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Our best-kept secrets
WELCOME BAHAMAS - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - 2007
Our best-kept secrets
Out Islands: heart and soul of The Bahamas
Only about 20 of the islands of The Bahamas are populated and each of them is different from all the others. Even the weather and geography differ, as the islands cover 100,000 square miles of the Atlantic. The country stretches from 50 miles east of Florida in the north to a few miles from Cuba and Haiti in the south.
Between these points lies a collection of tropical gems known as the Out Islands, or Family Islands. Each has its own character, culture and charm.
Bimini
Bimini consists of a group of tiny islands?North and South Bimini, Gun Cay, Cat Cay and some other islets?about 50 miles east of Miami. On the northwestern fringe of the Great Bahama Bank, these islands lie along the eastern side of the Gulf Stream. The shallow waters of the bank, protected by North and South Bimini, spawn huge schools of bonefish. The deep waters of the stream produce trophy tuna, wahoo and billfish.
Bimini has earned its colourful reputation. Spain?s Juan Ponce de Leon sought the Fountain of Youth there in the early 1500s. Then he found Florida.
During American Prohibition in the 1920s, Bimini was a wide-open speakeasy and the focal point of shipments of liquor to the US. Writers Zane Grey and Ernest Hemingway enjoyed and promoted Bimini?s reputation as a world-class gamefishing spot.
Among popular dive destinations is the battered concrete hull of the Sapona. It had served as a floating nightclub, liquor warehouse, bombing practice target and today rests on a shallow bank. Another interesting dive site is the stone formation known as the ?Bimini Road,? which some say is evidence of the lost continent of Atlantis.
Berry Islands
With only 15 square miles of land spread among some 380 square miles of ocean along the northeastern rim of the Great Bahama Bank, the Berry Islands offer great fishing, yachting and diving opportunities.
At the northern end of the chain, which includes about 30 large cays and plenty of tiny ones, is the 1863 Great Stirrup Cay Lighthouse, believed by some to house a ghost.
Great Harbour Cay is the largest island, with Bullock?s Harbour the chain?s largest settlement. The island has a 4,000-foot airstrip, modern full-service marina, grocery store, gift shop, clinic, police station and a few restaurants. A little to the south is heavily forested 700-acre Bonds Cay. At the southern end of the chain, Chub Cay, a world-class fishing resort, is a port of entry with full-service marina, airstrip, restaurant and visitor accommodations.
Abaco
Abaco is the most northerly island group of The Bahamas, fringing the northern lip of the Little Bahama Bank. Walker?s Cay is the site of the northernmost resort. Apart from the main island of Great Abaco, there are some 80 offshore cays and about 200 rocks and outcroppings.
British mainland Loyalists, who fled the newly independent United States after 1776, started cotton farming in Abaco and set up plantations similar to those of pre-War of Independence America. The first settlement was at Carleton, near what is now Treasure Cay.
The economy boomed and the population grew from about 600 to more than 2,000. But soil depletion, a devastating insect infestation and the end of slavery ended cotton farming in The Bahamas and the Loyalists turned to the sea. They engaged in boat building, wrecking, salvaging and fishing.
Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island is the third largest ?town? in The Bahamas, after Nassau and Freeport.
The sparsely inhabited cays east of Great Abaco form the protected cruising grounds of the Sea of Abaco, dubbed ?the sailing capital of the world.? Tourism in the Abacos, unlike in most of the rest of The Bahamas, is at its peak during summer yachting months.
Loyalist settlements include Hope Town, with its candy-striped lighthouse; Man O? War Cay, famed for boat building, sail making and the Wyannie Malone Museum; Guana Cay, with excellent fishing; and Green Turtle Cay, with New England-style architecture and a 150-year-old residence housing the Albert Lowe Museum.
Exuma
The Exumas sweep down the middle of The Bahamas, forming the western rim of incredibly deep Exuma Sound. The necklace of some 365 cays stretches nearly 100 miles from Beacon Cay, about 35 miles east of Nassau, to Little Exuma near the northern tip of Long Island.
The most northerly populated island in the chain is Highborne Cay. It was once used by the British to re-settle slaves taken from illegal slavers. Near Highborne are Allan?s and Leaf Cays, where iguanas live.
The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, established by the Bahamas National Trust, the world?s first land and sea area to be designated a national park, runs from Wax Cay Cut in the north to Conch Cut, 22 miles south. It is illegal to fish or remove any plant life, coral, sea fans, gorgonians, animals, bird or marine life or eggs from the park.
Further south are some smaller islands with upscale developments. They include Cave Cay, Musha Cay, Darby Island with its mysterious Castle and Little Darby Island. Other exclusive developments include Latitude Exuma on Rolle Cay and Crab Cay, both in Elizabeth Harbour, just minutes from George Town.
Towards the southern end of the Exumas are Great Exuma and Little Exuma, the chain?s two largest islands. George Town is the capital and major settlement on Great Exuma and has been home to the annual Out Island Regatta for more than half a century.
Club Peace and Plenty in George Town was named after the ship that brought the slaves of Lord John Rolle to Exuma in 1783.
Andros
Andros, at 2,300 square miles, is the largest Bahamian island. It consists of inlets, creeks, bays and mangroves. There are large forests of soft and hard woods, including stands of lignum vitae, mahogany and horseflesh trees.
Andros is a centre for diving and bonefishing activity. Along the eastern shore is the mile-deep Tongue of the Ocean and the
western hemisphere?s second-largest barrier reef.
The waters surrounding Andros are littered with blue holes that link the ocean to the freshwater creeks inland. Spectacular stalactites and stalagmites adorn the underwater caves.
The first recorded ?discovery? of Andros?or la Isla del Espiritu Santo (The Island of the Holy Spirit) as the Spanish named it?was in 1550 while they were searching for slave labour.
However, by 1782 the island was called San Andreas, possibly named after inhabitants of St Andreas Island off the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua, who came to inhabit the island in 1787. Seventy men of British origin were given huge tracts of land after being evacuated from St Andreas.
Andros is the largest supplier of fresh water in The Bahamas, and ships millions of gallons to Nassau daily.
Eleuthera
The most striking thing about Eleuthera is nature?the Atlantic pounding into the high cliffs that fringe the eastern side of the island, and its verdant rolling hills. At 100 miles long and barely two miles at its widest, it?s hard to get far from Eleuthera?s pink- and white-sand beaches. Along with Harbour Island and Spanish Wells, Eleuthera is dotted with quaint friendly fishing and colonial villages and, at one time, vast pineapple plantations.
A group of dissident English Puritans known as the Eleutherian Adventurers, arrived on the island of Cigatoo in 1648 seeking religious freedom. They renamed the island Eleuthera, the Greek word for freedom.
More than a century later, colonists still loyal to the British flag left the newly independent United States and arrived in Eleuthera. These loyalists brought their slaves and building skills, as well as their agricultural and shipbuilding expertise, all of which became major influences in Eleutheran life.
Off the north end of Eleuthera, a short ferry ride away, are two island gems. Spanish Wells is a prosperous crawfishing and fishing community. There is a small museum where the residents? rich heritage and culture is showcased. Harbour Island is best known for its three-mile pink sand beach.
The Glass Window Bridge, which joins North Eleuthera to the rest of the island, is flanked by the often-turbulent Atlantic Ocean and the usually serene waters of the Great Bahama Bank.
Gregory Town is a world-class attraction for surfers. Governor?s Harbour is the island?s largest and busiest town. Tarpum Bay is home to the creative, artsy crowd, and Rock Sound offers comfortable facilities for visitors and, at one time, a first-class golf course at Cotton Bay.
The Pineapple Festival in June recalls the era when Eleuthera exported the world?s juiciest pineapples. The pineapple still symbolizes hospitality, and although production has faded in recent years, the festival is celebrated each year.
Long Island
In the 1790s, loyalists migrated to Long Island from the US and prospered for a time. Dunmore House, in Clarence Town, was erected by the Earl of Dunmore before the abolition of slavery.
Clarence Town, the largest settlement on Long Island, has two fine churches. St Paul?s Anglican Church was built by expatriate architect-priest Father Jerome. He converted to Roman Catholicism and then built St Peter?s Catholic Church in the same town.
North of Clarence Town, at Deadman?s Cay, is a network of caves featuring stalagmites, stalactites and archaeological evidence of Arawak Indians.
Cat Island
Until 1926, this was the island believed to have been the landfall of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Many Cat Islanders still claim he did land there first and named it San Salvador.
Cat Islanders claim the country?s highest elevation, Mount Alvernia, at 206 feet above sea level. The hill served as the hermitage of Father Jerome. (See also Long Island.) He settled here in 1939 to live out his final days as a recluse. He built a miniature monastery and hand-carved steps out of solid rock.
Most Cat Islanders derive a living from the traditional farming method of slash-and-burn. They also gather Cascarilla bark and ship it to Italy where it becomes a main ingredient in the aperitif Campari.
Cotton plantation ruins are scattered around the island. The remains of slave huts dating back to the 1700s can be explored, along with Arawak Indian caves.
The island also prides itself on producing the Bahamas? finest rake ?n? scrape music and holds an annual festival dedicated to it.
San Salvador
San Salvador was the first landfall of Christopher Columbus on his initial voyage in 1492. Four widely separated monuments mark the exact spot Columbus came ashore, but it is believed that he landed at Long Bay where a big stone cross now stands. Called Guanahani by the native Lucayans, Columbus renamed it San Salvador or Holy Saviour.
The island subsequently became the headquarters of the buccaneer George Watling and was called Watling?s Island until 1925. Watling?s Castle at Sandy Point includes the ruins of a main house, cookhouse, and slave quarters.
The island is dotted with monuments, ruins, and other interesting places, including Farquharson Plantation; Dixon Hill Lighthouse, built in 1887; New World Museum; Palmetto Grove and the Gerace Research Center, where research is conducted in archaeology, biology, geology and marine sciences.
San Salvador boasts the country?s only remaining Club Med resort.
Rum Cay
Rum Cay, a small, sparsely populated island, is mainly flat but has a few rolling hills rising to about 130 feet. Christopher Columbus named the Island Santa Maria De La Concepcióî.
The only settlement is Port Nelson, a picturesque village on the south coast. A new 5000-foot runway was opened in early 2004.
The wreck of the 101-gun man-of-war HMS Conqueror, built in Devon in 1855, which served in the Crimean War, lies in 30 feet of water off Rum Cay where it sank in 1861. It is the property of The Bahamas government, and none of the contents of the ship may be removed.
Acklins
Acklins island is long, narrow and hilly, with many caves and bays along its western shores. A ferry links Acklins to Crooked Island. The islands enclose a shallow lagoon known as the Bight of Acklins, a popular cruising ground for shallow-draft vessels. The atoll also includes Long Cay, southwest of Crooked Island and Castle Island off the southern tip of Acklins.
Columbus is believed to have sailed down the leeward side of the islands through the narrow Crooked Island Passage, now an important trade route for ships moving between Europe and Central and South America.
The hamlets of Acklins Island carry descriptive names such as Rocky Point, Binnacle Hill, Salina Point, Delectable Bay, Golden Grove, Goodwill, Hard Hill, Snug Corner, and Lovely Bay. Some Crooked Island sites have more ominous names, such as Gun Point and Cripple Hill.
Ragged Island
Ragged Island is part of a 110-mile arc of islands that includes the Jumentos Cays stretching from the southern tip of Long Island down to Cuba. Duncan Town, the only village on the island, has a population of about 80.
A thriving salt industry operated in the 1930s trading between Cuba and Haiti. In the 1950s the island fell victim to Hurricane Donna, which caused extensive damage. Then, 10 years later when Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba, the little trading that existed at the time came to a halt.
Inagua
Great Inagua is the southernmost and the third-largest island of The Bahamas. Lake Windsor occupies almost one-quarter of the interior. Inagua National Park is the 287-square-mile home of the world?s largest colony of West Indian flamingos. Almost extinct some years ago, they now number about 60,000.
Nearby, the Morton Salt Company exports crude salt. Despite Inagua?s large size, the only settlement is Matthew Town and the population is less than 1,000.
Little Inagua lies five miles to the north. It covers 30 square miles and is inhabited only by herds of wild donkeys, goats and bird life.
Mayaguana
The least developed and visited, Mayaguana is the eastern-most island of The Bahamas. Mostly farmers, fishermen, children and seniors, all noted for their friendliness, populate the main settlements of Betsy Bay, Pirates Well and Abraham?s Bay.
The deep Atlantic waters surrounding Mayaguana are rich in conch and fish.
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