Bimini 2014-June 22

[tim2808]

We ate out EVERY meal in Bimini and drank at most of them Figure $25 for breakfast, $50 for lunch, $60-100 for dinner. It all depends on what you eat. We had a large fresh made pizza for $25 (serving 4 adults), cheeseburger for $13, sushi for $16, mahi-mahi for $28, spicy shrimp for $6, conch salad for $9, etc. those are all per plate prices (except the pizza). So it is "reasonable" considering you are on an island or at a marina. I pay that much for a cheeseburger at a marina here in TN!! So we were very pleased with the food and prices.

I think total with the room & slip at Bahia Mar for 2 nights, 5 nights & slip at The Sands, a hotel stop on the way home in GA, boat gas, souvenirs, golf cart rental, casino money, diesel for a 1,800 mile round trip, all food for the entire trip, all drinks for the entire trip, and having an AWESOME time in a BEAUTIFUL PLACE we spent about $3,500 per couple...... BEFORE the supplies we bought beforehand like gopro, memory cards, GPS app, radio, etc, etc

We would definitely go again too

 

[Ryan Sheely]

Man, y'all left at the perfect time! The tropics in that area are heating up!!!

 

[upperdeck]

I'm so glad to hear so far that everyone loved the trip, to the point of wanting to return!

Our group of 5 guys paid a total of $1250 per person, which included all gas (from Wisconsin) all boat fuel, all meals, all alcohol (a ton of beer), everything except their hotel stay at the Bahia Mar, which was $50 per person additional. Our condo was on the beach with just an incredible view. It was a two bedroom with pull out sofa.

That price also included tolls, BoatUS tow policy, and $300 or so in bait and lures.

 

[BoaterGuy]

I just got home after 2 days and 20 hours of driving. We got lucky... No flats, truck or boat problems. Couldn't believe that everything went right.

Well there was one thing... My handheld VHF stopped taking charges while there but I had a fixed mount on the boat.

I'll fill in my numbers next week when I can consolidate everything.

 

[gunnerson]

We still have about 60 miles to go. Drove non stop except for the 7 HOURS waiting south of Memphis this morning for 2 of the RV tires to get repaired. The hub cap flew off taking the valve steams with it.

 

[Bruce]

@upperdeck, @andy07sx230ho, @justason and everyone else involved, thank you so much for all the work you put into organizing this wonderful trip!

 

[Bruce]

I am really interested to know how much fuel everyone bought in Bimini. Assuming we have a larger group next year I would like to ask the department of tourism if they can expedite our customs clearance and see about getting a marina to reserve fuel for us.

 

[upperdeck]

I am really interested to know how much fuel everyone bought in Bimini. Assuming we have a larger group next year I would like to ask the department of tourism if they can expedite our customs clearance and see about getting a marina to reserve fuel for us.

I bought about $700/115 gallons of fuel while there. And another $120/32 gallons upon return to the US.

I was told that they thought we were jet skis, not jet boats. Using that logic, they thought they would just cancel our customs appointment, not realizing we were such a large group. I call BS on that excuse, but I don't know anything will change the way they operate over there. The customs thing was absurd.

 

[Julian]

How did the absurd customs thing work? Don't suppose they have a global entry kiosk! LOL

 

[upperdeck]

We had such a large group that they were supposed to meet us at the Condo office. They canceled the meeting (not us). The reason they gave me is that they thought we were a group of 12 jet skis/12 people, not 12 boats, 60 people. I don't buy that, but they sent the captains to the airport by bus ($10 a piece) and when we arrived, we overwhelmed the couple people there. Everyone was told to wait outside in the heat while they finished their lunch. I was the first to be seen and it took them a good 30 minutes to even get my paperwork started. Our passengers are supposed to be waiting on the boat until we are finished, yeah right...

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Lol. @Bruce said "expedite"!!
There's a term not used by the Bahamians!!

 

[Andy S]

We still have about 60 miles to go. Drove non stop except for the 7 HOURS waiting south of Memphis this morning for 2 of the RV tires to get repaired. The hub cap flew off taking the valve steams with it.

Adam sorry to hear about your RV tire troubles, that sucks especially with your boat trailer tire problems.

 

[Bruce]

@upperdeck, I want to be clear that I know the delay in customs was the fault of the Bahamas authorities and had nothing to do with you or any other trip organizers.

I think we could get 30 to 50 boats to join the trip next year. Bimini has staff to encourage tourism and hopefully they can help smooth our trip. We must have injected $50K into the economy this year. We could double that next year.

 

[upperdeck]

@Bruce I was already clear on that but thanks! I just explaining what I was told by one of their tourism officials when I complained to him. No worries!

 

[gunnerson]

Thanks Andy, we got home about 8:00 pm last night. Off to work now. Thanks again to everyone for there work putting this all together. Eric thanks for the radio!

 

[justason]

It is so cool to be able to follow you guys and actually look up where you are!
Google Map of the Bimini Sands Resort

Bruce....if those pics are from your room....looks like you got yourself an AWESOME spot! Not sure if you'll be able to find any room on the beach though! LOL

Great images @Bruce that was my room last year, I choose it to watch the boats come/go, great beach front too.

 

[justason]

@upperdeck, @andy07sx230ho, @justason and everyone else involved, thank you so much for all the work you put into organizing this wonderful trip!

Its not work when its this this fun/rewarding, What a great group of people. I enjoyed meeting everyone and hanging out as a group. The day at honeymoon harbor is one to remember for a long long time. @Bruce GREAT job suggesting and putting together a pig roast, the boats and locations worked perfectly for the idea.

We arrived home about midnight Saturday, traffic on Rte95 was light and we had 3 drivers. Alec closed the deal with the last 3 hour leg, and that was after piloting the crossing in the morning ! Sunday morning Barb and I launched the boat in the local lake about 10 am to give her a rinse/run. We chuckled over the brief 24 hours of downtime before we were right back to enjoying this boat !!

I'll say it again..WHAT A GREAT GROUP OF PEOPLE to do something like this with !! We had a brief conversation on returning next year, It's looking high on the list.

I have 239 gopro videos to go thru...probably end up with a solid 120 sober sensible ones.. and will upload our pics to an area for folks to see/snag soon. I grabbed a few here already, thanks for posting !

Watching the storm form now is interesting, and it looks liek rte95 would ahve been 8 hours of rains yesterday as well, bullet dodged !

@Tyler glad everyone made it back safe/sound
@PreciousMetals never got a chance to shake your hand but glad you were there !

 

[Bruce]

We filled up an ice chest with a years supply of shrimp this morning and are headed home now. Gulf coast shrimp are $3.50 a pound for 20 to 30s and $7 a pound for huge jumbos from the boat.

 

[txav8r]

Are we having shrimp cocktail aT broken bow?

 

[farrelltravis]

How about guacamole shrimp.... lol