A charter is priced as a whole aircraft, not per seat, so the number moves with three things: which aircraft flies your date, how many of you there are once bags are aboard and how long the aircraft waits at the cays.
Tell us those and you get one all-in number, with the departure point, the boarding time and the hours ashore it is based on, before anything is due. Bahamian and US entry fees are inside that number rather than added at the end.
Can I bring a pet on a seaplane 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 Seaplane Charter Miami to Cat Cay?
Send the departure point, the party size and from when to when. Nothing else needs planning: you get back what is free on your dates, the boarding time and what the Cat Cay day costs.
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