Traveling with small telescopes?

Hi there,

I'm thinking about a (largely) sky-watching vacation, and was wondering
what experience people have had traveling with small scopes (mine's an
ETX-125) on major air carriers.

I have a hard case for my scope, but am wondering whether there are any
gotchas wrt security, safety of checking vs. carry-on for the scope, or
anything else that might not be obvious to the first-time traveller.

I'm also wondering whether a beach destination is a reasonable one for
sky-watching (you know, something for me, something for the wife). Is it
reasonable to expect good seeing at/near a beach in, say, the Caribbean?
Will surf gunk up the lens quicker than you can say "clear skies"?

--
Thanks,
-- Bob
====================
Dr. Robert M. Fuhrer