Hawks Cay Resort

Making a splash

Tropic Ocean Airways offers travel service between Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Bimini and beachside or dockside resorts. They have made several trips to swank places in the Keys, including Little Palm Island, Cheeca Lodge and Hawks Cay Resort.

Prices start as low as $99 for some legs between Miami and Key West. A half-day tour to a Keys island for lunch and snorkeling costs $249 per person.

For more information: www.flytropic.com, 800-767-0897

One of the bright yellow Cessna seaplanes used in that Hollywood adventure comedy — “the one that didn’t crash,” he says — was purchased by pilot Rob Ceravolo. He painted it white with blue waves and used it to found his dream company, Tropic Ocean Airways.

The Key West-based, eco-friendly seaplane outfit got off the ground earlier this year, zipping passengers around on sightseeing tours and adventure flings throughout mainland South Florida, the Florida Keys and now the Bahamas.

“I love the freedom of the seaplane,” said Ceravolo, whose pilot credentials stem from a much better source than PlayStation.

The Fort Lauderdale native is a U.S. Navy fighter pilot who flew 41 missions and earned two Air Medals in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He flew the last F-14 flyby for the Fort Lauderdale Air and Sea Show, graduated from TOPGUN in 2009 and remains on active Navy duty in Tampa.

Flying has fascinated Ceravolo for as long as he can remember. His father, also a pilot, used to take him for rides on a four-seater Rallye plane. At age 6, Ceravolo sat on a cushion in the cockpit and got to take turns at the controls.

“My father used to love to tell the story that when I was flying over a freighter off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, I rolled the plane over in a dive, like I was bombing it,” he said.

The Flyer.com Hawk's Cay Resort Sweepstakes - enter the contest ...

And to receive emails from Sponsor. You may opt-out of the receipt of such emails by following the opt-out directions in any email you receive Sponsor reserves the right, by notification via the Website, email or other method of communication as reasonably determined by Sponsor to offer additional methods of entry from time to time during the Sweepstakes Period. Entrants may not enter with multiple email and/or multiple identities nor may entrants use any other device or artifice to obtain more than the maximum number of entries. Any entrant who attempts to participate with multiple email and/or multiple identities or uses any device or artifice to obtain more than the maximum number of entries may be disqualified. Sponsor reserves the right to increase or decrease the maximum number of entries permitted. Any such increase, decrease will be announced on the Website and/or by an email from Sponsor in which case the increase, decrease will become effective on the first day of the calendar month following the date on which notice is given. Sponsor shall, however, be under no obligation to make any such increase or decrease. Winners must complete, execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility, a Liability Release, and where lawful, a Publicity Release within 7 days of notification in a form provided by Sponsor. Failure to return in a timely fashion any documents, or if prize notification or prize is returned as non-deliverable, or if Winner is found not to be in compliance with these Official Rules or otherwise ineligible, may result in disqualification with an alternate Winner selected. Where permitted by law, you hereby give permission to Sponsor and their its parent, distributors, affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, vendors, and their respective directors, officers, employees, representatives and agents permission to use, reproduce, exhibit, display, print, distribute, publish and broadcast, without any obligation to compensate you, your name, city/state, picture, portrait, likeness, voice, biography, and winner's statement, contained in, or relating to, your entry in the Sweepstakes in any and all advertising marketing and promotional materials, worldwide in any media now known or hereafter developed, including but not limited to the world wide web, except where prohibited by law, and without notice, approval or review by you. Where permitted by law, you and on behalf of your heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, agree to release and hold harmless Sponsor, and its parents, distributors, affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, vendors, and each of their respective directors, officers, employees, representatives and agents from any and all liability for, or relating to, any and all rights, claims and causes of action whatsoever that you may have, or which may arise, against any of the foregoing for any matter or cause whatsoever, including without limitation, any injuries, loss or damage of any kind, whether direct or compensatory, incidental, consequential or otherwise to any person, including death, and property damage, arising in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the Grand Prize, your participation in any Sweepstakes related activity, or your participation in the Sweepstakes. Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it finds, in its sole discretion, to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Sweepstakes or the Website; to be in violation of the Terms of Service of the Website; to be acting in violation of the Official Rules; to be acting in a non-sportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person. If for any reason this Sweepstakes is not capable of running as planned due to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which, in the sole opinion of Sponsor, corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Sweepstakes, Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Sweepstakes and conduct a random drawing to award the Grand Prize using all eligible entries received as of the termination date. If the Sweepstakes is terminated due to tampering or technical difficulties prior to its expiration date, notice will be posted at SPONSOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LATE, LOST, ILLEGIBLE, MISDIRECTED, STOLEN, OR UNDELIVERED ENTRIES OR MAIL, AND SPONSOR DOES NOT ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DELETION, DEFECT, DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMMUNICATIONS LINE FAILURE, THEFT OR DESTRUCTION OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO ITS WEBSITES. SPONSOR IS NOT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PROBLEMS OR TECHNICAL MALFUNCTION OF ANY TELEPHONE NETWORK OR TELEPHONE LINES, SERVERS, COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, SOFTWARE, FAILURE OF ANY E-MAIL OR ENTRY TO BE RECEIVED BY SPONSOR ON ACCOUNT OF TECHNICAL PROBLEMS, HUMAN ERROR OR TRAFFIC CONGESTION ON THE INTERNET OR AT ANY WEBSITE, OR ANY COMBINATION THEREOF. IN NO EVENT WILL SPONSOR OR ITS PARENT, DISTRIBUTORS, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, OFFICERS, AND VENDORS, AND EACH OF THEIR RESPECTIVE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES AND AGENTS, BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS SWEEPSTAKES, ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE WEBSITE OR THE DOWNLOADING FROM OR PRINTING MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM THE WEBSITE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, EVERYTHING ON THE WEBSITE AND IN THIS SWEEPSTAKES IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS FOR ANY RESTRICTIONS REGARDING THESE LIMITATIONS. As a condition of participating in this Sweepstakes, you agree that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Sweepstakes, or any prizes awarded, or the determination of the Winner shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action exclusively by arbitration pursuant to the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. In any such dispute, you hereby waive all rights to claim punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys' fees, other than your actual out-of-pocket expenses, and you further waive all rights to have damages multiplied or increased. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these rules, or these Sweepstakes, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Florida, U.S.A., without giving effect to the conflict of laws rules thereof.

The cay

Resort design, planning, architecture, and interiors

The Cay with Connections

Hawks

A field guide to hawks of North America