25°44'N 79°18'W · Bahamas
Bimini Yacht Guide
Bimini is 48 miles from Miami and a different century, the first rung of the Bahamas ladder and the place where the Gulf Stream teaches its annual class of new captains. The island itself is two slivers of sand with a dredged harbor channel between them, a casino resort on the north end, and an economy that runs on sportfish traffic, sandbar day boats, and fuel sales. Operationally it is a clearance stop, a staging point for the bank crossing east, and a weekend destination in its own right if your guests like their luxury barefoot. Respect the Stream on the way over and the skinny water on the way out the back, and Bimini is the easiest foreign port you will ever work.
Season & Arrival
Crossing season is effectively year-round but the character changes: winter brings cold fronts every 5 to 7 days that slam the window shut with northerly wind against the Stream, while summer gives long stretches of crossable weather punctuated by afternoon squalls and the hurricane lottery from August through October. Spring is the sweet spot, settled easterlies and the migratory fishing at its best. Holiday weekends triple the Florida day-boat traffic and the marinas book out; midweek the island is yours.
The Guide
Arrival & Clearance
The Gulf Stream crossing is a math problem, not an adventure, and the math is wind against current. The Stream runs north at 2 to 4 knots in a band roughly 25 miles wide, and any wind with a northerly component blows against that river and stands the sea up short and steep; 15 knots of north wind builds 6 to 8 foot square waves that have broken more windshields than any reef in the Bahamas. The working rule: no crossing with a north component above 10 to 15 knots depending on your hull, and the best windows are the day before a front arrives, southerly flow, or two days after it passes once the leftover sea lies down. From Miami steer roughly 120 magnetic and let the Stream's set hand you Bimini; from the sea buoy it is 42 to 48 miles depending on your departure point, 3 hours fast, 6 to 7 displacement. Entry is the dredged channel on the west side of North Bimini, controlling around 9 feet but it shoals and shifts, so favor the marked line and call your marina on VHF 68 for local depth that week. Clearance runs through Click2Clear, the Bahamas online portal: file the eDeclaration before departure, fly the Q flag in, and the captain alone walks to Customs and Immigration with passports while everyone else stays aboard. Cruising permit pricing is length-banded, and the fee covers your fishing permit; have cash or a card that works and patience for island office hours.
Operating Data
- Crossing rule
- No north wind component over 10-15 kt against the Stream
- Distance from Miami
- 42-48 nm, steer ~120M, Stream sets you north 2-4 kt
- Entry channel
- ~9 ft controlling, shifts, confirm on VHF 68
- Click2Clear
- File eDeclaration pre-departure, captain only ashore to clear
Operating data is updated each season. Confirm critical figures with the operator before arrival.
Captain Notes
- Run the crossing decision on the wind's north component, not the total wind speed; 18 knots of southeast is a fine ride, 12 knots of north is not.
- File Click2Clear before you leave the Florida dock; doing it on Bimini wifi at the Customs counter adds an hour to everyone's day.
- Fuel through a filter and ask when the barge last came; the cheap insurance is two minutes of questions and a clear jar.
- Anchoring mid-bank overnight is legitimate and magical, but show an all-round light, set the alarm, and expect the odd freighter using the same routes.
- The sandbar economy means weekend wakes in the harbor channel from 0900 on; fender accordingly and schedule guest swim stops for weekday mornings.
Local Red Flags
- The entry channel shoals and shifts after storms and the buoys are not always where the chart says; get current local depth from your marina before committing a deep boat.
- Holiday weekends bring a Florida day-boat invasion with the seamanship standards of a public boat ramp; defend your dock space and lift the toys.
- Island power is unreliable under load; surge-sensitive equipment stays on the genset or an isolation transformer, and brownouts spike during peak season evenings.
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