The Bahamas

Fifty Minutes From Florida.
Seven Hundred Islands to Choose From.

The Bahamas begin 50 nautical miles off Fort Lauderdale and run 500 miles south-east to Inagua, and where you land decides the trip. Nassau takes any aircraft at any hour. The Out Islands take a mid-size jet on a 6,000-foot strip inside customs hours, or a turboprop onto a 3,000-foot one. Peak arranges the aircraft, the Bahamas customs paperwork, the boat to Harbour Island and the return to a US airport of entry, with all-inclusive pricing and no membership fees. We arrange — you fly.

What to Do in the Bahamas

Mid-December through April is the season: dry days in the 70s and low 80s, water around 73°F in February and 80°F by May. Summer brings 85°F water and afternoon storms. June to November is hurricane season, with August to October the months to watch; storms are tracked days out and we re-time departures around them.

Each island group is a different holiday. Nassau and Paradise Island are golf (the Ocean Club course, Royal Blue at Baha Mar, Albany), casinos and the Atlantis water park. Harbour Island is three miles of pink sand and golf carts. The Exuma Cays are the boat trip: the swimming pigs at Big Major Cay, Thunderball Grotto at slack tide, and the moorings of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.

Andros is the bonefishing capital, November through June, with the third-largest barrier reef in the world off its east coast. Bimini sits 50 miles from Florida and gets great hammerheads from December to March. The Abacos are the sailing grounds, Hope Town to Green Turtle Cay, and have rebuilt steadily since Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

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The Weeks That Book Out First

Nassau has no slot system and a 24-hour airport, so the pressure shows up in aircraft parking and hotel rooms rather than permission to land. Out Island customs closes at 5 p.m. local unless overtime is arranged, which matters most in these windows:

Christmas to New Year
December 19, 2026 to January 3, 2027

The heaviest inbound fortnight of the year at every gateway, anchored by the Junkanoo parades on Bay Street before dawn on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Overnight parking at Nassau and Exuma goes to whoever asked first, and the Harbour Island hotels run minimum stays. Book the aircraft when you book the rooms.
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Korn Ferry Tour Fortnight
January 14 to 27, 2027

The Bahamas Golf Classic at the Ocean Club course on Paradise Island (January 14 to 20) runs straight into the Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club on Winding Bay (January 21 to 27). Two islands, two airports: Nassau for the first week, Marsh Harbour for the second. Dates as announced by the venues, ahead of the official tour schedule.
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Bahamas Culinary & Arts Festival
October 21 to 25, 2026

Five days at Baha Mar with Daniel Boulud, Marcus Samuelsson and Scott Conant in the kitchens and OneRepublic on the 23rd. It is the one autumn week when Cable Beach rooms and Nassau aircraft parking tighten together, in what is otherwise the quietest stretch of the year to fly in. Book the aircraft with the festival passes.
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Where to Stay in the Bahamas

On Paradise Island, The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort is the address: 107 keys on the old Huntington Hartford estate, half an hour from the airport across the bridge, with Atlantis and The Cove next door. On Cable Beach, ten minutes from the FBO, Baha Mar stacks three hotels on one strip: Rosewood Baha Mar for rooms and villas, Grand Hyatt for the casino and the scale, SLS for the pool scene. Goldwynn, a few doors west, is the small option at about 80 units. Albany and Lyford Cay are private clubs; access runs through a member or the club itself, and we can help set it up.

Harbour Island is small hotels and cottages, and much of it closes from late August to October. Coral Sands, Pink Sands and The Dunmore share the pink beach. Bahama House by Eleven takes 11 rooms or the whole house on a two-night minimum and reopens October 31. Across the water, The Cove Eleuthera at Gregory Town is the country’s only Relais & Châteaux.

In the Exumas, Grand Isle Resort at Emerald Bay is the villa resort 20 minutes from the airport. The Sandals beside it closed in August 2024 and will not reopen as Beaches Exuma before the end of 2027. Fowl Cay near Staniel Cay and Kamalame Cay off Andros are private islands reached by boat or short strip after you clear customs elsewhere. In the Abacos, Hope Town Inn & Marina and Bluff House on Green Turtle Cay are the rebuilt anchors; The Abaco Club and Baker’s Bay are members and their guests only.

The honest constraint is inventory over Christmas and Easter, and minimum-night rules on Harbour Island. Book rooms and aircraft on the same call. They sell out on the same weekends.

Where to Eat in the Bahamas

There is no Michelin Guide for the Bahamas, so the shortcut is the chefs who brought their names with them. Dune by Jean-Georges at the Ocean Club is the table to book first. At Atlantis, Nobu, Fish by José Andrés and Paranza by Michael White share one resort. Baha Mar has Marcus Samuelsson’s Fish + Chop House, Café Boulud at the Rosewood, Carna by Dario Cecchini and Leola, Scott Conant’s Italian room that opened in November 2025.

Graycliff on West Hill Street is the old Nassau institution: a 1740s house, one of the deepest wine cellars in the hemisphere, and long trousers required for men at dinner. Café Matisse, the other downtown name, closed in 2023.

Then eat where Nassau eats. The Fish Fry at Arawak Cay on West Bay Street is a row of shacks, Twin Brothers, Goldie’s, Oh Andros, doing fried snapper, conch salad and sky juice; go on a Sunday. Potter’s Cay under the Paradise Island bridge is conch stalls at lunch. On Harbour Island, Queen Conch on Bay Street makes the salad in front of you. In the Exumas, Chat ’N’ Chill on Stocking Island is a boat ride and a Sunday pig roast; Santanna’s in Little Exuma is the drive. In the Abacos, Nippers on Great Guana Cay and Pete’s Pub at Little Harbour both came back after Dorian.

Reservations at Dune, Nobu, Fish, Café Boulud and Leola go two to four weeks out from December to April, with resort guests first in line. The Bahamas Culinary & Arts Festival at Baha Mar runs October 21 to 25, 2026, and books the resort out with it.

Flying Into the Bahamas

Pick the Island First. The Airport Follows.

Nassau Takes Anything, Any Hour

Lynden Pindling International (MYNN) has an 11,107-foot runway, instrument approaches, two FBOs and customs at the general aviation terminal from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays. With Freeport, it is the only field in the country a heavy jet can use at night without special arrangements. If your destination is Paradise Island, Cable Beach, Albany or Lyford Cay, this is the airport.

The Out Islands Run on Customs Hours

Exuma, North Eleuthera, Governor’s Harbour and Marsh Harbour all have customs on the field, but the standard window is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. local, with overtime by prior request. None has a published instrument approach, so they are daylight, good-weather fields. Runways run 6,000 to 8,000 feet, enough for a mid-size jet with a sensible load. Staniel Cay’s 3,030-foot strip is turboprop territory, has no customs, and is under reconstruction into early 2027.

Paperwork Peak Handles

Charter flights need a Bahamas landing permit, filed about four business days ahead, plus the C7A general declaration and an immigration card per person. Bahamas Customs charges $150 inbound and $150 outbound for a charter aircraft with more than four seats, and a $29 departure tax per passenger. Coming home there is no US preclearance for private flights; you land at a designated airport of entry in Florida with CBP notified an hour ahead. Every operator we use is vetted through ARGUS TripCheq or Wyvern. We’d rather over-verify than leave you wondering.

THE AIRPORTS PEAK USES

The Bahamas have more than 50 airstrips. These are the ones that matter for a jet:

Lynden Pindling International (MYNN / NAS): Nassau. An 11,107-foot runway, 24-hour operations and an ILS. Odyssey Aviation and Jet Nassau handle private arrivals with customs at the general aviation terminal. Ten minutes to Baha Mar and Lyford Cay, 15 to Albany, 30 to Paradise Island.

Exuma International (MYEF / GGT): Moss Town, Great Exuma. 7,000 feet, an Odyssey Aviation FBO with customs inside and Jet A on the field. Twenty minutes to Grand Isle and Emerald Bay, half an hour to George Town and the Stocking Island boats.

North Eleuthera (MYEH / ELH): 6,019 feet, customs 9 to 5. Five minutes by taxi to Three Island Dock, then a five-minute water taxi to Harbour Island. It is the only way in.

Governor’s Harbour (MYEM / GHB): 8,035 feet, the longest Out Island runway, for central Eleuthera, French Leave and The Cove.

Marsh Harbour (MYAM / MHH): 6,100 feet with customs on site, the gateway to Hope Town, Great Guana Cay and The Abaco Club. Treasure Cay (MYAT) is open with a 7,000-foot runway but clears customs from trailers and has no terminal.

South Bimini (MYBS / BIM): 5,391 feet, customs on the field, no jet fuel. A van and a water taxi put you in Alice Town in ten minutes.

Grand Bahama International (MYGF / FPO): Freeport. 11,018 feet and an instrument approach, the other all-weather field.

On the US side, with access to 5,000+ airports across the US and Canada, we’ll launch from whichever field suits the rest of your plans and bring you home through Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Opa-locka or Miami.

Flight Times to Nassau

Short from Florida, a morning from anywhere on the East Coast. Typical block times in a mid-size jet to Nassau; add 10 to 15 minutes for Exuma or the Abacos:

Fort Lauderdale FLL · FXE0h 50m

West Palm Beach PBI0h 55m

Atlanta PDK · FTY1h 45m

Washington, DC IAD · HEF2h 10m

New York TEB · HPN2h 30m

Chicago MDW · PWK2h 50m

Dallas DAL · ADS2h 50m

Toronto YYZ · YTZ2h 50m

Times move with aircraft type, payload and winds. From Bozeman, Denver or the West Coast a mid-size jet plans a fuel stop and a super-mid does not; that choice, not the price of the seat, usually decides the aircraft. There is no en-route alternate over the Gulf Stream that is not another island, so operator selection counts.

Choosing the Aircraft for the Islands

Where you are landing narrows the fleet more than where you are leaving from.

TURBOPROPS & LIGHT JETS

PILATUS PC-12 · KING AIR 350 · PHENOM 300

Passengers
4–8

Best for
Florida departures and short Out Island strips

Why
A PC-12 uses Staniel Cay and Bimini; a light jet covers Nassau, Exuma and Eleuthera from anywhere in Florida

MID-SIZE & SUPER-MID

CITATION LATITUDE · CHALLENGER 350 · PRAETOR 600

Passengers
8–9

Best for
The Northeast to any Bahamas gateway

Why
Non-stop from New York or Chicago with margin, and comfortable on a 6,000-foot Out Island runway

HEAVY JETS & AIRLINERS

CHALLENGER 650 · GULFSTREAM · 30–100 SEATS

Passengers
10–100

Best for
Nassau or Freeport, when the group is the trip

Why
The two 11,000-foot runways take anything: a wedding, a full board, a golf trip that outgrew two aircraft

Ask about baggage before you ask about seats. Golf bags, dive gear and a week of luggage fill a light jet’s hold well before the cabin fills with people.

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Bahamas Charter Questions, Answered

It depends on the island. Nassau (MYNN) serves Paradise Island, Cable Beach, Albany and Lyford Cay and takes any aircraft 24 hours a day. Exuma (MYEF) serves Great Exuma and the boats to the cays. North Eleuthera (MYEH) is the door to Harbour Island. Marsh Harbour (MYAM) covers the Abacos. Peak matches the aircraft to the runway and the customs hours at whichever field is closest to your hotel.

About 50 minutes from Fort Lauderdale or Miami, under an hour from Palm Beach, roughly two and a half hours from New York and just under three from Chicago, Dallas or Toronto in a mid-size jet. Out Island fields add 10 to 15 minutes over Nassau.

A valid passport for everyone on board, a Bahamas immigration card per person and the C7A general declaration for the aircraft, filed online through Bahamas Customs Click2Clear or handed over on arrival. Charter aircraft also need a Bahamas landing permit, arranged a few business days ahead. Peak and the operator handle all of it; you bring the passports.

Bahamas Customs charges a processing fee of $150 inbound and $150 outbound for charter aircraft with more than four seats, plus a $29 departure tax per passenger. Those are built into your all-inclusive Peak quote along with handling and fuel, so the figure you approve is the figure you pay.

No. US preclearance in Nassau is for scheduled airline passengers only. A private flight returns to a designated US airport of entry, most often Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Opa-locka or Miami, with CBP notified through eAPIS at least an hour before departure. Clearance on the Florida side is usually a matter of minutes.

No. Peak is a pilot-founded charter broker with no membership fees and no jet cards. You pay for the flight, not the privilege of asking about one. Every quote is all-inclusive and every operator is vetted before your trip is confirmed.

Jeff and I have booked all our private flights to and from Montana with Peak Aviation Solutions. He is wonderful to work with and accommodates our plans even when we have had to change them on short notice. Everything feels very professional and safe. Planes and pilots are have been great. We have looked at other booking possibilities and they have been more expensive and not as willing to work around our schedules. Thank you, for flying us safely. We love working with someone who is very capable and local!

Susan B
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