Tag Archives: Bahamas

Thunderball Grotto

April 18, 2014TourismBahamas, Exumas, Staniel Cay, Thunderball GrottoDiana

One of the attractions of Staniel Cay is the Thunderball Grotto. You swim into this cave which has a shaft of sunlight coming through a hole in the ceiling and snorkel with the fish. And, if you’re brave/crazy you can jump from that hole about 30ft down into the water below. Thunderball Grotto was made famous by the James Bond movie Thunderball filmed around Staniel Cay in 1964.

And here is our crazy friend Greg jumping from the ceiling!

The jump

The hole.

The splash

Hitting the water

Sail to Staniel Cay

April 18, 2014TourismBahamas, Exumas, Staniel CayDiana

We had a nice day for our sail up to Staniel Cay. We were on the bank so that meant the deepest water we saw in miles was about 20ft. Everyone relaxed and enjoyed the views. While of course keeping an eye out for coral heads!

Views of Staniel Cay.

Thanks to the crew we got some pictures of us in action anchoring the boat.

Attaching the bridle.

Watching the anchor go down.

Greg checking the anchor.

Goodbye George Town and moving north

April 17, 2014TourismBahamas, Exumas, George Town, Little Farmers CayDiana

It was time to say goodbye to George Town. We stayed a little longer than we’d planned so that we could pick up our friends Patrick, Greg and Kara. Once they arrived we gave them a day to enjoy the sites of George Town (i.e. swimming in the gorgeous water and Chat n Chill) and then headed out.

After our morning chores were done it was time to test the water. Lots of jumping off the boat and swimming ensued.

Patrick in the air.

Greg and Patrick in the water.

After getting tired out from swimming it was time to hit the Chat n Chill for a cold one. We relaxed on the benches outside, then played some volleyball and had one last CnC cold one with our friends Bill and Laurie.

Beer boy

Starting to relax.

Patrick, Greg and Kara

Patrick checking out the stingray.

Chilling….. and Chatting

The next day we headed north for Little Farmers. It was a nice day to be out on the water. The cut was a little hairy but with Ryan at the helm we made it with no problems. We anchored off a secluded beach for the night and everybody but Stanley and I swam to shore for some afternoon entertainment. Stanley and I took the dinghy and hung out on the beach until the others arrived.

A nice sunset topped off the evening.

More George Town fun

April 7, 2014TourismBahamas, George Town, Sand Dollar Beach, St FrancisDiana

The anchorage

Stanley on the lookout for coral.

It was so calm one day that our anchor was right next to us.

Ryan relaxing in the cockpit. And check out those rad sun shades!

Too small for dinner.

Sand Dollar Beach

The beach our boat is anchored in front of.

Ryan trying to find some conch to eat. No luck!

Kirk and Donna walking.

Stanley’s got a stick!

Beach

Sandy nose!

Stanley and I made a new friend. (See creepy crab on the bench!)

So long for now to our friends on Ainulindale! For their last night in George Town we went to the St Francis Yacht Club for dinner. Yummy fish for everyone! We will try to catch up with them on the way north!

Donna and I posing.

Enjoying some drinks before dinner.

Ryan’s glorious locks flowing in the breeze.

Stocking Island

April 5, 2014Dog, TourismBahamas, Exumas, George Town, Stocking IslandDiana

We spent most of our time in George Town anchored off of Sand Dollar Beach on Stocking Island. There are a few distinct areas where people anchor. Kidd’s Cove is right by town so you go there if you need grocerys, water or have some business in town. Volleyball beach is right in front of the Chat N Chill so that’s where all the party people go. Monument is supposed to be nice but more buggy. And then Sand Dollar where we stayed is nice and quiet and protected. And it had the added benefit of being right next to our friends Kirk and Donna on Ainulindale!

We took a walk with them one day to the beach on the Atlantic side and enjoyed the views over there.

Getting to the beach

Gorgeous photos of the beach

Gorgeous (ha ha) photo of us

Some funny little birds

More pictures of Stanley playing on a beach

Chat n Chill

April 4, 2014TourismBahamas, Chat n Chill, Exumas, George TownDiana

We made it to George Town Exumas. This is an interesting place as it is the winter home of a number of cruising boats. People come down here and stay for months anchored in the harbor. They plan social outings and congregate daily for beers, volleyball, dominoes and some chatting and chilling at the Chat n Chill Bar and Restaurant.

Ryan and I found out that they call it the Chat n Chill because you have plenty of time to do that while you’re waiting in line to get a beer. And just try and get something to eat! They have embraced the slow food movement. 😉 That aside the staff are really friendly and the crowd of cruisers is fun to hang out with.

Inside the restaurant

Outside at the benches and on the beach

The friendly wild life

Did I mention the water is beautiful?

April 3, 2014TourismBahamas, Calabash Bay, Long IslandDiana

There was hardly any wind when we left Clarence Town to head to the northern part of Long Island to spend the night so we had a nice motor boat ride. No wind didn’t stop this water spout from trying to form though. It never quite reached the water, but our friends from Ainulindale who were a few days behind us said they saw 2 on their ride over and they did reach the water. Crazy!

We got to our anchorage in Calabash Bay and dropped the hook in amazing blue water and then went in to the resort to use their wifi. A nice day! Next up….Georgetown.

Fun on a beach

April 2, 2014DogBahamas, Clarence Town, Long IslandDiana

I love watching Stanley run and play on the beach. It’s so much fun to watch him running around and kicking up sand and getting scared by the surf and getting his face all sandy!!

Here are some pictures of Stanley (and us) enjoying the beach.

Clarence Town

April 2, 2014TourismBahamas, Clarence Town, Flying Fish Marina, Long IslandDiana

Our first stop in the Bahamas was not only beautiful on the water, it was interesting on land too. Clarence Town is on Long Island, one of the out islands of the Bahamas. It is sparsely populated but has a marina, two churches, a post office and a store (which we heard was out of beer!). We walked around one afternoon to check it out.

Sign touting the many things to see in Clarence Town:

First church. While we were taking pictures of this one the pastor came out and invited us inside. He said that the church was only staffed Christmas to Easter and that he was a volunteer. He told us a bit about Long Island and the folks who live there. One interesting story was a kid he picked up Monday night and took home. First, Long Island is LONG, about 80 miles long. Second, there are not many cars there so if you don’t have a car you hitch hike. So the pastor picked up this kid who had stayed late to use the computer at school and missed his bus. He ended up driving the kid 35 miles home!!!! And he said he didn’t pass another car on the way there or back. Imagine being so dedicated to your studies that you would risk having to walk 35 miles home! Pretty incredible.

Outside

Diana on the steps

Inside from the balcony

Climbing the rickety steps up the tower

Tower hit by lightening

View from the top

Can you spot Ryan?

There he is!

Second church

On the way back to the dinghy

Beautiful Bahamas

April 1, 2014TourismBahamas, Clarence Town, Long IslandDiana

It is so pretty here! It’s because the water is so shallow and we always have to be on the lookout for coral but it sure is pretty! We arrived in Clarence Town to check in and anchored in 8ft of water. I guess we’ll have to get used to that, but it does make it nice to swim when you can see the bottom. We dinghy’d around to check out the anchorage and what the guide book calls a blue hole. It is a deep hole of water in an otherwise shallow area. We could see the water color change which is cool but since we’re not divers we didn’t get the full effect.

Ryana, Ryan and the crazy blue water.