March 31, 2018 – Allens (Allans) Cay and Normans Cay, Northern Exumas

Briefly, we took a slip in a marina in Nassau on New Providence Island. We wanted to top off fuel, water, and restock fresh veggies. There was also a day or so before the crossing to the Exumas would be more favorable. There are a few marinas on the south side of Nassau Harbor where you can dock up for a reasonable price and be near provisioning stores. We got the one we planned at the far east end of the harbor. Grocery store and shopping center right across the street. All good. This entry is a little short on text and heavy on pictures as I am short of time. I hope you will continue to check back and see what we are getting into. I will try to have more entertaining stories next time!

Aside from briefly entertaining Celia’s idea to bet half our cruising kitty on black at the roulette table over at the Atlantis so we could cruise longer, we didn’t do a whole lot in Nassau so I will skip to the fun part. The only place we went was the “Green Parrot” Bar. We saw it on the guidebook and of course that’s where we were headed! While it was great and we had some good fresh made conch salad, there were no root beer barrels to be had and the Key West Green Parrot is still my favorite bar in the world.

ALLENS CAY

Much like conch is pronounced “konk”, Cay in the Bahamas is pronounced “Key”. Who knew? So our first stop in the Exumas was Allens Cay. It is a beautiful little set of islands southeast of Nassau about 35 miles. There is a protected anchorage on the inside and the island is home to the endangered “Rock” Iguana. This species of Iguana is found nowhere else in the world except for the northern Exumas. They are the same Iguanas they used as dinosaurs in the old horror movies. They have redish color scales and spines and are apparently of a type of Iguana that has a pineal eye, also known as a third eye in the center of its forehead. Strange. Regardless, they are aggressive beggars who come out of the bushes at the first sign of humans. There were a lot of day trippers and yacht tenders that would come through the area just to see the Iguanas.

We had a couple of short hikes which afforded nice views of the area. We also explored by dinghy, as we are wont to do and discovered some nice little beaches and snorkel spots. There are some nice patch reefs and coral heads in the area and we had an great time spending a couple days here.

NORMAN CAY

By the third day, the wind had picked up and the currents in the inner anchorage were making it quite rolly in there. We decided it was time to head south to Norman Cay. This island came highly recommended as a great spot to snorkel and explore by dinghy. Also, there are several large scale development projects starting so it is a chance to see the area before it likely changes somewhat. There is a giant marina development being constructed next to the airstrip and we saw other large development projects underway on what were some pristine isolated beaches on the east side of the island.

The island today is pretty quiet and has an interesting history. In the late 70’s, Norman Cay was bought out by a notorious cocaine dealer from Columbia named Carlos Lehder. He used it as a base of operations running drugs through the Bahamas from South America that were bound for the U.S. via Florida. He had the old airstrip on the island lengthened at one point to accommodate larger aircraft for his drug running operation. He had recently purchased a DC-3 and his pilot was doing touch-and-goes on the runway when something went wrong and he crashed in the shallow waters just off the runway. The plane still sits there today and is covered with coral and marine life. It makes a great snorkel and is right near the inner anchorage. We saw some nice sized grouper on the wreck and some nice mutton snapper in the grass flats and channel nearby. None came close enough to our pole spears though (spear guns are illegal in the Bahamas).

We spent two days exploring and snorkeling the area. There were dozens of little beaches we found to walk or have lunch on. We hunted one whole day and while we passed up a couple of small snappers to spear, Celia managed to come up with a decent sized conch and one nice lobster. I was shut out. We later learned from a local that this area gets picked pretty hard and we were lucky to get dinner. We went out to the open ocean side and timed the slack tide to hunt there to no avail. We drifted before and after all through the cuts and patch reefs and grass flats for quite a while. There were so many interesting spots with lots of healthy coral, seagrass, and a solid showing of marine life. While we didn’t end up with a lot, we had dinner thanks to Celia!

Lastly, we found the hurricane hole in the middle of the north end of the island. Allegedly, you can get a boat with a six foot draft in, but it sure looked skinny and sketchy from the dinghy! They call it “The Pond”. There are also a couple of caves near the entrance to The Pond which we found interesting.

Next we are on to the Exumas Land and Sea Park! This area is highly protected and we are looking forward to seeing some big fish on the reefs and exploring all the cool areas around the park. We will be out of cell and data range for a bit but will check back in soon! Tune in next time.

 

 

 

 

 

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