Sunday, June 15, 2014

Exumas - George Town to Staniel Cay

George Town was a necessity to stock up on fresh foods! We anchored across the bay off of Stocking Island and the Chat n Chill restaurant and Bar. George Town consist of a circular road around a small bay. Entrance to the bay is under a tiny bridge to the dinghy dock.

We wondered around and had the absolute best Banana Bread and coffee at the small coffee shop. Exploring all the tiny tourist shops with hand crafted souvenirs was fun. Prices were as expected in Bahamas, USD 54 for a cotton dress sold for USD 20 other places.

What we did find was 'Da Nu. Eddies' restaurant. Metal folding tables and chairs and a long bar and locals having lunch, it had to be good and we were not disappointed. We had the best Cracked Conch with salad and fries ever. Portion and prices aimed at locals so very reasonable at USD 13 a portion.

We were also able to get our dive tanks filled! 

The 'bad' weather that had been threatening and we had two days of rain and wind. Was fantastic, we got all sorts of things washed with the extra fresh water and chilled aboard. There is another blue hole here, the entrance is a huge cave about five meters underwater. We believe the tunnels travel right through to the sea. Jacques Cousteau and his team have explored 1400 meters of them! We had to snorkel it. The entrance is full of the black and yellow striped Sergeant Major fish and they are obviously fed as they surround you a soon as you enter the area. A school of huge black and silver angel patrol the entrance. Sadly there is a strong wash into the cave and it feels like it is sucking you in.  Did not feel safe enough to swim into the cave it's self not knowing how strong the pull is deeper into the cave. 
As a wall hanging at the nearby marina says:- 
                    "Toes in the water, Ass in the sand, Beer in the hand, Paradise!"







En route we had a few stops one of which was at Rudder Cut Cay. This is one of the islands owned By David Copperfield. He has one with a residence one with an airfield and a few more just because :). Off of Rudder Cut Cay we visited the cave carved out of the rock on the shoreline. At high tide it is wet but at low tide it has a sandy floor and is quite amazing. Not far from here is a Stainless Steel Grand Piano with a mermaid sitting against the piano stool listening to the music. This is in about 5 meters of water and was placed there by David for a girlfriend. It has been designed to allow sea creatures to take up residence in the gaps and overhangs of the sculpture.


Finally we reached Staniel Cay! We decided it was sundowners at the Staniel Cay yacht club that evening. Arriving ashore and tying up in their tiny well kept dinghy dock we walked past the fish cleaning stall! What a sight to behold. The water off the small jetty the stall is on was teeming with shark! Nurse shark, too many to count. So the fish cleaners threw the off cuts into the water there was a dash splash and tussle a the shark fought for the pieces! Incredible. 



Nurse shark are pretty docile and we were soon ankle deep in the water stroking them as the swam by. A hand on their nose seemed to calm them and they lay still for a short while before swimming off again to check for more scraps!

Beer at the yacht club was an expected surprise. What still battling to come to terms with the USD 5 per beer after $ 2 in St Marten! Rum is one of the cheapest drinks in the Caribbean, you can buy a good bottle for $8. In other places you pay about $4 for a Rum Punch. Here on special Rum Punch was $8!! And no you didn't get the bottle! 

Other than restocking our eggs and bread supply the other attraction for Staniel Cay was Thunder-ball Grotto. So named after the James Bond movie. Good old Sean Connery was hoisted from the grotto in the movie. The place is amazing, it has three entrances, all of which are underwater at high tide! You swim into this huge cave full of fish and overhead the sun streams in through a hole in the roof! The sunshine lights the water in the cave to an almost neon blue which fades to black against the sides. The fish are used to being fed so you take bread or biscuits in your hand and crumble them the current sends the pieces floating around you. The fish now in a feeding frenzy grab pieces often bumping you as they do! It's a funny feeling and gets a little scary, even as you know the hand size fish can't or won't hurt you! 




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