Have you ever done this before?

Collin's buddy Chad put us up for the night in Daytona Beach. After some awesome burgers and a few beers and the premier episode of Jersey Shore (one word: catfight) we hit the sack. Got going the next morning around 730, and over breakfast (prepared by Chad, Thanks) Collin discovers the Jeppesen charts and plates he ordered form a local pilot shop were the wrong ones. We had picked them up after flying in to Daytona, but did not look at them closely til now. They got us the Jepp package for the Caribbean, not Central America. And this set is not cheap: $156!
So now we haven't got approach plates or low airway charts. But we do have the lo airway chart L3 both on my laptop and on Collin's ipad. We had already figured out our route of flight and inputted it into the flight computer. On our way to the airport I called FSS to file our flight plan. This took a while. Long story short; he was asking me alot more questions than usual, which had to do with our overseas international flight. Finally at one point the briefer asks, "Have you ever done this before?" to which I replied, "Absolutely not." His response: "Be careful."
Really? Be careful? What does that mean, be careful? What do you think I'm gonna do??
Whatever. That briefer actually wasn't so good, because after we landed at X01 (1.5 hours south-southwest of OMN, on the west coast of FL), FSS called me. That briefer said he needed more information that was not obtained by the first briefer.


Pilots: We filed from Key West even though we did not depart from there. We departed VFR from X01 and picked up our IFR flight plan from Key West to MMCZ, Cozumel, via the Maxim intersection (exiting the US ADIZ) and then Vinka, direct. Havana control helped us out and actually directed us to Emosa maybe 100 miles past Maxim, which ended up saving us 20 minutes or so.

How many planes do you think make this flight?
We stayed to the north of the Florida keys, then to the north of Cuban airspace, at 8000 feet. We paralleled Cuba the entire route of flight; we could actually see the west end of Cuba. At that point we were maybe 100 miles from Mexico. We were transferred from Key West to Havana to Cancun to Cozumel approach, all without a hitch, just like in the US. The only difference is Havana and Mexico control is bilingual. Whenever we checked in, it was the same protocol: "Havana Control, November 7154 Uniform, eight thousand." Throughout the entire flight, we must have heard three dozen airlines check in, and all of them would be checking in from Flight level 270, 350, 420 even; not once did we hear another plane check in from below 19000 feet. That's when I asked Collin: "How many general aviation single engine pistons you think make this flight?" I don't know, but based on the three hour window we flew, not alot.

Flight time from X01 to Key West was about 40 minutes. It was another 3 hours to Cozumel. The flight was uneventful. Boring, even. Finally, we saw Cozumel...

upon approach:

Is anybody home?

Upon landing, the tower directed us to the FBO via Delta. The airport at Cozumel is small, there is only one FBO and we later found out that during the week, there are no commercial flights after 330PM. Since it was already 4PM by the time we landed, we had the entire airport to ourselves. Once parked, we stayed in the plane until the military came and checked our ID and licenses. You are not required to notify Mexican Customs prior to arrival; they know you are coming from your filed flight plan. After we were checked out, we got out of the airplane and went through customs and immigration, like any other flight. Only difference being, there were no other flights. We were the only customers...

We had the entire airport to ourselves. However after passing through Customs and Immigration, we then had to go to Operations at the FBO and get four stamps from the following: Operations, Customs, Immigration, and El Jefe del aeropuerto. That was also relatively painless, and took maybe thirty minutes, largely used when walking between the main terminal and the FBO (5 minutes). After we got all the stamps, we returned to Operations and that was it. Total Cost: $26 for Collin (the cost to bring in one passenger), and $65 for a one year, multiple entry permit into Mexico with my plane. Cheap.

So far, from VKX, we have spent about $300 in fuel and $90 in fees. And the fuel price in Cozumel is supposedly $3.37 per gallon. So far, so cheap.