Above: a Tropic Ocean Airways plane

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Island hopping in the Bahamas just got a bit easier.

Fort Lauderdale-based Tropic Ocean Airways has announced the addition of a new eight-passenger Cessna 206 seaplane.

The company offers scheduled seaplane flights to Bimini four times a week and charters every day of the week to anywhere in the Bahamas, the Florida Keys and Florida.

Bimini is about a 30-minute flight from South Florida.

Tropic Ocean launched the seaplane service in 2012, and is the only US-based seaplane carrier authorized by the Bahamian government to service the North Bimini Seaplane Base.

That had previously been operated by the now-defunct Chalk’s International Airline, another seaplane service.

“Additional airlift into Bimini is always positive news,” said MichaelWeber, General Manager for the 51-room Bimini Big Game Club Resort and Marina, located in Alice Town. “Sixty percent of our guests arrive by air, and to come by seaplane is growing in popularity.  It¹s a great way to see the island and certainly adds to the overall island adventure.”