Perpairing For A Cruise to the Bahamas South.....
- Thread starter captchas
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Many in the Bahamas come to mind but are all subject to weather conditions. In other words, what is the forecast for wind direction and force? Any of these are great spots, but if the wind catches you off guard you may be in for a very restless night.
On the Little Bahama Bank
North East side of Mangrove Cay
Up in Great Sale, or on the North side
Crab Cay
Allans Pensacola Cay
on the Sea of Abaco
Manjack Cay
White Sound and Black Sound at Green Turtle
Treasure Cay
Marsh Harbour
and every Cay down to but not including Little Harbour, Hope Town, White Sound. These are too populated for anchoring.
On the Little Bahama Bank
North East side of Mangrove Cay
Up in Great Sale, or on the North side
Crab Cay
Allans Pensacola Cay
on the Sea of Abaco
Manjack Cay
White Sound and Black Sound at Green Turtle
Treasure Cay
Marsh Harbour
and every Cay down to but not including Little Harbour, Hope Town, White Sound. These are too populated for anchoring.
Capt. Bill1
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Where are you headed to? How far South? It would help if you narrowed it down.
In the Abacos, White Sound is preferable to Black Sound. Bakers Bay on the north end of Guana is a great spot; and if the wind switches west or NW, go across to Treasure Cay (north of Whale Cay entrance. You can anchor almost to the beach, and a very beautiful beach it is. When the wind goes back SE, head back to Bakers. Great snorkeling on the ocean side.
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David, Lucky you... Staniel is my favorite place anywhere! We were there back in march and can't wait to go back, probably next month.
Charles, which way your e planning on going? Abacos or further south?
Personally, my preferred itinerary from browsed would be
- great harbor cay in the Berrys (no need to go down to Bimini), nice beaches on the east side, rent a golf cart for a day.
- Hoffman/white cay, the blue hole is nice, remote peaceful anchorage
- hogs cay/berry island club: great sandbars on the north side, starfishes everywhere, good exploring around whale and bird, the old lighthouse, etc..
Jump over to Nassau to re provision. Explore the north side of rose island. Great snorkeling at the west tip of sandy cay
Cross over to the exumas, personally I don't care for highborne. The marina is fine but there isn't much to do, I prefer going straight to
- Normans cay. Worth two days, great sandbars, beaches, etc...
- shroud cay. The northern creek leads to camp driftwood, one of the most scenic spot in the Bahamas
- warderick wells is also worth 2 or 3 days to explore
- compass cay. Never ma it there yet but everybody seems to like it,
- old navy decca station on pipe cay, tie up to the dock, explore the sandbars on the back side by dinghy, spectacular spot
- Staniel cay area, worth a week, not all at the dock, the big majors anchorage is very nice.
- Samson cay has a nice marina, but not as special as Staniel. Great sandbar maze on the back side. Cross the narrow cay behind the sandbar area to a nice beach and fantastic snorkeling
- bitter Guana, great anchorage, nice cliffs, iguanas... Very few boats go there which makes it even better!
- little farmer, I d skip it... It s often mentioned in cruising guides, nothing special.
- rudder cat, nice beaches, caves.. Others cays to explore b dinghy, especially Darby where your boat can make it in the harbor,
- lee stocking. One of my favorite spot. Two spots to anchor, by the abandoned Carib marine research center (moorings) and another night at Williams bay 2 miles south. 3 lovely beaches, hike to Perry's peak, great view.
- continue inside to rat cay and barraterre Scenic anchorage. Some surge on the west side and north of pigeon, we usually anchor in the natural channel on the south side of rat. With. 4' draft you can easily cross over close to barraterre. Limited groceries, bar... A real out island settlement.
- Gtown. Good spot to provision, a few nice spots although a bit "crowded" compared to the anchorages south of Staniel which many cruisers bypass
I m sure I missed a few spots but this should get you started On the way back, stops again at your favorites... Possible do the detour via Bimini and ride the stream north home
Charles, which way your e planning on going? Abacos or further south?
Personally, my preferred itinerary from browsed would be
- great harbor cay in the Berrys (no need to go down to Bimini), nice beaches on the east side, rent a golf cart for a day.
- Hoffman/white cay, the blue hole is nice, remote peaceful anchorage
- hogs cay/berry island club: great sandbars on the north side, starfishes everywhere, good exploring around whale and bird, the old lighthouse, etc..
Jump over to Nassau to re provision. Explore the north side of rose island. Great snorkeling at the west tip of sandy cay
Cross over to the exumas, personally I don't care for highborne. The marina is fine but there isn't much to do, I prefer going straight to
- Normans cay. Worth two days, great sandbars, beaches, etc...
- shroud cay. The northern creek leads to camp driftwood, one of the most scenic spot in the Bahamas
- warderick wells is also worth 2 or 3 days to explore
- compass cay. Never ma it there yet but everybody seems to like it,
- old navy decca station on pipe cay, tie up to the dock, explore the sandbars on the back side by dinghy, spectacular spot
- Staniel cay area, worth a week, not all at the dock, the big majors anchorage is very nice.
- Samson cay has a nice marina, but not as special as Staniel. Great sandbar maze on the back side. Cross the narrow cay behind the sandbar area to a nice beach and fantastic snorkeling
- bitter Guana, great anchorage, nice cliffs, iguanas... Very few boats go there which makes it even better!
- little farmer, I d skip it... It s often mentioned in cruising guides, nothing special.
- rudder cat, nice beaches, caves.. Others cays to explore b dinghy, especially Darby where your boat can make it in the harbor,
- lee stocking. One of my favorite spot. Two spots to anchor, by the abandoned Carib marine research center (moorings) and another night at Williams bay 2 miles south. 3 lovely beaches, hike to Perry's peak, great view.
- continue inside to rat cay and barraterre Scenic anchorage. Some surge on the west side and north of pigeon, we usually anchor in the natural channel on the south side of rat. With. 4' draft you can easily cross over close to barraterre. Limited groceries, bar... A real out island settlement.
- Gtown. Good spot to provision, a few nice spots although a bit "crowded" compared to the anchorages south of Staniel which many cruisers bypass
I m sure I missed a few spots but this should get you started On the way back, stops again at your favorites... Possible do the detour via Bimini and ride the stream north home