Seaplane from Miami to Moore's Island

About 55 minutes in the air. Moore's Island lies roughly 168 statute miles from downtown Miami, about 146 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.

In the Bight of Abaco, the shallow sea on the western side of the Abacos, about 28 miles west of the main island of Great Abaco. It is roughly seven miles long and three and a half miles wide, with two settlements on it: Hard Bargain, which is the seat of the district, The Bight is the other.

Around 950 people live there. It is one of the least visited inhabited islands in the northern Bahamas, which is most of the reason people ask about it.

It has an airstrip rather than an airport. The identifier is MYAO, the runway is gravel and about 2,640 feet long, there is no fuel on the field and it is not a port of entry. That is why arriving by wheels means clearing somewhere else, landing on gravel and then finding ground transport, while a seaplane simply puts down on the water beside the settlement.

Yes. Moore's Island 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.

The Bahamas lets an aircraft arrive only at a designated port of entry and Moore's Island is not one, so the aircraft clears on the way and flies the last leg afterwards. Sandy Point and Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco both sit on the list and either one sits naturally on this line.

Which is used depends on the aircraft, the route and the date and it comes with the quote. None of the paperwork is yours: we make both filings and arrange the clearance, so your part is the enquiry.

Yes and it is the most common way parties do it. Out in the morning, back before dark, with the aircraft waiting at the island rather than turning around, so six hours ashore 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.

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. The clearance on the way home keeps office hours of its own and usually closes before the sun does, so in practice the desk sets the return.

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.

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 that is depends on which aircraft flies your date and on the payload once baggage is aboard, so it is confirmed with the quote rather than promised in advance. Send the headcount and say whether children are travelling: they count as passengers on an international manifest.

Yes and most parties do, because the flats are the reason they are going. Rods, reels and hard cases 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.

Flats fishing, which is the island's reputation. The shallows sit next to deep water on several sides, which holds big bonefish. The southern Bight of Abaco sees very little pressure compared with the cays on the eastern shore.

Permit turn up on the same flats and tarpon in the range of roughly 20 to 80 pounds are worked here through the warmer months. Say when you send the date whether the party is fishing, because that changes the hour rather than the route.

Water operations depend on wind and sea state as well as visibility, so a departure can move on a day that looks clear from the beach and 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.

It is a settlement rather than a resort island, so almost every party comes for the day and sleeps somewhere else in the Abacos. If you want a night on the island itself, say so with the date rather than after it: an overnight changes the baggage and the ground arrangements rather than the route.

The answer comes back with the quote. Marsh Harbour and the cays on the eastern shore are minutes away by air if the night is easier over there.

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 island.

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.

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.