A brief overview of the islands that we fly to...at least what I see of them.

This post is a little change from the usual propoganda that I post about how my life is the greatest and try to make all of you jealous. So instead I will post more propoganda about what I think about some of the islands. I sometimes have the feeling that no one in the Unites States really knows what it is like to live in the Caribbean or even what islands make up the Caribbean. I will try to give a brief overview of what I have found out so far through my experiences. It is a little late and I have a 6am sign-in tomorrow so I may cut it short and continue later. I will only include the islands that I have been to.

Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo: The capital of the Dominican. I dislike flying here because it is usually the 6am showtime like I have tomorrow. Otherwise a great place to experience everything from extreme wealth to extreme poverty. Great hotels in Boca Chica and the all-inclusive options make it really fun. Great highways leading around the coastline but otherwise all roads are dirt.

Santiago: Flew here today and it is always bad weather due to high terrain on both north and south. People are very nice and today a ramper tried to sell me his sister or something. They really need money and are hardworking great people.

Punta Cana: Flight will be full of annoying (and drunk) Puerto Ricans on thier way from one party (PR) to a bigger party (Dominican). On the very eastern tip of the Dominican and about 50 minutes away in the ATR from San Juan. All other passengers are teenage girls trying to be kidnapped or something.

Puerto Plata: I love to fly here due to a runway just on the water and high terrain very close to the airport. I can see extreme poverty on final approach and always look at the dolphins in the ocean. Not so far from Haiti and at this airport you will have a heavily armed man from the Dominican army provide security to the plane at the airport. Sometimes he is riding his dirtbike on the taxiways.

La Romana: Halfway on the airway between Punta Cana and Santo Domingo. Here we overnight at a resort that costs the average person about $300 per night. It is amazing to see such wealth from europe and the americas leaving the airplanes for thier vacations. Usually rich snobs.

St. Thomas, USVI

We have lots of daily flights (30 minutes or less of flight time) between SJU and STT. Basically you take off, fly over Fajardo, PR and then abeam Culebra and then land. I would say that the local people in St. Thomas are very unfriendly to outsiders. The whole island is a mountain sort of and the higher that you live, the more money you have in the bank. We all love the overnights in STT though because we can use cell phones, no customs, and the hotel is only about 2 minutes from the airport. I enjoy it here.

Tortolla "Beef Island" BVI

WOW...I really hate tortolla. I love the island from the air, it is so beautiful! But when you land you have government red tape, incompetent workers, and usually a weight restrcited airplane due to the very short runway...which sometimes leads to late departures and furious people left behind.

I can't just say I hate the island and leave it like that. There are widespread problems with water being available and no good options for hotels. I avoid overnights there now, but in the past I became accustomed to sleeping with a few animals in my room flying around or walking around. I think that the reason this island is popular is because of the sailing...and only sailing.

Anguilla

An island for rich people only! Very close to St. Maarten, in fact you can see it from the hilltops in SXM...to the north. This island is a good place for us to sleep in a nice hotel. Great beaches and a nice european environment. They (europeans) are always cleaner here in the Caribbean it seems.

St. Maarten

I am in love with this island. Absolutely in love with it. Perfect beaches, nice people, cheap prices and lots to do. Maho beach is one of the most famous beaches in the world since it is just feet from where large aircraft land at the Princess Juliana airport. The island is split north/south between the Netherlands and France, the french side being to the north. Both sides are equally nice and there is no border. I have spent many days here and driven around the island a few times.

If I don't stop now I could go on and on about how much I love it there. A great place! I love to stay high on the approach to Maho beach and then dive towards the people on the beach. I know first hand that from the beach it appears you will die and the airplane will crash.

You can fly on WinAir in islanders to the south and the island of St. Barths. It is really for rich people and I love it there too.

Antigua

This island gets an "ok" from me. Nothing too special and nothing horrible. We used to overnight in a mental hospital turned hotel so that a little freaky. A HUGE facility, I used to wonder if some crazy person was murdered in my bathtub since there were stains that looked like they could be blood. The airport is named VC Bird and they controll a large portion of the northern caribbean airways.

My main thoughts about here is that I love taxiing in to the ramp in the ATR and parking next to the British Airways 777.

ok, I am getting tired but I will continue my Caribbean rating/evaluation from a crewmembers viewpoint soon. Next to come is:

St. Kitts
Nevis
Guadaloupe
Dominica
St. Lucia
Canouwan
Barbados
Aruba
Bonaire
Curacao
Grenada
Trinidad

And I will end with flying out of Miami to the bahamas.

Adios