Exuma’s Cays

May 17, 2008 110 0 0

Bahama’s

The Exuma Cays (pronounced “keys”) are a chain of more than 300 islands stretching over 100 miles across the Southern part of the Bahamas. They are mostly small coral atolls with elevations less than 50 feet. The islands separate the Exuma Banks (an area of shallow reefs and sand bars), from the Exuma Sound (deep blue water). Between the islands, there are cuts that provide a way for boats to pass from the rougher, deeper water to anchor near the island in shallow, smooth areas and explore the island.

We decided to break the passage north into small daily hops of around 20 miles each, giving us time to enjoy each spot and to enter and exit the cuts with good light. The cuts are generally very shallow, have a lot of coral heads close to the surface, as well as sand bars that require sun light to identify. The navigation is done visually with one person on the bow spotting the coral heads and directing the helmsman to safe water. In the Bahamas, a six-foot draft is considered a deep boat, as many of the areas are shallower than that. So with a drat of 7′ 6″, we have to be very careful.

Each of the Cays we stopped at was different but they had a few things in common, like beautiful white sand beaches, clear water, exquisite coral formations and bright schools of vibrant colored fish. Each day we found it difficult to leave the cay we were at because there was more to do and we having fun. But we needed to continue, as our insurance wants us further north by early June. Here is a brief description of each of the Exuma Cays that we visited.

Leaf Cay

We left Georgetown Grand Exuma and Elizabeth Harbor via the Conch Cay Cut. This route was shallower than the way we came in, but it reduced the trip by about three hours, so with a rising tide we headed out. Aphrodite II had followed this route an hour or so ahead of us and radioed back that the water was over 10′ deep so we new we could make it. We wove our way through the reefs and cleared Conch Cay Cut without incident.

We had decided to spend the night between Norman’s Pond Cay and Leaf Cay, an area rarely visited by other boats, with nothing ashore. The entrance through Adderley Cut went as planned and we anchored BE in 10 feet of water off of Leaf Cay, there were no other boats to be seen.

This was our first anchorage on hard coral in a tidal stream, which is the standard for this part of the Bahama’s. Once anchored Berkeley East proceeded to drift over the anchor and we found ourselves with the anchor behind us. This is where the 121-pound anchor and heavy chain really proved its worth. We never moved despite the changing current and winds.

We found great snorkeling off of Pond Cay and at another spot on the northeast end of Norman’s Pond. Pond Cay was a hard bottom of solid white coral broken by small areas of brightly colored corals full of fish. In contrast, the Norman’s Pond snorkeling was large coral heads full of soft and hard corals, sponges and vibrant colors.

After we had exhausted ourselves snorkeling, we pumped up the inflatable kayaks and paddled around the islands. This proved a little more challenging than planned, as paddling against a 2+ knot current made it difficult to get back to the boat. But it was worth it. The islands were white sand beaches on one side and exposed coral on the other and the water was unbelievably clear.

On to Staniel Cay

After a restful night at Leaf Cay we, weighed (raised) anchor and headed back through Adderly Cut to the Exuma Sound and off to Staniel Cay. We put the fishing lines out and a Mahi Mahi hit, but got away as we where posing for pictures on the stern of Berkeley East. Oh well, we still have 1-1/2 Mahi’s in the freezer from our sail up from Puerto Rico.

After a nice sail up the sound, we headed in at Big Rock Cut. The wind was out of the west so we decided to anchor in the lee of Big Majors Spot, an island just North of Staniel Cay. Staniel was exposed to the westerly winds and waves, and looked uncomfortable. The guides said the holding behind big Majors was bad, but we stuck on the first try and had the bay to ourselves until a couple of Catamarans joined us later in the evening.

We took the dinghy for a trip to see the islands. Fowl Cay has what looked like a very nice small private resort on it with about five homes. Big Majors has wild pigs that where reputed to climb in your dinghy as you approach the island, but we made it to shore pig free. The big pigs where somewhere sleeping, but we where greeted by a number of smaller pigs looking for a hand-out.

We took the dinghy to Staniel Cay Yacht Club, a small marina, restaurant and bar, to spend some time on land. This yacht club was primarily a hangout for sport fishing boats from Florida. We had a beer enjoyed the view and then headed back to Berkeley East where Mary went kayaking while Larry cleaned the boat bottom. It had been a while since we had wiped the bottom down and it was good to see the new bottom paint was holding up well to the critters in the Caribbean and Bahamas.

In the morning, we went to Thunderball Cave, site of the James Bond movie Thunderball and Splash. The cave leads to a large grotto that is open to the sky. The sun’s rays create a bright blue light in the grotto, lighting up the entrance to the cave.

Outside there were schools of medium-sized fish and we were immediately swarmed by them looking for food. We had put some bread in a water bottle to feed them. It kept them at bay for a while, but they still nipped at our hands, trying to get to the food. All in all it was a beautiful snorkel and unique experience.

The Exuma Land and Sea Park

The Exuma Land and Sea Park is an area in the central Exuma’s where 15 major islands have been set aside for conservation. The islands and waters surrounding them are pristine, and the most beautiful we have seen. The entrance to Warderick Wells north anchorage is through a deepwater (7′ 6″) channel that is less than 50 feet wide. On one side you have the Waderick Wells Cay and the other side, a sand bar that is breaking the surface in some areas. To add to the excitement there are boats moored in the center of the channel. With the land less than 20 feet away we made the turn into our assigned mooring and got in without touching the bottom.

It is difficult to describe how beautiful this area is, but the combination of white sand and deep blue water surrounding the boats is one of the most beautiful places we have anchored Berkeley East.

We spent the day snorkeling on the various reefs around the park and took a long dingy ride down to Pirate’s Beach, between Hog Cay and the southern end of Warderick Wells Cay. This area is believed to have been a hangout for pirate’s in the 1700’s. The snorkeling was great and after an hour or so, we came across a medium-sized shark that was hanging out in the snorkeling area, so we headed back to the boat.

We spent some time on the island walking to Boo Boo Hill (where cruisers leave driftwood with the name of there boat on it), enjoying the park headquarters and whale skeleton on the beach.

One of the cruisers in the anchorage arranged a happy hour on the beach, so we joined in and met a number of other cruisers. Some were like us, headed back north from the Caribbean for the summer, while others had spent the winter in the Bahamas.

We had so much fun in Warderick Wells that when it came time to leave we decided to stay for another day, which was spent snorkeling, kayaking and catching up on administrative tasks as we had internet access. During our snorkeling, we came across a lot of large lobster that where hanging around, too bad we were in a marine park where everything is protected, or we would have had some great lobster dinners.

After a couple days in Warderick Wells we headed out. It was just off low tide and we tested the depth of the channel, taping twice lightly as we wove between the other boats. We proved that the bottom is a little less than 7′ 6″ at low tide. Confident in our visual navigation skills, we headed on to the Exuma Banks and up to Shroud Cay. The Banks were shallow for the whole trip, with the water being around 15 feet for most of the way.

Shroud Cay is part of the Land and Sea Park, but much different than Warderick Wells. It is a group of small islands and rocks connected via an extensive forest of mangroves. We took the dinghy through the north end of the mangroves, making our way from the west side of the Cay to the East and Driftwood Beach.

Driftwood Beach faces east and into the mangroves. It has the softest sand we have felt, like dust. We just sunk into the sand as we walked along this deserted beach. On the way back to the boat we stopped and snorkeled on a coral field off the west end of the island. In addition to the beautiful coral, the bottom was covered with small conch.

The next morning we paddled the kayaks through the south mangrove forest. This area is pristine and quite.

Continuing up the Bank to Highborne Cay

Moving north, we left the Land and Sea Park and headed further up the Exuma Bank to Highborne Cay. We anchored off the west coast of this private island and went into the marina. The marina has just a few boat slips, but has room for mega-yachts over 150 feet long. A group of sharks waited at the entrance to the marina for fish scrapes from the fishermen cleaning the days catch.

This was not too far from a nice beach where people from the yachts swam and jet skied.

Around the north end of the cay we snorkeled at a place called octopuses’ garden. While we didn’t see any octopuses, this was one of the most scenic snorkeling spots we have ever been at. The corals and sponges are arranged in a combination of vibrant colors we had never seen. The purple fans, combined with the tube sponges and brain corals were beautiful.

The vibrant queen angel fish were everywhere and very approachable.

We snorkeled until we were too tired to continue and got up early the next morning and went back to snorkel the garden again. We really liked this place and have so many good pictures that we put some in the gallery below. Take a look.

All snorkeled out, we headed for Allan’s Cay. This group of cays was just a few miles to our north, but because of the shallow waters it took about 14 miles to get there. We anchored in the channel between Allan’s and Leaf Cay (another Leaf Cay). This area is one of the most popular in the Exuma’s, but because it was the end of the season there was only one other boat. This was good as the anchorage was really a 20 foot channel with a strong current and known for poor anchor holding.

We got settled and headed to the beach. Allan’s Cay is known for its friendly iguanas that come down the beach to greet you. When we arrived on the beach, they had just been feed by some tour boats from Nassua, so they weren’t too friendly, but they did let us get close to see them.