Must see anchorages
- Thread starter pdecat
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What part of the Bahamas are you going to?
Abacos, Exumas, Eluthera, Freeport, Bimini, Nassau?
Abacos, Exumas, Eluthera, Freeport, Bimini, Nassau?
- Joined
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I really like the Exumas for cruising. You can jump off from Nassau and head to Allen's Key, there is an anchorage there, popular spot, there is an island there that is inhabited by large Iguanas. Very cool to dink or swim over and feed them lettuce and fruit. You can either anchor there or stay at a Marina at Highbourne Cay.
From there you go south, I would definitely stop at Warderick Wells Cay, the area is a large water/wildlife park, they have moorings there, you can go on the island and hike on the marked trails and snorkel right there. On the top of the island is a shrine made up by all boaters that have visited there. Name boards, t-shirts, hats, homemade things with the boats names on them, all sorts of stuff, alot of it too. Bring something with your boats name, should be bio degradable, no plastic.
Heading south from there you can hit Compass Key, very small marina there, tricky to get into, high tide recommended. Nice quite private island, walk to the other side of the island and the is a crescent beach, beautiful!!! You might be the only ones there.
South from there is Sampson Key, great little marina, pristine water beautiful spot.
Right next door is a great anchorage spot just north of Staniel Cay, the islands are called Big Majors and little Majors, you anchor in between them great spot. Around the corner on Big Major (Ithink) are these pigs that live on the island, you anchor or dink over and go to shore and feed them, they are super friendly.
Next stop would be Staniel Key. One of my favorites. You stay at the Staniel Cay Yacht club, they server 3 meals there the food is excellent. Very fun bar, crazy time there.
That's as far south that I have gone. That about half way down the Exhumas.
The other place that I like is the Abacos. Some of the best deep sea, and I mean deep blue sea fishing. Killer sized Mahi, tuna, Marlin, Wahoo. Great place to stay is Marsh Harbor, You stay at the Abacos Beach Resort & Boat Harbor, great place to stay.
Other great spots in the Abacos would be Hope town, you can grab a mooring there, Green Turtle Cay is great, Treasure is beautiful but a little quite. Nipper's Bar is right on the beach on Great Guana Cay, great snorkeling, pool at the bar, great food, buffet on Sundays, order the their special rum punch. On Easter they have an Easter Egg hunt on the reef, you snorkel out looking for eggs, for the kids they bury the eggs in the sand. That was a fun day there.
One thing to remember about the Exhumas is that you have to pay for water in most places and you have to stock your boat up pretty good for meats. You can get milk, veggies, bread but hardly any real good meat. Of course the locals will bring live lobster and fresh fish for you to buy too!!!
I'm going to spend about 2 weeks in the Abacos, Nassau and Eluthera/Harbour Island, good trip planned, do some fishing, snorkeling, swimming, beach.....Middle of March, can't wait for that.
Here is a link to a small gallery of photos I took in both the Abacos and the Exhumas.
I took about 3000 photos on those 2 trips. Too many to post.
http://www.pbase.com/jlefcourt/bahamas_favorites
If you need any more info let me know.
Jonathan
From there you go south, I would definitely stop at Warderick Wells Cay, the area is a large water/wildlife park, they have moorings there, you can go on the island and hike on the marked trails and snorkel right there. On the top of the island is a shrine made up by all boaters that have visited there. Name boards, t-shirts, hats, homemade things with the boats names on them, all sorts of stuff, alot of it too. Bring something with your boats name, should be bio degradable, no plastic.
Heading south from there you can hit Compass Key, very small marina there, tricky to get into, high tide recommended. Nice quite private island, walk to the other side of the island and the is a crescent beach, beautiful!!! You might be the only ones there.
South from there is Sampson Key, great little marina, pristine water beautiful spot.
Right next door is a great anchorage spot just north of Staniel Cay, the islands are called Big Majors and little Majors, you anchor in between them great spot. Around the corner on Big Major (Ithink) are these pigs that live on the island, you anchor or dink over and go to shore and feed them, they are super friendly.
Next stop would be Staniel Key. One of my favorites. You stay at the Staniel Cay Yacht club, they server 3 meals there the food is excellent. Very fun bar, crazy time there.
That's as far south that I have gone. That about half way down the Exhumas.
The other place that I like is the Abacos. Some of the best deep sea, and I mean deep blue sea fishing. Killer sized Mahi, tuna, Marlin, Wahoo. Great place to stay is Marsh Harbor, You stay at the Abacos Beach Resort & Boat Harbor, great place to stay.
Other great spots in the Abacos would be Hope town, you can grab a mooring there, Green Turtle Cay is great, Treasure is beautiful but a little quite. Nipper's Bar is right on the beach on Great Guana Cay, great snorkeling, pool at the bar, great food, buffet on Sundays, order the their special rum punch. On Easter they have an Easter Egg hunt on the reef, you snorkel out looking for eggs, for the kids they bury the eggs in the sand. That was a fun day there.
One thing to remember about the Exhumas is that you have to pay for water in most places and you have to stock your boat up pretty good for meats. You can get milk, veggies, bread but hardly any real good meat. Of course the locals will bring live lobster and fresh fish for you to buy too!!!
I'm going to spend about 2 weeks in the Abacos, Nassau and Eluthera/Harbour Island, good trip planned, do some fishing, snorkeling, swimming, beach.....Middle of March, can't wait for that.
Here is a link to a small gallery of photos I took in both the Abacos and the Exhumas.
I took about 3000 photos on those 2 trips. Too many to post.
http://www.pbase.com/jlefcourt/bahamas_favorites
If you need any more info let me know.
Jonathan
- Joined
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Heading over to Harbor Island 3/29/08 from Nassau. Will take pictures.
WOW those are some aggressive plans......I will be on the island of Eleuthera for the month of April 08 and my boat, 26 Ft Santa Cruiz Carver is already there awaiting our arrival. We trailered the boat from NH to Miami in Oct.07 and sent it over via G&G Shipping. I am glad we chose this method as T.S. Noel showed up and the seas were very angry.
We will be fair weather fisherpeople and pick our daily trips according to the weather.
We have zero experience on saltwater so we will NOT be out of view of land. Any change in weather will see us beating feet for our moaring in Hatchet Bay.
This will be our first ocean going excapade...the good lord willing.... not our last.
Any imfo you wish to share will be doly recorded. excelbob
We will be fair weather fisherpeople and pick our daily trips according to the weather.
We have zero experience on saltwater so we will NOT be out of view of land. Any change in weather will see us beating feet for our moaring in Hatchet Bay.
This will be our first ocean going excapade...the good lord willing.... not our last.
Any imfo you wish to share will be doly recorded. excelbob
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2001
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- 3,913
Marsh Harbor has everything you need, big stores there, that's the main stop/harbor over there. The other islands are a bit tougher. THere are somall places to buy food but not a lot of selection.
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Excelbob,
The weather in April is usually pretty good. You'll have plenty of days for fishing that's for sure and you won't have to go very far from land to be in very deep cobalt blue water.
Plenty of fish everywhere.
The weather in April is usually pretty good. You'll have plenty of days for fishing that's for sure and you won't have to go very far from land to be in very deep cobalt blue water.
Plenty of fish everywhere.
Hey Robyns Nest...thanks for the come back. I have a radio in the boat and at the house so if you are in the neighborhood give us a shout. The name of our boat is "Maybe Baby" and we are in the Rainbow Bay area which is geographically in the center of the island on the Carribean side.
As for the fishing I am already starting to shake...I cant wait.
Thanks again Bob
As for the fishing I am already starting to shake...I cant wait.
Thanks again Bob
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2000
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Thanks Jonathan, we hope to take you up on the advice. We are chopping up the trip down now. I know this is going to sound slow to you but we are keeping it under 50 miles a day when possible. All on the inside except Jersey.
- Joined
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If you've got the time Dan, then why rush it.
Most times I go too fast and miss the scenery.
Most times I go too fast and miss the scenery.
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2000
- RO Number
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- Messages
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The good thing about the planner is that I can name all the segments "Part 01: description; Part 02: etc.;" and they sort out in order.
I have the initial route done all the way down the icw to West End from Kgn.. Geeze do I have waypoints plotted.. [:-hypnotized] I am breaking it down piece by piece and studying the water etc..
So the SO is watching me and I realize that and stare at the screen and say "Are we there yet?". She let me have it about enjoying the ride etc..
I have the initial route done all the way down the icw to West End from Kgn.. Geeze do I have waypoints plotted.. [:-hypnotized] I am breaking it down piece by piece and studying the water etc..
So the SO is watching me and I realize that and stare at the screen and say "Are we there yet?". She let me have it about enjoying the ride etc..
Double check your GPS to be sure that there is not a limit to the number of waypoints in a route. I planned a trip using PC-Planner from C-Map. When I "downloaded" it to the GPS, most of my routes failed to transfer. I discovered that my Furuno NavNet VX2 unit had a limit of 35 waypoints per route. I discovered this after I had given up on the planner download, and I was creating routes on the GPS by linking the waypoints. When I got to 35, I could not add any more waypoints to a route.
