Multiple flights in Caribbean
 

My husband and I were thinking of doing one week in Aruba, then going to Barabos for one week back to back. I have tried doing the logistics of the air travel and it does not seem to be working out. It seems like it is not doable or it would take 25 hours to get to Barbados from Aruba--that does not seem right. any ideas of how to do this? It should not be so complicated. I was on kayak, Expedia. I choose JFK to fly in and out of as our home base in the US since that is a huge aiport. I did Jan 31-7 February then Feb 7th to Barbados and a return to JFK from Barbados on the 14th of Feb. It just does not work out. Thanks.

It's a tricky itinerary. You can fly to Curacao and from there to Port Of Spain where there are some direct flights to Barbados on Caribbean Airlines. Whether they go on your desired date, I don't know. Check InselAir too.

Otherwise the connections to Barbados take you back through Miami. Kayak, Expedia and those type of websites are not the best for a difficult itinerary, often they are sorted by price which is why you get the 25 hour connection.

One of the big misconceptions people have is that the islands in the Caribbean are fairly close to one another and linked by some efficient & easy to use inter-island transit system of island hopper flights and ferries. The truth is the majority of the islands are actually far apart and often one has to fly back to a major hub like Miami or take multiple small hops to multiple islands (often requiring an overnight stop) to get from certain islands to another.

Traveling between Aruba and Barbados is just one example of the phenomenon - as the old adage says - You can't get there from here!

Barbados in about 700 miles from Aruba. Not a huge difference but not around the corner. I suppose the marketing that is done makes people think this way Odin. Perhaps it is more for Aruba to Curaco, Bonaire. We often see flights going there from Aruba. In all probability it may be a misconception.

Odin I looked at Insel this a.m as I need to make a decision today. It is still way to long with multiple stops. I am just going to give up my Aruba week and go to Barbados--period. When I see 2 stops, and 23.5 hours I say Yikes. I think not. Thank you.

Since you decided to go to Barbados, you can do day trip to either Grenada, St. Lucia or St. Vincent and the Grenadines if you still want to see other Islands.

http://www.chantours.com/

We've been wanting to do this for years and still haven't gotten around to it.

I have actually been to Grenada twice on cruise, and St. Lucia which was an interesting island. I loved the people of Grenada. St.Vincent or Grendadines I have not been to at all.i will keep that in mind. I am looking forward to going to a different place other than Aruba this year.

Travelling within the Caribbean can be extremely difficult and expensive. But you have to understand that most West Indians travel to the USA rather than to other islands, so there is no demand for certain routes between islands. I would suggest that you look at travelling from Aruba to Guyana and then from Guyana to Barbados.

Forgot to add that someone suggested Inselair. Check that airline for the route I suggested and also caribbean air for the Guyana to Bim route. You may be able to island hop through another island as well, say St. Lucia or one of the other Dutch islands?

Thanks but I released my timeshare in Aruba this year and my husband and I are going to Barbados instead.

There are a lot of places that are easily reached from Barbados: St. Lucia, several of the Grenadines, Antigua, Trinidad, Martinique, Dominica, and a few others. So if you want to spend a few days somewhere else, that's relatively easy. Most of the flights are no more than an hour, and Grantley Adams airport is a big hub.

Thanks Doug but we wanted Aruba. That was the point as our timeshare is in Aruba. We had the all ready booked as we do every year but we put in for Barbados which came through the following week so it was a perfect back to back 2 week vacation. I did not choose to stay in Aruba for 2 weeks, as I am very familiar with it and some people stay for a month but it might be to much for us. Oh well its all hindsight now. Staying in Barbados was not an option either I don't think.

Awww, that's too bad. Enjoy Barbados!! :)