Good Provisioning in Miami?

[saltyspringer]

Hello all,
We're in Miami trying to do some provisioning for our 6 month trip in the caribbean. Does anyone know of a good place here to find cheap food in bulk? The Costco prices are good but they require a $50 membership which we would like to avoid. Is our best bet going the Costco route or is there another store around here where we could stock up on stuff?

Thanks!

Daniel

[imagine2frolic]

Rent a car, and go to wal-mart......been there & done that.......i2f

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

Rent a car, and go to wal-mart......been there & done that.......i2f

Have you ever been to a Walmart in Miami? Way out in the boonies and poorly stocked. At least that was my experience a few years ago. I was trying to buy a bag of dirt. Yeah, a bag of dirt for my wife's herb garden. They didn't have any. Nobody sold dirt in Miami, I guess they all have gardeners or landscapers. I had to "borrow" some from the garden in the library on Key Biscayne.

[Tellie]

Here ya go Salty. You don't say where you are in Miami but BJs has a one day pass that might help.

Join the Club - BJ's Wholesale Club

Keep tellin you guys. I've lived here all my life.

[imagine2frolic]

It was in 04 when we did that. We saved a ton of money by taking the time, and renting a car. Plus we accomplished other errands such as propane, Worst Marine, and mail, etc. etc.

If you are in South Beach there is always the Publix at the police dock, but you pay twice as much. So 6 months provisioning will save a ton. Also the round about on the Dutch side of St. Maarten has a huge inexpensive grocery store. They use to have a van, and would shuttle you back to the dink, or boat........i2f

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

Also the round about on the Dutch side of St. Maarten has a huge inexpensive grocery store. They use to have a van, and would shuttle you back to the dink, or boat........i2f

Grande Marche... and yes the van still runs.

We would have loved to have provisioned in Miami or Ft Lauderdale; and also to head to St Martin while in the caribbean.

Next lap

[Sailor954]

Costco is your best bet if you're going to be buying in bulk like we do.

When we're provisioning up to leave the US, it's nothing for us to make several trips to Costco and the total bill will come in well in excess of $1,000. But that's food for almost 6 months.

There are several Wal-Marts in the area but as has been mentioned, they are pretty far out and the Miami crowd is tough to take. Most of the stores look like a bomb has gone off inside. One idea is to find one that's open 24 hours and go late at night. That might work out OK.

To be honest though, if it were me,, I'd bite the bullet, go to Costco in the middle of the week , middle of the day, and just get it over with.

Roger
GAME PLAN
Miami

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by Sailor954

.

There are several Wal-Marts in the area but as has been mentioned, they are pretty far out and the Miami crowd is tough to take. Most of the stores look like a bomb has gone off inside.

GAME PLAN
Miami

Yes that was our experience. Thought it was like a flashback to being in a lesser developed country again. ( I think this is the PC term, if not I'm sure I'll be corrected).

[imagine2frolic]

What ever the term It is an accurate description, but we had no problem finding what we needed in the way of groceries..........i2f

[countrybimm]

Hows does meijers prices compare to costco down there?..Im canadian and heading down for end of the year.I love meijers but if costco is cheaper im not gunna argue.

[Chief Engineer]

$50.00 Bucks?......another "frugal" sailor.

[MrBillFLL]

IF you can get into homestead bayfront park/ hoovler point, (think its 4.5' mlw), theres a costco, bj's and a superwallmat (24hr) at us1, about 4 miles west.

thats a very good place to provision.

or do it in ft lauderdale, its a lot easier to get around ft lauderdale, and you have macdonalds hardware, west marine, bow, and boaters world, blue water charts, etc... all pretty close.

any so fla questions, shoot me a pm.

[gettinthere]

So which coastal town is the easiest to provision from? Stuart, Ft. Pierce, West Palm, Ft L, Miami???

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by gettinthere

So which coastal town is the easiest to provision from? Stuart, Ft. Pierce, West Palm, Ft L, Miami???

I'd take I2Fs advice and rent a car for a few days.
Stuart and Ft. Pierce are kind of in the boonies as South Florida goes, but it can be done, you'll travel around a lot further for the same stores that are closer together further on south.
West Palm Beach can get expensive depending on where you stay and not nearly as supplied as further south.
Miami is crowded and speaking spanny is a benefit. It's easy to get lost in some rough neighborhoods of downtown Miami if you don't know your way around.
If you have a choice of any location Ft .Lauderdale is probably the best bet. Ft.Lauderdale International airport is very close for car rentals and a few on the outskirts of the airport as well. You are centrally located to the major highways, I-95, 595, US-1, A1A. It's a short drive to BJs (I-95 and Sterling) Costco (I-595 and University Dr.) 3-4 easy to reach Publix stores. Ft. Lauderdale probably has the most concentrated amount of marine chandleries anywhere within just a few miles of the Federal hwy and St Rd 84 area. I'd suggest you do your major provisioning there. Then sail on down to the Miami area to wait for a crossing window. If you forgot anything in Ft .Lauderdale you can easy enough pick up the odd thing you need or forgot in Miami.

[MrBillFLL]

tellie is right on!

I grew up in south miami.
there are a lot of places you do not want to be... seriously.

coconut grove would be a decent choice but its expensive.

FLL, 17street or near las olas blvd is the best anchorage.

having an airport and a port w/i 5 miles of each other means a lot of service co's and parts. sr 84 / marina mile is mainstreet for chandlery type stuff.