Caribbean Airfares - Best Routes for Sailors

[wcapital]

oops....fat fingers!
....taxes went up, a lot. So there's not much in the way of options to make the short hop from somewhere less expensive. But if you shop around, you should be able to get from Atlanta (Delta goes nonstop to, I think, at least POS, BGI and UVF) to SVD for around $1000 or perhaps less - especially if you make your travel dates flexible.

If you haven't already, I'd suggest giving a call to Seth at Barefoot and ask his help - as well as advice about hurricane issues. While it can happen, likelihood of it disrupting your trip is modest - the odds are probably greater your travel will be derailed by thunderstorms in Atlanta. I've dodged a few in October in that area, but none ever ruined a trip. But I definitely WOULD try to plan to get there a day or two before your course begins. It's not the norm, but I've seen normal weather and airline issues cause a delay in arrival of 48 hours to islands down there. Ask Seth/Barefoot about their rooms at their base - they're reasonably priced for charterers/students, and comfortable....and there's fun stuff to do in St. Vincent (climb the volcano, go diving, eat and drink a lot at the Driftwood...maybe even find someone go go sailing with for an afternoon!) ...or take the ferry to Bequia for a day or two to "acclimate" before starting your trip.

Also, regarding local air connections, SVG Air is an option friends have been happy with. It is (at least was, last I knew) owned by the family that owns Barefoot & BOSS - and while probably no less expensive than LIAT, can be much more pleasant and convenient. You might even be able to fly into Bequia or Union and then get to SV by ferry if you feel like it. Again - talk to Seth or someone in the office there for recommendations.

Finally, I heartily second Jack's recommendation about a trip down the Grenadines.
That area is about my favorite place on earth - so recommend you take as much time as you possibly can to enjoy it, in addition to doing your class/charter.

Kevin

[mogulskibum]

A lot of good ideas here, a few tricks I've used:

Don't be too afraid to mix / match itineraries with different airlines. Last trip to Antigua we flew united to San Juan, PR on one ticket. 4 hour layover, and then on a different ticket Liat to Antigua.

If you book long layovers, you will be fine almost all the time. That time you're not fine will be expensive though. Be aware of the risk you're taking - see if cheap travel insurance would cover it (but they'll probably only cover the cost of the flight you missed, not the one you had to book last minute because you missed it).

Because my risk tolerance usually isn't that high (the last trip was unusual circumstances), what we have frequently done is spend a night in San Juan, PR. It doesn't matter if our flight is several hours late, as long as we're there before x time (usually early afternoon) the next day, we'll make our next flight - and we've managed to have some very special travel experiences during some of those "24 hours in San Juan" layovers.

In addition to routing through PR, look at routing through Panama. COPA (star alliance member / united code share partner) hubs in Panama city and has a few flights to southern Caribbean islands.

Finally, and this is an expensive lesson to learn, but you won't have to learn it again: always book your flight simultaneously with the charter/school. It's very hard to get a good deal on flights when you're already locked into specific dates and destination.

For the trip you're planning now, look at getting in a day or two early, or leaving a day or two later. Assuming you can take the time off work, you might be faced with
-arrive and depart on your exact days and spend $2,000 on airfare, or
-arrive and depart a day or two early or late and spend $800 on airfare, and $500 for a really nice hotel room plus another $500 for some really nice food, booze and entertainment, and still be $200 ahead of the game.

[Jerry Woodward]

Another option is to fly into Martinique and hop down to St. Vincent on LIAT. For future charters, you might look into Regis Guillemot Charter in Le Marin, Martinique. We have chartered twice from them and they have some of the best charter prices in the Caribbean, great service, late model well maintained boats, all cats I think. From Martinique, you can go south to the Grenadines or North to Dominica and Guadeloupe.