The Crossing
Small Plane Flights Miami to Cat Island
Cat Island lies about 273 nautical miles out from Miami, deep enough into the chain that most people arrive by way of somewhere else. A chartered small plane does not.
New Bight Airport carries the identifiers TBI and MYCB and an asphalt strip of 5,049 feet, and the border desk is in the terminal beside it, so the aircraft that leaves Florida is the aircraft that parks on the island.
The island is 48 miles long and the Queen's Highway runs the whole of it, which is the fact that shapes this route more than the water does.
There are three paved strips along that line: New Bight in the middle, Arthur's Town at the northern end and a private one at the southern tip. Where you want to sleep decides which of them you land on, and a charter is the only way to make that choice yourself.
Everything between those two points 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.
This is one of the longer crossings we fly out of the city and one of several Small Plane routes from Miami. Where a beach or a dock is the better arrival than an apron, the same island is flown by seaplane instead, which is a different aircraft and a different page.
Plan Your Cat Island Charter
How It Works
How a Small Plane Charter Miami to Cat Island Actually Works
Cat Island is a different country, so a trip there is two border crossings. On this route both of them happen at an airport, so a long crossing still runs short. Nothing about the paperwork is yours except the passports.
The short version: you clear out of Florida, you fly the bank and the deep water, you land on the strip you chose and you clear in at the desk beside the apron.
Plan Your Cat Island CharterThe Distance
The distance to Cat Island is what decides the aircraft, not the runway
Miami to New Bight is roughly 273 nautical miles, which puts this island in a different bracket from the near ones off the Florida coast. On wheels the published block times for the crossing sit at about an hour and a half in the air. Which airframe flies your date is a range and payload question the crew answers with the quote, never a number we print in advance.
The Runways
Where a small plane sets down on Cat Island is a choice, not a given
This island has three paved strips rather than the usual one, spread along its length, and each is long enough several times over for this type. Which of them you use is decided from where you are staying rather than from a map, and the island page has the settlements. Tell us the address and the runway comes back with the boarding time.
The Border
Customs and immigration sit on Cat Island, not somewhere along the way
New Bight is named in the Bahamian ports of entry order, which is the part that matters for a private flight. On islands without one an aircraft has to touch down at a port of entry first and carry on afterwards.
Here it does not. The crew files the manifest before departure, the desk keeps daytime hours and the travel documents are checked in Florida rather than at the counter.
Leaving Miami
Leaving Miami is the quieter of the two borders on the way to Cat Island
Outbound from Florida the filing is done for you and the aircraft departs from a general aviation ramp rather than a terminal. You arrive at the departure point close to the boarding time, not two hours before it.
Coming home is the step people forget: a return from the islands clears United States customs at a designated field and the crew plans the routing around that not around the shortest line.
The Ground
A road runs the length of Cat Island, so the last mile is a car
Whichever strip you land on, the Queen's Highway connects it to everything else on the island. There is no ferry in this plan and no tide to work around, which is the practical difference between Cat Island and the small cays further north.
A vehicle can be waiting on the apron through ground transport, and on an island this long that is worth arranging before you land rather than after.
The Block
The small plane waits on Cat Island, which is what makes a short stay work
On a charter the airframe is yours for the block, so the return is set by you rather than by a timetable.
That matters more this far out than it does on a short hop: a scheduled seat this deep into the chain often means a night you did not plan. Guests who do want to stay tell us at the enquiry and the crew and the aircraft are planned around it.
Departure Points
Departure Points for Small Plane Flights to Cat Island from Miami
A small plane uses short fields that a jet cannot, so the departure point is chosen for your ground time. These are the four we use 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 and the field both small planes sit at, the land aircraft and the amphibian. A charter that starts here starts without a positioning leg, which is what decides an early morning on a same day return. It is also the shortest drive from the south and west of the county.
Opa-locka Executive
Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, OPF
The executive airport north west of the city, with private terminal handling and the point most Bahamas day trips are dispatched from. It is also where a return from the islands clears US customs. That makes it the default on a Bahamas day unless the drive is against you.
Miami International
Miami International Airport, MIA
A pickup rather than a base, for a party already at MIA that wants the onward leg to leave from the same airport. Arranged per flight and confirmed with the operator before it is quoted. It costs ground time, because a commercial field moves on its own schedule.
Fort Lauderdale Executive
Fort Lauderdale Executive, FXE
Fort Lauderdale Executive, the Broward departure, with its own federal inspection station for the return from the islands. The usual choice when the group is north of Miami and the drive south would cost more time than the flight saves. The return clears there as readily as it does at Opa-locka.
How to Charter
Charter a Small Plane from Miami to Cat Island
Chartering an aircraft is not booking a seat. There are four steps, and only the first one is yours.
Plan Your Cat Island 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 small plane runs airport to airport. Your pickup can also be a marina, a hotel dock or a beach. With a seaplane we can collect you there.
- 02
Get Aircraft and Prices Back
We check what is free on your date and send the small planes 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 Island Small Plane Puts You Down
The aircraft puts you on asphalt somewhere along a 48-mile island, and which point on that line is your choice rather than the timetable's. New Bight in the middle is where the border desk is and where most days start.
What follows is what parties actually do with the hours after that, in the order they ask for it.
Plan Your Cat Island CharterThe New Bight Runway and the Border Desk
Where You LandThe strip runs east to west across the middle of the island, 5,049 feet of asphalt under the identifiers TBI and MYCB. From the seat it is an ordinary landing, because a small charter aircraft uses a fraction of it.
The terminal is one building. Customs and immigration are inside it, which is the fact that shapes this whole route: the Bahamian ports of entry order names New Bight, so you clear where you land rather than somewhere along the way.
Expect the formalities to take minutes rather than an hour. The crew has filed everything before departure and the desk keeps daytime hours, which is the one reason an early slot is worth more than a late one on a crossing this long.
Say at the enquiry if anyone is travelling on a passport other than a United States one, because that is the case worth flagging before the day rather than at the counter.
The Bight and Fernandez Bay
Where the Hotels Are
The settlements around the middle of the island sit within a few minutes of the runway, which is the main reason New Bight is the default arrival. Fernandez Bay is the sheltered curve on the western shore, calm water and a beach that runs a long way with almost nobody on it.
Cat Island holds around 1,500 people across the whole 48 miles, so quiet here is not a marketing word, it is the actual condition of the place. A vehicle can be waiting when you land through ground transport, and on an island this shape that is worth arranging in advance.
Arthur's Town and the North End
The Second Strip
The northern settlements have their own runway, and on a 48-mile island that is a practical fact rather than a curiosity: landing at the wrong end can cost an hour in a car before the day starts. Arthur's Town is on the ports of entry list as well, so a party staying north can clear there instead of driving down from the middle.
It is the sort of choice a scheduled seat never offers you, because a timetable lands where it lands. Which strip is right is decided at the enquiry, from where you are staying rather than from a map. Tell us the address and the runway comes back with the boarding time.
The Private Strip at the Southern Tip
Runway and Marina
At the southern end of the island a paved strip of 3,100 feet sits beside a resort and a marina, close enough to the water that the walk from the apron is measured in minutes rather than in miles.
It is a private field, so its use is arranged rather than assumed, and that is a conversation for the enquiry rather than for a web page. What it buys a fishing or diving party is obvious: the aircraft, the boats and the beds are all in the same place.
Como Hill and the Hermitage Above It
The Highest Ground in the Country
Cat Island has a ridge down its spine and Como Hill, also called Mount Alvernia, tops out at 63 metres. That is the highest point in the whole of the Bahamas, which says as much about the country as it does about the hill.
On the summit stands the Hermitage, a miniature stone monastery built in 1939 by Monsignor John Hawes, known on the island as Father Jerome, who cut the stations of the cross into the rock along the path up. It is a short climb from the road and it is the one thing on this island that everybody who lands here ends up seeing.
Greenwood Beach and Port Howe
Eight Miles of Pink Sand
Greenwood Beach lies on the windward shore near Port Howe at the southeast end, and it runs about eight miles. The sand there carries a pink cast from the shell in it, the same effect the Bahamas is better known for further north, on a beach with a fraction of the people.
The Atlantic side is the open one, so this is where the wind is and where the kite and wind surfers go. What there is to do once you are down is the island's own subject rather than the flight's and the Cat Island destination page covers it properly, while anything you want set up before you land goes through custom requests.
Rods, Tanks and a Cooler on a Small Plane
What Wheels Carry
This is the part of the day a runway changes most. Load on a small aircraft is a weight question rather than a bag count and a wheeled airframe has more of it to give than floats do. Rods, dive tanks, a cooler for the boat, a case of something for the house: all of it travels, within the payload for the aircraft on the day.
On a crossing of this length fuel takes a larger share of that payload than it does on a short hop, so say what is coming at the enquiry rather than at the ramp and see the baggage guidance for how the trade between passengers and weight actually works.
Anything larger than luggage is a different service on the same runway and that is island logistics rather than a charter with extra bags.
Onward Down the Chain by Small Plane
Same Aircraft
Cat Island sits in the middle of the southern chain rather than at the end of it, and clearing in here is what makes the rest easy: once you are through the desk, every leg after it is domestic.
The same airframe carries on to Staniel Cay and the Exumas, Nassau, Harbour Island or Andros, and Long Island and San Salvador are shorter hops again from here. That is what turns one island into island hopping or a wider Bahamas day.
Where the next island has no strip of its own, that leg switches aircraft rather than cancelling the plan. The packaged version of a single day is the Cat Island getaway day trip and the rest of the chain is on the Bahamas destinations page.
Ready When You Are
Ready to Book a Small Plane Charter from Miami to Cat Island?
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
Small Plane Flights to Cat Island Add-Ons
Tell us which of these you want when you send your dates and they go on the same quote as the flight.
In Detail
Small Plane Miami to Cat Island: Three Airstrips, the Border Desk and the Drive
Everything above is the day. What follows is the detail behind it: the three strips you can choose between, the border desk that sits beside one of them, the road that joins them and what charter actually changes about a flight to the Bahamas.
Miami to Cat Island by Small Plane: Flying Low Over the Reef and the Flats
Room enough and a window each on a Cat Island small plane
The crossing is not dead time between two airports. A small plane crosses low enough to see what is under it, so the water is part of the day rather than something to sit through. The route leaves Florida over deep water and then spends a long stretch above the banks, where a few feet of sand under the wing turns the whole surface pale green and every channel through it reads like a drawn line. Further east the floor drops away again and the colour goes back to something close to black. Cat Island announces itself before you are over it: a thin, dark green line running north to south with a ridge along its spine. On this route both of them happen at an airport, so a long crossing still runs short. Every seat is a window seat on an aircraft this size, and the same is true of scenic flights of this size, so nobody watches the crossing over someone's shoulder. Other small plane routes from Miami fly the same way.
Small Plane to Cat Island from Miami: You Decide the Departure Time
Your hour, your names and a small plane to Cat Island
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 Island 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. An hour and a half over this stretch of water is not dead time between two airports. 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.
Small Plane Charter to Cat Island from Miami: The Crew Files Both Borders, You Carry a Passport
Passports are all your party carries on a Cat Island crossing
A small plane from Miami to Cat Island crosses an international border twice in a day. 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. 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.
Small Plane Miami to Cat Island: Milestone Days and Bahamas Weekends
A day trip, a weekend or something to celebrate on Cat Island
A private small plane from Miami to Cat Island 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 small plane Miami to Cat Island is for. A birthday that wanted somewhere quieter than the usual island, an anniversary with a beach nobody else is standing on, a family weekend where everybody arrives at once instead of trickling in over two days. 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
Small Plane Charter Miami to Cat Island: Questions Answered
Can a plane land on Cat Island?
Yes, on three paved runways. New Bight Airport has an asphalt strip of 5,049 feet and the identifiers TBI and MYCB, Arthur's Town serves the north end and a private strip of 3,100 feet sits at the southern tip.
All three are several times longer than a small charter aircraft needs, so which one you use is a question of where you are staying rather than of what will fit.
Where does the flight land on Cat Island?
At whichever of the three strips suits your plans, and New Bight is the usual answer because it is central and because the border desk is in the terminal there. Arthur's Town is on the ports of entry list as well, which makes it the sensible choice for a party staying in the northern settlements. The southern strip is a private one beside a marina.
Is Cat Island a port of entry for a private flight?
Yes. The Bahamian ports of entry order names New Bight, Arthur's Town, Smith's Bay and Bennett's Harbour. For a private aircraft that means you clear where you land instead of touching down somewhere else first and flying the last leg afterwards. The desk keeps daytime hours, so an early departure out of Florida is worth more than a late one.
How long is the flight from Miami to Cat Island?
Miami to New Bight is about 273 nautical miles, and published block times for the crossing on wheels sit at around an hour and a half in the air. The exact figure depends on the aircraft and which Florida field you leave from, and it is confirmed with the boarding time before you book. Add the border desk at each end for the shape of the whole day.
Do I need a passport to fly to Cat Island?
Yes, for every passenger including children. The Bahamas is a different country and a private aircraft does not change that. We take the passport details once at the enquiry and file the manifest for both sides before departure. The travel documents page lists what each passenger hands over and by when, including the cases that need more notice.
Can Cat Island be done as a day trip from Miami?
It can, and it is a long day rather than a short one. Three hours of flying and two border desks leave a useful afternoon rather than a whole one, which is why most parties who ask end up staying a night. On a charter the aircraft is held for your block either way, so the decision is yours and not a timetable's.
How much baggage can we take on a small plane to Cat Island?
It is a weight question rather than a bag count. A small aircraft trades payload against passengers and fuel, and on a crossing of this length fuel takes a larger share than it does on a short hop. Say what is coming at the enquiry, including rods, dive gear, coolers and anything with a battery in it, and the answer comes back with the quote.
Can you fly us straight to the strip at the south end?
That is a question for the enquiry rather than for a web page, because the southern strip is private and use of it is arranged rather than assumed. Say where you are staying when you send your dates and the reply names the runway along with the boarding time. New Bight and Arthur's Town are both open fields and neither needs arranging.
Is there a ferry involved in getting to Cat Island?
No, and that is the practical difference between this island and the small cays further north. The Queen's Highway runs the 48-mile length of Cat Island and connects all three strips to every settlement on it, so the last mile is a car rather than a boat. Nothing in that plan depends on the tide or on the state of the water.
What happens if the weather is bad on the day of the Cat Island flight?
A paved runway tolerates a great deal that a water landing does not, which is the main practical argument for this aircraft in winter. If conditions are genuinely below minimums the crew moves or stands down the flight and the weather and delays policy says what that means for your booking. That call is the crew's, made against published limits, never a preference.
Can we fly on to another island from Cat Island afterwards?
Yes, and clearing in here is what makes it easy: once you are through the desk, every leg after it is domestic. Long Island, San Salvador, Great Exuma and Staniel Cay are all short hops from this part of the chain on the same airframe. Tell us the shape of the trip at the enquiry and it is quoted as one movement rather than as separate days.
Is it cheaper than a scheduled flight?
No and it is not trying to be. A scheduled seat is cheaper because somebody else chose the day and the aircraft is shared, and this far down the chain that usually costs you a night at each end. Charter buys the block: your departure, your return, your party only, your runway. That is the comparison worth making rather than fare against fare.
Can I bring a pet on a small 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 Small Plane Charter Miami to Cat Island?
Send the departure point, the number of guests and from when to when. You get back the aircraft, the runway, the boarding time and what the whole day costs, before anything is booked.
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