I want to take my family of 4 to Bonaire at the end of July, and am trying to decide which flights to take. My wife will not be happy on very small planes (DiviDivi). None of us are fond of getting into hotels near midnight, nor leaving hotels before 6 AM. Time spent in line for customs, check-in, etc. will drive the decision. So, when and where would we go through customs if traveling from the U.S. mainland (Washington Dulles, IAD), through San Juan (SJU), to Bonaire (BON)? How about the same question in the reverse direction: IAD through SJU to IAD? How much time must we allow for customs, airport check-in etc. at these airports, for the trip down and back? Would the answers be any different if we went through Curacao and Miami (IAD, MIA, CUR, BON)? Thanks!

Welcome to BT Keith, get to Mia, then to Cur, drug your wife, then off to Bon on Divi. Easy, short lines, get into Bon for a late lunch and dive before dark.

LOL...Drug your wife LOL. My husband would agree on that one I TOTALLY avoid Miami but that's me personally; goes way back to the ALM days and ALL LUGGAGE MISSING as they did lose one bag going to BON and one back coming home....idiots! Lost and never seen again!!

I also make sure we use the airline that offers the least amount of connections. I'm just anal about it as it's too many chances for things to be mishandled and lost

Drive to BWI and go with Air Jamaica; one connection in Mon. Bay and you're then on the way to BON via one carrier.

Good luck, whatever you do.

Kobi in Virginia

Keith,

On the routing you gave through SJU plan on getting to about any hotel on the Island about an hour after your plane lands. You should be through customs in Bonaire before the airline has all your luggage unloaded. If you are renting a car I usually go get the car and my wife is waiting for me with the luggage by the time I get the car rental papers done.

On the return, plan on at least 45 minutes to get through customs at SJU and to your next gate. Again most of that time is waiting on luggage. You have to pick up your checked luggage and take it through customs. You will have to back through security in SJU on the return trip with your carry on items. We have never had the total process take over 45 minutes and usually get done in 30.

Using the MIA routing generally will take more time to get through customs than SJU. If you consider this routing you will want to verify luggage rules with Divi. They are more restrictive than AA. You do have the advantage on Divi of usually getting to the Island earlier in the evening and will have your luggage and be through customs on Bonaire in about 15 minutes.
Watch the return to CUR. AA closes the counter 45 minutes prior to flight time. You need to plan on leaving Bonaire almost 2 hours prior to your flight out of CUR on the return to give yourself a little safety margin.

Don't stress about the flight schedules on time of day you get to the hotel. There is just nothing like getting off the plane in Bonaire.
In two weeks we will be landing for about our 35th time and it just keeps getting better. Enjoy your trip.

Kobi / Ayorkiemom,

Your idea of BWI-MBJ-BON addresses the small plane, late arrival and early departure concerns. If that really works, it seems best for us. Thank you!

However, the time to change planes in MBJ is only 40 minutes going down, and 45 minutes coming back. This leads me back to the topical questions about customs: when/where and how long? It seems like it would be difficult to make the connection even without a single pause for customs or security, yet in MBJ I would be arriving the U.S., entering Jamaica, leaving Jamaica, and heading for Bonaire. How is that doable?

Keith 45 min is not enough time. Anything goes wrong, you spend the night!

Also...Isn't Air Jamaica still only one flight per week? Aren't you stuck longer than one night if you miss your flight?

Yes, Air Jamaica flys only on Saturdays (at least this Summer). Major U.S. carriers would put us on another carrier if they felt a failed connection was their fault. Not sure of AJ. If ANY customs or security checks were involved in MBJ, I would expect to be told the failed connection was my fault for poor schedule planning, and I would be on my own. On the other hand, maybe AJ knows that the connection schedule is valid because passengers do not go through any security or customs check (??).

The central topic is when/where would we go though customs and security, and how long does it take? For examples: 1) when leaving US mainland; 2) when going into a US territory (Puerto Rico/SJU) or country (Curcao/CUR or Jamaica/MBJ) on the way to BON; 3) when leaving SJU, CUR or MBJ on the way to BON; and 4) when arriving in BON from SJU, CUR or MBJ. I have the same examples / questions for the reverse direction, for a total of eight potential delay points. I think the answers depend on the travel direction, and if the midpoint is a US terroritoy (PR) or a third country. In a post above, Michael answered part of this: less that an hour delay at Bonaire, when arriving from SJU; and at least 45 minutes at SJU when returning from BON. I think that since SJU is a US territory, there would be no additional customs/security checks in the mainland returning from SJU. Michael also wrote above that customs in MIA from CUR would take longer than in SJU from BON. I don't know if the customs and security checks would be done in MBJ or BWI on return, or only in BON on the way down, if I were to take Kobi's suggestion.

I realize there are many subparts to this question, and perhaps no one knows all the answers. If no one else does so, when this issue becomes clear, I can post a combined summary of the subquestions and answers for other BT readers.

Thanks for your help!

Keith,

On the way to Bonaire from whether passing thru San Juan or MoBay, it will take approx 1 hour once you land, go thru Immigration,get luggage, pick up a rental ( I do the same as Micheal, except I get the car while hubby gets the luggage)and drive to where you are staying.
You only need to go through US Customs on re-entering the US. This is done in San Juan and takes approx 1 hour from the time you land and recheck your luggage. You generslly need at least a 90-120 mintue connection time in San Juan.

Going thru MO Bay.. you just get off one plane and a short walk to another. They are known to hold planes for upwards to an hour. The problem with flying AJ, is that it is a weekly flight, and if you miss the connection there could be a problem.

I too avoid Miami... some one else might be able to fill you in on flying & coneecting in Aruba or Curacao.

I too do not like the early morning flights, but if you want to go to Bonaire, you need to sacrifice something, as it is well worth it

Keith,

Lets take your questions as you numbered them. (1) Leaving US does not require any customs clearance. You go through normal security at which ever airport you leave from.
(2) San Juan being a US territory is same as (1). You go direct from arriving gate to departure gate. No customs or security, plan 15 minutes gate to gate. CUR will require both customs and security. Plan for 30 to 45 minutes. Jamaica is gate to gate, about 10 minutes.
(3) I think this is answered in answers to (2). (4) It does not make any difference where your departure point was you will go through the same process when you arrive in BON. You will go through customs. The only time difference will be how long the airline takes to unload luggage. Divi will be 15 minutes. Others could be 30 minutes plus.
(5) Leaving BON will be same regardless of airlines. You go through security which normally takes less than 10 minutes. This time is AFTER you have checked in and have your boarding pass. Security and customs is in the same room and customs basically looks at your passport. The only difference on out bound will again be the airline choice. Divi will need you to be at the check in counter 30 minutes before flight leaves. Others want you in line 2 hours before but you but we always just do about 70 minutes. (6) BON to CUR outbound will repeat all security and customs. Allow minimum 45 minutes from touch down to being at departing gate unless you feel lucky. We have made it in under 30 some trips. BON to MBJ outbound. Gate to gate only, no customs or security. 15 minutes. BON to SJU you have both customs for entry back into US and security. Plan on 30 to 45 minutes.
(7) When returning direct from CUR or BON you will go through US customs at the first airport you land at in the US. We always plan on 45 minutes at any US airport. You will also go through security again after getting customs clearance.
(8) I must have missed one of the the options.
I will add that I agree with the avoid Miami which I usually do but to confuse things we went through MIA four times last year and had no problems. they actually smiled at us a couple of times.

Hope this helps. Don't over plan just go with the flow and let the travel be the adventure. Some of our best memories and meeting people were during travel delays. The delays always seemed worse at the time than later when we had some good stories to tell.

If you go through SJU take time to get a massage. It will make the American Eagle flight more enjoyable.

When you leave IAD you will not go through Customs/Immigration and Security in San Juan unless you decide to leave the terminal due to a long layover. In that case you will need only to go through security to get to your gate for the flight from San Juan to Bonaire. Once in Bonaire you will clear Immigration and Customs as folks have said above. You should be at your hotel within an hour of landing. When leaving you do need to get to the airport early (not much chance of staying at your hotel til after 6am with the early departure)and then will clear US Customs/Immigration in San Juan. It is a very long walk from where the bus from the plane drops you off. You will go through Immigration, collect your luggage, go through Customs and then drop your luggage with the screeners followed by going through Security again. We never worry about the length of time for this because to get back to the northeast we have a very long layover in San Juan.

I like to fly American to Miami and then on to Curacao and then take the Divi to Bonaire because the lines are never long in Curacao and the new airport has nice spaces for waiting. But if your wife won't fly Divi then I guess that is out!

Thanks Michael!!!

Item 8 would be arrival back at BW, IAD or other final desitnation via MBJ, SJU, MIA or whatever midpoint. As you said, if the midpoint were SJU or MIA, no additional security would be required. If coming back from BON via MBJ to the U.S. mainland (e.g., BWI), then it seems U.S. customs/immigration would apply upon arrival (e.g., at BWI).

All told, it seems the longest time allocation is to satisfy the expectation some airlines have for us to arrive 2 hours before departure.

My personal biggest surprise is that we could pass through MBJ so quickly.

Thank you all!

Keith...you have some good options pointed out by others. We have flown AJ for many years now with only one overnighter in MOBay. The 45 minutes is no biggy as they hold the plane if one is late. This has always been our experience. We were there in mid April and plane was late leaving BWI and the connection in MoBay was still there upon arrival. Didn't come in too late but plane was held as 100+ people were going on to Bonaire

We fly first class and usually have time in MoBay to enjoy the lounge there but more often than not it's right to our connecting gate. I'm just anal about too many airports and too many monkeys handing my gear/stuff.

Good luck with whatever you do; let us know how your trip goes.

Kobi in Virginia

OOps forgot to mention this and maybe it's already mentioned above? You won't do custom's in MoBay since you're just making connections on to Bonaire. Security sometimes will catch you at the gate to check your carryon again but rarely are we singled out. Just look like you have no contraband The times noted for once you arrive in Bonaire are accurate; about an hour after you land you'll be on your way to your resort

The AJ flights are tight, no doubt, but in 8 years & only one overnighter we'll continue to take our chances. Not sure if you're using a travel agent but Kim @ Caradonna is awesome and works her magic for us twice a year to get to Bonaire!

AJ is the way! Our 18th trip with them starts May 12th for two weeks. They hold the plane to Bonaire if yours is late and you get on Island around 3ish... Safe travels to all... Ron

(Message edited by ronindiana on May 6, 2007)

We flew AJ until they stopped the Houston,TX route and had no problems. We now fly Continental non-stop out of Houston. The only problem we ever had was our first trip to Bonaire and that was with the now defunct ALM due to a loooong layover in Miami. Just treat the trip as an adventure and everything will be great. ....Andy

miami airport is ok if you don't have to clear customs there. we've been thru mia on our last few trips and i like it much better than jfk. sju is a good place to clear customs...just a long walk from the arrival gate. after past experiences with customs in miami i think i'd rather go thru almost any other airport than to put up with the hassle of mia customs.

Avoid MIA at all costs on your way back. Passport Control and Customs will take a min of 90 minutes with 2 hrs being the norm. Then you are dumped out into the main concourse and have to go through a very, very crowded security line again. I have missed connecting flights 2x even with a 2-1/2 hr layover each time.

The Air Jamaica route via BWI is a viable option each way. Once AJ had plane trouble and they rebooked us on American with no problem. Returning Customs at BWI was a breeze.

Also, you might want to check out the Continental route IAD via Newark non-stop to BON.

I have taken Miami coming from Curacao 4 times in the last 8 months - with a foreign passport.... the max time at immigration was 10 minutes and for the luggage/custom 15 minutes...

Thanks for posting that Brigitte. I thought I was the odd ball. I have never had issues in Miami. I usually zip through there. I did get "stuck" is SJU. I think it took about an hour 15 to clear everything. I don't recall for certain because we had a 4 hour layover so I wasn't too concerned, just annoyed. If you can find Mercy Baron's trip report from Dec/Jan, she also got stuck in SJU's luggage/customs as well and missed her flight because of it.

Same for us in SJ - we took that 3 or 4 times and each time it takes us at least 1 hours to get our suitcases, give them to the security again and than go through security ! Horrible ! Sooo much faster in Miami, also when we have to take our luggage because we continue for Tampa ... Only the connection to Tampa is better via SJ, so I guess we give it a try again in October ....

Thank you all so much for this info. I will continue to check for new posts, but did not want to wait before thanking.

AJ seems best for me, but right now there is a very strange pricing anomaly on the BWI-MBJ-BON route. Very deeply discounted flights are available July 7-14, but not again until Aug 25-Sept 1. For may weeks in between, the fare is $1414 per person, and is sometimes infinite because AJ cannot take all 4 people in my family. I wanted to stay at Den Laman because it has 2 BR condos with air conditioning throughout, not just in bedrooms, but Den Laman is booked for July 7-14. I will start another thread about what places offer 2 BR and A/C throughout.

Keith check with Caradonna Dive Adventures. www.caradonna.com is their wesbite addy. Just check with them to be nosey about pricing on air and a hotel options. We have traveled with them for 14 years and never been steered wrong.

Just an idea...

Kobi in Virginia