Island Hop’n The Southern Bahamas

For our vacation this summer we decided to take the plane on an island hopping adventure to the Southern Bahamas. Cole and I had never been south of Abaco and boy were we in for a treat. We explored Cat Island, Staniel Cay (Exuma Cays), Long Island and Spanish Wells. We spent 2 nights at each island and took in as much as we could. We crammed 5 years worth of vacations into one week, it was a whirlwind, but we survived.

We had a small set back with the weather and had to spend one night at Ft. Pierce, but we didn’t let that put a damper on the trip one bit. We headed out early, cleared customs at north Eleuthera, and were at Cat Island before lunch.

Cat Island

We got an aerial view of Fernandez Bay Village on approach to land at New Bight airport. It was a short taxi ride to the resort. When we arrived at the resort the host welcomed us and took us on a short tour where we found Mark and Scott enjoying the honor bar, they were happy to give us instruction on how it worked. After a drink, we settled in to our villa located on the southern end of the resort. .

Unfortunately, we were only able to explore a small fraction of Cat Island because we lost a day from the weather delay.

Fernandez Bay Village

Fernandez Bay is a rustic resort built with local stone and wood that blends nicely into the surrounding. We stayed at Point House, on the point of the bay. It sits directly on the white sand beach with amazing views of the bay. The house was beautiful, decorated with island flare and open air bathrooms.

The resort is located on a beautiful cove with sugar white sand and gin clear water. We settled in and walked down the silky white beach to the restaurant and bar. We blended quickly with the vibe at Fernandez Bay. What can be better than an honor bar? Mark and Scott joined us and we paddled up a tidal creek. We kayaked and swam in the shallow creek that made way to an amazing sand bar at low tide. Cole jumped right in with the very few other kids and before I knew it he was being pulled behind a small whaler on a tube.

After a very nice dinner, we settled in to close the evening out at a bonfire on the beach with friends. What better way to end the first night in the Exumas.

The Hermitage, Cat Island

Cat Island is home of the nation’s highest point, Mount Alvernia (also known as Como Hill). It rises to 206 feet and is topped by a monastery called The Hermitage. This assembly of buildings was erected by the Franciscan “Father Jerome” (John Hawes). Father Jerome built most of the churches in The Bahamas.

Mark and Scott were nice enough to let us tag along in their rental car to go explore the Hermitage. It was a short trip and a small climb to get there. It is amazing that Father Jerome was able to construct such an interesting structure on top of the “mountain”. I can only imagine the solitude one could have had by staying there.

Afterwards, we shuttled off to the airport to launch to Staniel Cay.

Staniel Cay

The island of Staniel Cay is nestled in the chain of Bahamian Islands called The Exuma Cays (a.k.a. “Exumas”). The island itself is less than 2 square miles in area. A small Bahamian village lies on the western shore, just a short walk south from the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. Although small, (the island has a population of less than 90 full-time residents) the island has most of what anyone could need: a church, post office, library, three small retail shops and a marine supply store.

Staniel Cay Yacht Club

The Staniel Cay Yacht Club has been an established part of the Staniel Cay community since 1956. There are 14 charming bungalows, an 18-slip marina, a 3,000-foot airstrip and a clubhouse with a wonderful restaurant and casual island bar.

The Staniel Cay runway was the shortest of our landings and advertised “treacherous crosswinds”… Perfect. There was hardly any crosswind and we almost made the turnoff at mid-field, so it was a non-event, but there is a massive tower to the west of the runway, so any pilots out there should note that all down winds are flown on the east side.

We taxied up the ramp and caught our ride to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. After a thorough briefing on the property and getting checked in, we headed to our villa and then to grab lunch.

I have to admit our first impressions of The Yacht Club were not good, but after the initial shock of a million people having lunch in one tiny bar, it grew on us a bit. I guess it could have had something to do with the fact we had just come from Cat Island where we saw only a hand full of people in two days.

We stayed in a cute little over the water bungalow called “orange”, it was small but had everything we needed. We had a small bed brought in for Cole but he opted to sleep out on the porch in his Eno, how terrible is that?

Exuma Cays

The next day we enjoyed a nice lunch and then spent the afternoon with Kuenson and his whaler called “always available” where we explored the surrounding islands. We started by running down to see the iguanas, then up to the land and sea park to snorkel and swim with the sharks at Compass Cay. We headed back to Thunderball Grotto, where Steve and Cole made the 55′ jump through the hole in the top of the grotto amid jeers and taunts of “don’t do it”, “its not worth it.” Jumping in the grotto was the highlight of their trip. It turns out, they also got another treat, a dose of poison wood while climbing to the top of the grotto.

Long Island

Long Island is about 80 miles long and 4 miles wide at its widest point. The Tropic of Cancer runs through the northern quarter of the island.

We left Staniel for the short flight to Long Island. We checked in at the general aviation building and picked up our rental car. The rental car came complete with its own CD, with our soundtrack for the island. It also had a silly little voice that told us something every time we started the car. I am not sure what it was telling us, but it sounded like something from the Mario Brothers video game, but in a different language. I think it was Chinese.

We explored most of the island by rental car. It is rightfully named, because the island is long… really long. The first afternoon, we struck out for Tiny’s where we had Micheladas (thank you Holbox) and conch fritters. We were getting ready to leave and heard that their key lime pie is to die for… game on. It didn’t disappoint.

The second day, we formulated a game plan that took us to Max’s Conch Bar, the oldest church in the Bahamas, the shrimp hole, any other bar we passed, Dean’s Blue Hole and the beach on the south end of the island. Some other visitors gave us the “not to miss” items and said that Max’s was “very Caribbean”. I took that to mean right up our alley. It did not disappoint either. In no time flat we were armed with Kaliks and 2 orders of conch salad. Leaving much more full than we intended, we headed south to find the church. The ruins of the church were really cool, but a short hike down a hidden path into the woods, behind the church led us to a cave filled with water. In the cave, live the most interesting looking red shrimp. I have no idea why they are neon red, but it is definitely interesting.

Next stop, Dean’s Blue hole where they hold the World Freediving Championship. They had the platform with the depth cable anchored there. Unfortunately, Steve and Cole were having a weird sinus pressure issue and didn’t get to try their mad free diving skills. Oh well, next trip.

Closer to the south end, we discovered a very nice marina where we had a delicious lunch and watched the sport fish come and go from the reef.

Cape Santa Maria

Cape Santa Maria is located on one of the most picturesque coves I have ever seen. The pink sand beach goes forever and the water is a beautiful light shade of blue as far as the eye can see. Our very large villa was only steps from the beach and the water and had a great screen porch for enjoying the evening. The resort had a Rake and Scrape band, which was a real treat.

Spanish Wells

Our longest hop was back to North Eleuthra (where we cleared customs and topped off the fuel tanks on the way in). We scheduled a ride with Pinders taxi service, they are courteous and right on time. By the time Steve got the airplane squared away, our luggage was waiting for us in their van for the quick ride to their boat to take us across to Spanish Wells. This was probably the largest “city” we stayed in, but it is beautiful and everyone’s home is as neat as a pin. Spanish Wells is a quaint little fishing village and I understand is the largest supplier of spiny lobster to Red Lobster. That is our kind of place. We got around town on a golf cart and quickly explored the island and neighboring Russel Island. The “swim hole” is a channel that separates the two islands where the bridge crosses. The favorite activity there, other than lounging in the warm, clear water is to climb up on the bridge and jump off in the water. If you are really brave, you can climb on top of the bridge trusses and get an additional 6′ or so of elevation. I think Steve and Cole were just looking for things to jump from ever since the grotto.

There are only a few restaurants in town, but they are all very good. There is also a homemade ice-cream place to push you over the edge of your evening food coma.

The second day, we hired a guide to do some spearfishing and had a blast free diving the reefs , then feeding the “pet fish” at the dock. We learned about all kinds of fish to eat that we never knew about and lots of interesting history about the island.

Harbour Side

We stayed at the Harbor Side Villas in Spanish Wells, it is one of the nicest places we have been. Everything in the apartment was new and clean and the owners couldn’t have been more nice.