You may be tempted to book the Miami to Bahamas ferry to save a few bucks on your family vacation. However, we highly advise you read this before to make the most informed decision on your purchase.
Sometimes, a few bucks on vacation isn’t worth the hassle you will have to deal with and the ferry Bahamas Miami is one of those times.
Here are some details to know about the Baleària Express ferry service before you book.
The Balearia Miami to Bahamas ferry isn’t the most convenient for Bahamian travel.
A Breakdown of the Miami to Bahamas Ferry
The Baleària Express Miami to Bahamas ferry service provides transport between Miami and the Bahamas, but is it really your best option? We will provide you with a wealth of information about the services Baleària offers in order for you to make a more educated decision on who you travel to the Bahamas with.
Useful Information for Boat Trip from Miami to Bahamas
According to Baleària Caribbean’s website, the company suggests you arrive at the ferry port in Fort Lauderdale at 5:30am — three and a half hours before scheduled departure.
From there, you have a choice of two destinations where you will remain for the rest of the day. You can choose to travel by sea to the busy tourist island of Bimini (the closest Bahamian island to the United States) or you can opt for the further trip to Grand Bahama in the busiest cruise port of the country, Freeport.
If you are traveling to Bimini, you have a tentative arrival time of 11:00 and if you choose Freeport you will arrive thirty minutes later at 11:30. If you were wondering how long the Miami to Bahamas boat ride takes, it takes 2-3 hours over rough sea.
You can select your choice of a direct Miami to Bahamas ferry or one which stops in Bimini to drop passengers off before continuing on to Freeport which will only increase the time spent on the boat trip from Miami to Bahamas.
The long ride home
Both routes, after the long ride home, will return to Fort Lauderdale at 8:30pm or later. In small print at the bottom of the website, you are notified that the schedule can be changed at any time without notice. We wouldn’t want to spend any more Miami to Bahamas boat time on schedule changes.
The website says each vessel has on-board WiFi, though, their collection of bad reviews on TripAdvisor would warn otherwise (more on that below).
It seems from the ferry service’s online schedule, from the time you arrive at the Fort Lauderdale ferry port until the time you return to the port at night, you will have spent 11-12 hours of your day either at the ferry ports or traveling to/ from each destination. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to go on your destination excursions and adventures.
Don’t take it from us, though. We have pulled real reviews (on TripAdvisor) from over 700 customers who have rated Baleària Caribbean’s service a measly 2.5 out of 5 stars.
A family-friendly Bahamas vacation is awaiting!
Real Reviews of Boat from Miami to Bahamas
Here are a few of the comments left on Baleària’s TripAdvisor page: Customers say do not use this company! They say their experience was an absolute mess and the company took them on a “trip to nowhere”. To add on top of all of this, their experience was unpunctual, disorganized, there was bad communication, and the Baleària staff was just plain unhelpful on the Miami to Bahamas ferry.
We encourage you to check the rest of the reviews if you don’t believe us. The ferry Miami Bahamas just isn’t worth your time or money.
Why the Ferry Bahamas Miami is Losing
As you can see, customers are tired of overpaying for unsatisfactory service. The understaffed and inexperienced crew aboard Baleària Express Miami to Bahamas ferry just won’t cut it. People are tired of being hoarded onto crowded ferries like animals with little to no information to keep them in the know of what is going on.
Not to mention, they don’t even tell their paying customers that the swimming pigs tours they offer are not even the original pigs in the Bahamas. You have to travel to Pig Island on tours to Pig Beach to find the original Exuma pigs.
Businesses which operate to take advantage of its customers (especially on their hard earned vacations) will not do well in today’s digital age of review-based experiences.
Baleària Express Caribbean has a lot to fix before ferries become a worthy option of transport from Florida to Bahamas again. Don’t waste your day trip to Bahamas on a company who won’t treat you right.
Instead, check out why flights to Bahamas vacation are the up-and-coming trend and why you should book your Exuma day trips aboard a Bahamas air charter below.
Looking out of the window of a private Bahamas air charter.
Day Trip to Bahamas from Miami Via Plane
Unlike Baleària Miami to Bahamas ferry, Bahamas Air Tours values its customers and wants to treat them to an experience which will forge lasting memories with their family and loved ones.
We take it as a personal responsibility to bring back the wonder of flying. Soaring through the clouds thousands of feet in the air on commercial airliners just isn’t romanticized like it used to.
Aboard our private aircraft, which every seat is a window seat with the largest aircraft viewing windows in the world, you will be afforded the opportunity to see what astronauts call the most beautiful piece of Earth from space. If that can’t bring back the romance of flying, we don’t know what can.
While Baleària hires a crew of part-time workers, Bahamas Air Tours hires pilots for the long-term — and only the ones with many years experience in the Bahamas so they are able to educate you on destinations and cultures throughout the islands. Ask them anything and they will have an answer for you!
A Cessna private Bahamas air charter about to take off on a Bahamas day trip.
Save your time!
There are many more reasons to take a one day cruise to Bahamas through the air, but the main reason is that we save you time you wouldn’t have traveling by boat from Miami to Bahamas ferry. Imagine 11-12 hours in transport and in waiting queues.
Do you really want to spend all of your Florida to swimming pigs day trip in security checks and on a stuffy ferry? The Miami to Bahamas boat time spent in lines (alone) would be enough to turn us off the idea of the ferry Miami Bahamas.
Our services and ratings on TripAdvisor (5/5 stars) speak for themselves. Take your day trip to Bahamas from Miami with us, book today.
Swimming pigs Bahamas at Pig Island (Big Major Cay).
Take Miami to Bahamas Day Trips by Plane with Bahamas Air Tours
Instead of being tricked into a Miami to Bahamas ferry package to the crowded ports of Bimini and Freeport, why not take one of our Staniel Cay day trips to the Exumas; where life is a little calmer and you will get the real island vacation you deserve.
Sitting aboard our luxury aircraft with your smiling and well-rested family seated in the window seats around you, you will be glad you skipped the ferry nightmare and booked a tour which took care of you like the paying customer you are.
Don’t get stuck on the boat ride from Miami to Bahamas. Book a Bahamas day trip air tour with us today!
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