Abacos...do's and don't's...

Bruce Herrington

Bruce Herrington

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Jan 1, 2000
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2612
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Hi guys, I'm looking for any advice or info regarding the Abacos. We're spending the week of Christmas in Marsh Harbor and was wondering about the differences between traveling by boat versus flying over as a real tourist.

I don't mind doing the research, but was hoping someone who has been there could provide first-hand advice or suggestions.

We're flying from WPB to Marsha Harbor, staying 4 nights, then flying back to WPB. Thanks.
 
Bruce, how was the trip? What did the flight cost? Where did you end up staying? Did you take the ferry over to Hope Town for a day? That's my favorite dockage in the Abacos. Did you get by Boat Harbour? I'm wondering what fuel prices are there now. I'd sure like to run back to the Abacos for a week this summer. My fuel bill two years ago was about $2,500 for the trip. I'm guessing it will be a bit more than that now. I'm thinking that flying and renting a boat may be a better option as long as the plane will accommodate all my fishing and snorkeling gear. Don't need much in the way of clothes.
 
Glad you asked, Ron. Airfare from Nashville to WPB was $870; WPB to Marsh Harbor was $422, round trip for both. Riding co-pilot on the hop over from FL, priceless.

Yes, even climbed the stairs to get better pics. The view from the l'house of the harbor is simply beautiful. Fuel for the rental car was $4.33 p/gal. ** Marsh Harbor; I don't know what the marinas were charging. Drank my first and second Kalik at the restaurant just past Cap'n Jack's ** Hopetown. I would have drank more, but talking about selling everything we own and moving to Elbow Cay caused my wife to limit my intake; hell, if only she'd been the one to down a few Kaliks, we'd still be there. ;) We're definitely going back.

Are you familiar with Pete's Pub, near Cherokee Sound? We tried it on our first night there since it was close to the cottage we called home for 4 days. Not as upscale as the the name might imply, but a good place to have a drink with your favorite wife.

Rental boats were going for around $600 for 3 days. You may be right about flying over and renting a boat being cheaper.
 
Thanks, Bruce. Yeah, that view from the lighthouse is spectacular. Neat old lighthouse, too. I tried to talk the keeper into retiring and letting me take over, but he wouldn't cooperate...something about not trusting me to keep the kerosene tank filled.

I've had the same conversation with my wife several times while sitting at an outdoor table at Cap'n Jacks and dining on cracked conch and Kalik. The outcome has always been the same as yours. Wives just aren't visionaries like we obviously are.

We always dock at the Hopetown Villas marina across the harbor, west of the lighthouse a few hundred yards. It's a beautiful little marina with a big pool overlooking the docks, and very lush lanscaping. They give us a 15' Whaler type boat to use to get to town and back, or just to motor around the island in. It just doesn't get any better than Hope Town.

Well, if fuel for cars was $4.33/gal, that's about what it should have been at the fuel dock. They don't make a distinction in the Bahamas, although I have been charged a 5% "service charge" at Boat Harbor for the privelege of being handed the fuel nozzle. So, that would be just over $1K for me to fill up, and I usually go through three tanks for a week trip there, plus about $400 for dockage for the week, $150 for Customs fees, about $80 for water for washdown and tank refills, and of course $200 for Kalik for the fridge. That $422 air fare and $6000 boat rental is starting to look pretty good.
 
In the early 70's we sailed from Ft. Lauderdal (yep, on a sailboat) to Marsh Harbor. "Verne" one of the dock hands took us snorkling to a spot where we caught about 30 lobsters and speard a couple of grouper.

At night he took us for a ride to the "bars", which consisted of stopping at someone's house, banging on the door to wake them up, then drinking beer from their cooler in their enclosed porch. I recall him running the one red light on the island.

I had to leave the family early, so I flew out. As the plane was arriving, it almost touched down, then suddenly took off. It turned out that there was a wild boar on the runway that had to be chased off.
 
I wish you hadn't told me that, HOGAN. Please tell me that you were merely a passenger and not actually the owner.

Not much has changed in the out islands...you still have to look for hogs, iguanas, land crabs, and even the occasional disabled vehicle on the runways there. For early morning flights, it's always best to do a fly-over to check for locals sleeping off a Kalik and dominoes night on the tarmac.

The 30 lobster and grouper situation has certainly changed. New rules this year...six lobsters total per boat (not per person), no Nassau grouper in many areas, and no conch. It's going to be interesting to see how they enforce that.
 
Ron, it was our family boat, a 45' gaff rigged ketch, named "Big Daddy" after the chain of liquor stores owned by Joe Flannagan.
 
I can live with that, since that's where I met my mate...at the Big Daddy's in West Palm Beach. Are there any still in existence? The BD here closed years ago. Are you related to Joe?
 
No, we are not, it's just that my father bought the sailboat from him.
 
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