Northbound Through the Exumas

Our first stop after Black Point was a large cay called Big Majors Spot, a short dinghy ride from Staniel Cay and Thunderball Grotto.  Big Majors is uninhabited except for these guys.  They're used to being fed by the cruisers.  We had to take care to keep them from joining us in the dinghy.



Nancy gave them our garbage.  They seem to like banana peels a lot.

Staniel Cay has a friendly marina with a nice restaurant.  We walked through the village.

Thunderball is smaller than it looks in the movies, but snorkelling there is too cool to miss.  We entered through a small opening, careful not to hit our heads on the sharp rocks.  Once inside we found many fish and corals, illuminated in patches by sunlight coming in from holes in the top of the cavern.  We found an exit on the opposite side of the cave and rode the currents around the island, enjoying a wide variety of reef creatures on the way.  There were also pairs of birds nesting in the rocks just over our heads.  It was so beautiful, we went around twice.

The cruisers anchored off Big Majors got together on the beach for an impromptu party.  Happens all the time wherever boaters congregate.

We spent a day poking through Pipe Creek by dinghy.  It's a beautiful place -- not really a creek, more like a lagoon surrounded by cays of various sizes.  We visited nearby Sampson Cay Club, perhaps the nicest marina/resort we've ever seen. 

We intended to anchor off Shroud Cay and take the dinghy through the creeks in the island's interior.  The winds had other plans for us, so we hid from them in the anchorage at Norman's Cay.  Norman's was a drug smuggler's den until the Bahamas Defense Force cleared them out (with a little help from the U.S military).  We dinked around and found some shells.  This little island holds the graves of an American couple who loved these islands.

Our last stop in the Exuma chain was Allens Cay, famous for a species of iguana found nowhere else.  Tour boats from Nassau bring hordes from the cruise ships down to see them.  When the tour boats come, dozens of iguana hit the beach looking for handouts.

Off the south shore of Allens we found a nice patch of reef with a wide variety of corals.  Allens is home to many juvenile conch, too; we found a small queen helmet shell, but it was inhabited, so we left it.

We enjoyed the Exumas.  Here's sunset at Big Majors Spot.