Private Island Experience, Part III

This is the final installment of the private island experience. Are you thinking that you need your own private island? There are many to choose from and some are quite affordable for a week. Friday, we looked outside and at the ocean. We quickly decided that another long expedition out to the open ocean in the kayak was not feasible. So we kayaked to one of the neighboring islands to hunt for shells.

It was a rocky ride full of waves and wind, which made for difficult paddling. We had been to this island the year before but on the opposite end. This side had a shipwreck, which I thought looked cool. From this island, we carried the kayak across to the other side and continued our quest for shells. There was hardly any wind on this side and it was a much smoother paddle. 

On this island, I found tons of great shells to add to my collection. I did not find the elusive Bahamian sand dollar. I will find it some day though.

Saturday was our last full day and the most appropriate thing to do is nothing. We relaxed. We played Yahtzee at the gazebo, with wind whipping the dice and my hair. We BBQ'd the snapper and fed our leftovers to the fishes at the dock.

Sunday, we had to prepare to leave and a major storm was brewing. Our flight wasn't until 3:30 PM but Noel came to get us around noon. I actually saw a lightening bolt. Possibly because of the weather, our flight was delayed one hour. Besides the minor delay and stormy weather, we had a smooth day of travel. It was that evening that we experienced the moth.

We have decided that April is an excellent time to visit Little Deadman's Cay. The weather is quite warm, there is no chance for a hurricane and the bugs can't land (due to the windiness). While that is a good time to go, we will be back in September. There's a chance for a hurricane and the bugs are out in full force. The advantage is the labor day holiday, which saves me from using one day of vacation. The most efficient way to maximize vacation time is to use holidays. Next up on the blog will be my review of Sandals Emerald Bay in the Exumas. 

A Private Island Experience, Part II

Wednesday at Little Deadman's Cay, we had an early morning call from the host. He thought it was a good day to go snorkeling and lobstering. We didn't want to say no and agreed to meet him at the dock. 

The private island comes with this dock and two boats (plus the kayak that we used most of the time). Noel picked us up and headed out to where he planned to hunt for lobster. These critters are also called crawfish and do not have claws like Maine lobsters have. They are just as delicious and melt in your mouth. I have no pictures of the lobsters themselves because I didn't really want to get too close to them. They freaked me out a little.

Crawfish tails

Cooked fresh crawfish

We tried to snorkel on this trip and it just was not very easy. The water was moving at a fast pace and I held onto the boat and did not venture any where. Next time, we will be hiring a guide to take us kayaking because Noel does not know much about it. He's a fisherman and a landscaper besides being host to the island. That's quite typical for life on Long Island. Most everyone has two or three jobs to survive. While that seems like a lot of work, everyone I met was happy and no one complained about living on Long Island.

Thursday, we attempted another kayak trip but it was difficult and we gave up easily. This kayak has no rudder or steering mechanism. Its really difficult to head the course you want and there's lots of extra paddling. We did convince Noel to pick us up and take us to get more beer. We treated him to lunch at Max's Conch Bar. Max's has breadfruit chips, cracked conch, and a fresh conch salad that Max is very proud of. The food is delicious and the staff are friendly. Usually we hang out at the bar with Max and his wife Liz.

I have one more recap of the Private Island Experience and then I will be recapping Sandals Emerald Bay at the Exumas.

A Private Island Experience

We started our two week Bahamian adventure by our second visit to Little Deadman's Cay in Long Island Bahamas. Each time, we have learned how to do the trip better. Armed with tuna packets and snorkel gear, we were ready for a good time. We landed on a Sunday and most food stores are closed. Our host, Noel Turquist, talked one of his friends into opening just for us to get supplies. We were there from Sunday to Sunday. Monday, was our huge expedition day and we had plans of kayaking to the open ocean. This means kayaking around several small islands and then hiking across another island until we were met with the ocean.

As we began our arduous journey, we ran close to an angry fisherman. He was heckling and probably cursing at us but we kept on our quest to find the open ocean. We found a couple of good islands for exploring and we made slow progress. Utilizing our GPS, we found a very long island that couldn't be kayaked around easily. Hoping to find open ocean, by hiking across the island, we started trekking. Eventually, we were met with the beautiful open ocean, seen below.

Truly, a stunning view, unmatched by any other part of the Caribbean and we had it all to ourselves. Tuesday, we needed to get fresh fish for dinners and rented a car. We had no plans but to explore the northern end of the island. I came unprepared and ruined our opportunity to explore Adderly's Plantation. We will be back for that. We made it to the Christopher Columbus monument, constructed at the top of a hill on the northern tip of Long Island. The views were gorgeous on all sides.

I made it up the hill in flip flops. Down near the ocean, I found a couple of cool shells and immediately lost them at the same beach. How did I do that? We continued back towards our side of the island, with a quick pit stop to Stella Maris. At Stella Maris, there are million dollar homes, with million dollar views. We also found a random cave, filled with bats. The bats did not appreciate our invasion of their privacy. 

We capped the day of adventure off with a good lunch at Max's Conch Bar and purchasing fresh fish: grouper and snapper, from the fisherman. I will be recapping this trip over many posts in the coming weeks. Please come back to see the next installment of this Bahamian Adventure.

Kayaking

We had a lot of fun kayaking in the mangroves of Key Largo. I learned that these boats are extremely difficult to tip, which was a fact to ease my fears. Paddling should be more back work than arm work but I still felt it was a great arm workout. It was fun cruising along the shoreline. We saw cool houses and lots of grass. I may have seen some fish but it wasn't easy to tell with all the sea grass in the way. This activity was much warmer than snorkeling. I am dedicating another blog post to that epic adventure.