The Berry Islands

The Berry Islands lie 80 miles to the east of Bimini and, while beautiful, are often ignored by cruisers heading to the more exotic Exumas.   On a recommendation from a local, we headed there from Bimini on Wednesday (12/14) across the plateau known as the Great Bahama Bank with depths of only 10-15 feet over light, sparkling turquoise water.  The sea was flat calm, and we sped along at 20 knots per hour over the turquoise.  We arrived at the northernmost two islands, Little Stirrup and Great Stirrup in 4 hours.  Both small islands are owned by large cruise ship lines and are promoted as “Tiki villages”. 

Two ships were anchored off the islands, and we saw passengers being ferried ashore for food, drink, sunbathing, swimming, snorkeling, water slides, jet skiing, parasailing, and every imaginable island delight. So strange to see these manmade tropical islands virtually dropped in the middle of natural ones. We also saw large construction equipment and barges hauling sand to create new island paradises.

After anchoring some miles away we put our tandem kayak in the water and explored a lagoon on one side of the cay and saw rolling surf just over the rocks.  Sting rays, small sharks and large turtles swam near the kayak.  We then paddled over to a pristine beach on the uninhabited Hawksnest Cay, finding another conch and sea fans for my collection. The conch had a dime sized hole, indicating it had been discarded after being harvested for its meat.

We took our chairs up to the bow of our boat, watching the afternoon turn to night with a beautiful sunset.  Then the super moon rose over the water.  Everything in paradise was perfect, or so we thought.  Unbeknownst to us, the boat had been invaded by hundreds of no-see-ums.  During the night I was badly attacked, while Bill was unaffected. Over the next couple of days, Bill was on the war path to get rid of the remaining invaders, but it was many days before I didn’t look like I had the worst case of poison ivy. Apparently some people are badly allergic to these tiny monsters, but most don’t seem to be.

Our next stop south of Hoffman’s Cay was a cove complete with a beach, coral cliffs and crashing breakers on the outside of the protection.  [That evening we would move because the swells were rocking the boat too much for comfort.] 
We motored ashore, combed
 the beach for more shells and took the jungle trail to the Blue Hole, a grotto, which is a large hole of great depth filled with water. 

 On Friday (12/16) we had planned to continue south to one of the three marinas in the Berry Islands, but in speaking on the VHF radio we learned that the two southernmost marinas are closed due to severe damage from Hurricane Matthew. In fact, one of them might have been closed for years, but the boating guide lists them as still open. The one remaining marina on Great Harbor Key was 20 miles orth of us and the only one within 50 miles in any direction. We were quite low on gas, so we had to backtrack to get fuel. This was a good lesson that we need to call ahead to ensure that gas is available. 

Great Harbor Cay proved to be a nice place to visit as the main village has not been materially impacted by tourists or the boating community.  We road our bikes through the village just as the uniformed children were getting out of school.  Everyone was very friendly but the children did get a good belly laugh when my front tire hit a pot hole and I fell off my bike.  We met more lovely couples in Great Bay Cay and we are all exchanging our cards, expecting to see one another again later in the trip, or maybe another year. Maybe some of our new friends will come to visit us in Maine!

The next morning we left with full gas tanks and headed back to where we had started the day before.  The wind had picked up from the SE, and the seas were rough, particularly in the guts between islands. We had read about Little Harbor Cay and were intrigued by a description of a little restaurant on the island called Flo’s.


Fresh conch being brought to Flo's.



Conch shells line the shore on both
sides of Flo's Restuarant.

This little restaurant has been in operation for many years. Flo’s  son, Chester, runs this little spot today. He likes at least 3 hours notice by radio that he will be having lunch or dinner guests. He and his assistant, Candy, then prepare conch or whatever local fish they have available and a rum punch that takes you away (I guess we’re already away!). The walls on this little establishment are covered with dollar bills, signed by previous guests, some apparently quite famous. The shore is littered with thousands of conch shells deposited over the years.  


Moored near us was the 42-ft sailing catamaran owned by Bernard and Claude, both French, now living in Ontario.  We enjoyed cocktails on their Bernard-made boat and over the next three days met several other boating couples, some retired but also younger couples who work seasonal jobs allowing them 6 months off a year to pursue their dream of cruising.  Thus far, almost all of the cruisers we have met in the Bahamas are Canadian.

We had a relaxing 3 day stay in this quiet anchorage with our new found friends. I had been terrified of going in snorkeling off the boat. As much as I had looked forward to it, when the time came, I was haunted by the words of the old pros. Every person I had spoken to had told me not to worry about the sharks. If a large shark swims up to you, just punch it in the nose and it will swim away. Yeah, sure! But…  the barracudas! Our friends Claude and Bernard agreed to take us for our first swim. 

 I felt safe with them. They have been all over the world and have are very comfortable in the sea. I finally got in with my brand new snorkel gear and instantly loved it. The water is crystal clear and about 78 degrees. We saw small colorful fish, lobsters, conchs and other little sea creatures. No barracudas! No sharks either, for that matter. 

Dinner with Bernard and Claude at Flo's

On our last night in the anchorage, we ate again at Flo’s with our friends. After dinner we walked down the reef trail to our dinghy and watched Chester cleaning fish. He was throwing the guts in the water and we could see 10 sharks circling, waiting for their tasty treat. Maybe not dangerous, but I had just as soon not have to punch one of these big guys in the jaw!

Preparing our dinner.

Sharks all around

Today we left with the sailboats to head to Nassau. After a short delay caused by running aground in this shallow spot at low tide, we set off across the deep blue to our destination. The tides and wind made for an extremely rough trip. Everything on the boat got soaked. We realized that the weather the sailors prefer is probably not the best for us. After drying out, we are now anchored off a cay about 8 miles from Nassau and Paradise Island, and will head there on Thursday (12/22).