Exuma Bahamas trip report 2020
By Tracy and Janet Hays
This is an account of our 8 day, 75 mile paddle of the cays at the NW end of Exuma, Bahamas. If you are inspired to go (reading and hearing others adventures is what inspires me) your first decision to make is, whether you are confident enough to do it yourself, or if you want to go with a guided tour. If a guided tour is for you, I highly recommend Greg Pflug, owner of Adventures in Florida. He has decades of experience and is the most knowledgeable fun guide I know. We have paddled with him a lot and he knows these waters. Contact is greg@adventuresinflorida.com. If you are a do it yourselfer, Out Island Explorers is the only outfitter in Exuma with the necessary equipment. Dallas and Tamara are the owners and have nice kayaks and any camping gear you may need to rent. They are great people and also do guided tours. I’m sure they would do an excellent job as well, heck this is their backyard. Contact is goexuma@outislandexplorers.com We love paddling with groups, but this time we decided to go on our own and brought all our camping gear with us. We are celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary, two years early. (we don’t need no stinkin’ rules)
Our Bahama trip started off a little rocky. We boarded our twin prop engine in ATR 42-600 plane and taxied to the runway. I wondered out loud why the left engine which was right outside my window wasn’t running. Without stopping we made a U-turn and returned to the gate. The pilot told us there was a check engine light on that needed investigated. It doesn’t give one a warm fuzzy feeling. Several people came on and off the plane in the cockpit. No one looked at the engine. After about an hour we were cleared again for take off. We were flying above the low cloud cover of the Atlantic when a rainbow appeared just below that left engine. Good omen, now we can relax! Between clouds we saw many white caps on the ocean below. Upon arrival at the Exuma Airport, we caught a ride into town with Luther the Taxi Man, cool guy. We got to Georgetown and checked into Miss Marshal’s guest house. Very simple room – 2 beds, TV, fridge, and bath for $110 a night (one of the least expensive places to stay on the island). Talked to a few locals about where to eat and such. Of course we bought a bottle of local rum for $12 – the only thing here that’s cheap. Went to Eddie’s Edgewater for dinner. Here we met Jillian. She’s a very interesting lady from Jersey England, and also has lived in Australia. She seems to know everyone on the island. She winters here In Georgetown and in summer she guides tours in Mongolia. They go out with the natives who have trained golden eagles that hunt for fox and hare. The tours are by horse back and camel to watch the eagles hunt for their handlers, and staying in yurts with nomadic families, sounds fantastic to me. If you are interested her email is jillian_spruyt@hotmail.com, the website is altai-nomads.com
Day 2. After breakfast we took the water taxi across Elizabeth harbor to Stocking Island to a restaurant/bar/beach area called “Chat and Chill”, where all the sailors gather daily under the shade trees at the picnic tables to chat and chill. We met several real nice people here. Nearly all the visitors are white and nearly all the locals are black. We walked to the east side of the island which required wading across a chest deep channel in the bay about 60′ wide. Then we walked over the dunes to the wide-open Atlantic Ocean. It was a little windy with large breakers crashing into the beach. There are miles of pristine beach with very few people, nice. When we came back to Chat and Chill we waded in the bay, petting the rays, about the size of a galvanized trash can lid, and watched a small shark swim by. There are several water taxis that come here. We missed the taxi that brought us but got a free ride on a different one. Back to Georgetown and lucky us every Thursday at a resort called “Peace and Plenty” a local band plays while the tourists, sailors, and locals drink, mingle and dance. It was a very fun night. The band had a saw playing percussionist — he raked the teeth of a carpenters handsaw with a long shaft screwdriver, while he bowed and rocked the saw to get different tones in time to the music, fantastic! This is something that you just have to hear and see to understand.
Day 3. We woke up early to pack our things for our week long kayak tour. Dallas, owner of “Out Island Explorers” picked us up at 9:00 AM. We went to his place to get the kayaks, then off to Rolleville to launch. He was extremely helpful — going over the nautical charts with us and recommending places to see and to camp. There are hundreds of cays of varying size, some private and inhabited, most not. Dallas told us to avoid the ones with buildings and we would be ok. We launch by 11:00 AM. First stop was right across the bay to see a bunch of pigs living on the island. Some were big pigs maybe 300 pounds. Then we headed northwest along the chain of keys. It’s a windy day and we are out in big rolling waves coming from behind us – a “following sea”. Janet was to the left of me. I kept looking over my shoulder to see what was coming. I noticed an especially big wave and it was cresting and I holler to Janet to watch out. Before I knew it I was surfing fast down the face of the wave. My bow plowed in as I reached the bottom and the wave forced the stern of my kayak to the right. I was a little ahead of Janet and the same waved forced her stern to the left and the next thing I knew she torpedoed me. We were both completely out of control. I put my arms up to protect myself which flipped me right over and she ran me down like a crazed Texan hunting armadillos at night with his F150. First time I’ve been run over by a kayak. Now I’m swimming and a little stunned trying to round up my water bottle and flip flops that came off, along with my paddle, sponge, and a mesh bag with ropes that came loose. Janet didn’t flip and was also trying to round up the floating stuff. I righted my kayak but it was still at least half full of water in fairly rough seas. I cowboyed up a few times but by the time I got in the kayak a wave would swamp me, and a boat full of water in rough seas is damn hard to keep up right. I kept flipping. Finally Janet had all the stuff rounded up, and came along side to steady my kayak while I got in and pumped out some of the water. The whole episode probably only took a few minutes but it seemed much longer. It probably took 20 minutes to paddle to a beach so I could rest and drain my boat. I was exhausted and had swallowed too much sea water. After a while we were off again and looking for our planned camp. I was still a little rattled and we overshot our camp and landed on “Pigeon Cay”. Don’t know if we’re supposed to camp here or not – Dallas didn’t mention this place. It worked out though. There was a pond on this key with a bunch of blue wing teal and another breed I’m not familiar with (perhaps a whistling duck?). I snorkeled around a while and saw lots of small fish, some quite colorful, others not so much. It was a long day and we paddled 6 1⁄2 miles.
Day 4. We woke up to a light rain after listening to the waves lapping on the beach all night and the thunderous sound from the big waves breaking on the windward side of the cay, maybe 1⁄2 a mile from us. Now we have a new problem, human waste. You’re not supposed to bury it here, you put it in a wag bag or use the ocean. We didn’t bring wag bags – so use the ocean, weird. So now after using our GPS and chart we know exactly where we are. We took off at 10:00 AM and made it to the narrow point on Williams Cay and stop for lunch. We made a short hike up to the windward side of the cay to some very impressive sea cliffs with breakers crashing, wow. We paddled a little farther northwest and crossed over due west to Normans Pond Cay. We met two other kayakers who told us they had already set up camp at the southwest end where we had planned to camp. So we headed north to about the midsection of Norman’s Pond Cay to set up our camp. On the way we found the inlet to the pond and paddled up it (a big interior pond on the cay). Because it was low tide we had to drag our kayaks up about 2 feet to the canal leading to the pond. We paddled the perimeter of the pond, but didn’t see the underwater walls that were once used to evaporate water to produce salt for commercial use, which we had read about. Coming out of the pond we paddled over the little rapid drop created by the low tide back into the sea – fun!. Today we paddled about 9 miles. We stopped and set up camp at 3:00 PM and had plenty of time for a long walk on the beach that seemed to go on forever – lots of flat rock that looks like a black broken sidewalk for about a mile, strange…. Here we saw 4 large black iguanas. The biggest was about 4′ long and probably weighed about 25 pounds. Today as we paddled along Windsock Cay and were admiring nesting Ospreys, we also saw a school of about 15 huge rays maybe 5′ across or better in the perfectly clear turquoise water only about 3′ of depth. It was awesome. The rays seem so slow and gentle we were tempted to hop in and snorkel with them until the memory of Steve Irwin’s fate surfaced. We also saw several sea turtles today. They are so fast they seem to fly under water and would not let us get near them. We’re always in awe about how beautiful and clear the water is – with all shades of turquoise and blue – where you can see all the way to the bottom, almost like paddling in a massive clear swimming pool. No-see-ums and skeeters are pesky at dawn and dusk, but not unbearable as others had previously advised us.
Day 5. Last night the Milky Way was unbelievable with no moonlight. Later on it rained hard but briefly. We paddled north along the west side of Norman’s Pond Cay, then east at the tip to check out a campsite Dallas had marked on the chart. It was a nice site but had deep water access and a couple power boats were already there. There is a lot of shallow water in the Bahamas where power boats just can’t go. Then we went northwest to the south side of Bock Cay, which was about a 1 ½ mile crossing in very calm conditions. Then between Bock Cay and Melvin’s Cay, and around Neighour Cay – loaded with palm trees. It looked just liked Gilligan’s island if not for the beautiful house there. Here the tide was against us. Tracy was paddling hard but going backwards for a while – and Janet was lucky enough to be in a bit different current, so she was headed forward slowly. Then we paddled into a large cove on Prime Cay and walked across to see the breakers on the East Side in the open Atlantic. There were a bunch of bones arranged neatly in the sand – and we wondered if they were human(?) – a bit unnerving. Then we paddled past Goat Key, which has an enormous white house and sea wall on it, rumored to be famous people living there. Then on to Lignumvitae Cay where we set up camp in a cove, which was the most beautiful campsite so far. We snorkeled around the cove, but there weren’t many fish here. There was a campfire ring here made of conch shells. We tossed some pine needles into the ring to prepare for a fire tonight, and cleaned some needles up from the outside of the ring. Soon it began to smoke – then fire. Someone must have camped here yesterday and didn’t douse it. It was another beautiful, calm night, with a marvelous Milky Way. We paddled 9 miles today.
Day 6. Today we were on our way just past 9 am paddling Northwest between Darby and Little Darby Island. We were going to walk up on Darby to see some ruins, that looked like a small castle, but the takeout was well marked “no trespassing” and an email was provided to get permission – but we didn’t want to wait around for that. Then on to Rudder Cut Cay, where we saw a couple of cool sea caves, then past Musha Cay, and Cave Cay, where a huge black ship was anchored. It looked like a military boat, but as we got closer we could see it was obviously recreational. It had a landing pad on top complete with a black helicopter. There was a large speed boat on the front deck, rubber dinghys, jet skis, SUPs, and bar area on the back. Just past Big Galliot Cay we snorkeled at the south end of Big Farmer’s Cay – close to an Atlantic cut. There was no beach here. We had a hard time finding a place to get out of our boats with the sharp rocky shoreline that dropped straight off into 4-6 feet of water. The snorkeling was fantastic with fish of every color and many types of coral. We had to dodge a lot of jelly fish because we didn’t want to find out the severity of their sting. We then paddled on to our camp, in a cove, on the west side of Big Farmer’s Cay. We saw several more sea turtles today. There are 4 catamarans anchored in the cove where we are camped. We paddled 10 miles today from 9 until 3. Two dinghys from the cats came ashore at the far end of the beach from us. 5 people were walking, exploring a nearly dry stream bed due to low tide. We walked over to say Hi – they were nice folks from North Carolina. Later just before sunset, another dinghy landed near our campsite, as we were enjoying our “happy hour Rumonade” (our Rum/Lemonade concoction) on the beach. We talked to this real nice couple named Ross and Phyllis, also from North Carolina. Ross provided a few of the pictures of us in the album. The sunset was magical, with nothing but open water to the west. No campfire tonight, as the wind was howling – but it was another fantastic day.
Day 7. Still windy this morning. We’re packed and paddling by 9 am. We paddle out to Ross and Phyllis’s catamaran to get a couple gallons of water they had graciously offered us the night before. At our rate of consumption, we had just enough water to complete our trip – but we feel better having a little extra just in case we’re delayed by weather. Yesterday’s paddle to Big Farmer’s key put us a day behind schedule, that we have no intention to try and make up. We will let Dallas know our end date when we figure out what it is… He already told us he is flexible on picking us up. Ross gave us the weather forecast for the next couple days from 3 different sources, that all contradicted each other. But, it’s windy now and in our face – and we assume it will remain that way until it changes… So today we sadly turn back towards Georgetown. We’re paddling southeast into a 10 knot or so headwind, into 2 – 3 foot choppy seas, sloshing from every direction, like paddling in a washing machine. Later the wind eased a bit, turning to southwest, and the seas became 2 foot rollers, which is a little more comfortable to paddle. We had planned to camp tonight on the west side of Big Darby, but we would have been exposed to too much open sea/wind. So we decided to take the narrow route between Little and Big Darby, back to our favorite campsite Lignumvitae, and camp at this beautiful place again. We saw several sea turtles again today, and big red starfish. We made it to camp before 1 pm after paddling 10 miles. We snorkeled here again, but this time we went around the rocky point where you enter the cove. Here we saw lots of fish and coral. We were alongside a deep channel, where the light turquoise water turns to a deep dark blue. A little spooky as visibility in the deep water is about 40 feet, then who knows what might be lurking…. Several places that we stopped we saw tracks in the sand that looked like tiny deer or maybe pigs. It turned out the tracks could be goats – as we saw a couple goats when we left Big Farmers today. Lots of beach time today, reading, walking, hunting shells, and of course Rumonade… It’s become painfully clear we didn’t bring enough Rum…. Oh well, better to enjoy the here and now than to ration for the future. Apparently in my downhill side of life my logic is beginning to shift, because I didn’t use to think this way.
Day 8. Off by 8:30 today, backtracking our route to Norman’s Pond Cay. The water was calm this morning, but when we got to the 1 ½ mile open water stretch between Bock Cat Cay and Norman’s Pond Cay, the sky took on an ominous stormy look. There appeared to be a possible water spout forming. That was just enough motivation for Janet to get her kayak really moving. She’s a badass. I couldn’t keep up with her. We finally make it across to Norman’s Pond, and wait out the weather a short time while we have lunch – and then paddle on towards our intended camp at the south end. When we arrive the site was taken again – this time by one of Dallas’s rental sailboats. Oh well. We decided to snorkel around the southwest corner of this key since we were here. We saw lots of little fish, a small shark (3-4 foot), and 3 big rays. We got close enough for a few pictures, but stayed far enough to be safe, I think. It was pretty awesome swimming with the big rays. We then paddled back north to about the midpoint of Norman’s pond, to set up camp in the same place we camped a few days ago. We saw lots of starfish today too. We’re trying to decide our route for tomorrow. We kind of want to cross over south to the Brigantines chain of cays, to see some different scenery rather than backtracking. But, it’s a 3 ½ mile open water crossing to get there. It’s late afternoon, and the water is calm – however we’ve already sampled the Rum. We decided if the sea is still calm in the morning, we would cross over to the Brigantines, otherwise we would backtrack. This evening it is dead still, the waves are not even lapping on the shore. It’s a silent and beautiful sunset.
Day 9. The wind picked up quite a bit late last night from the Southwest – the direction of the Brigantines. There are scattered white caps. We hung around a while to see if things would calm down, but they didn’t. Want to head out soon so we have plenty of time to reach the next camp. By 10am, we decided we should skip the Brigantines and backtrack, because by now the wind was kicking up lots of white caps. So we head south to the end of Norman’s Pond Cay, then east – which is a 1 ½ mile crossing to Lee Stocking Cay in a heavy, uncomfortable choppy sea. From here we stuck close to the shore as we move southeast. We stopped at the sea cliffs at William’s Cay again for lunch. The Atlantic side was very calm this time, with hardly any breakers. While we were having lunch, a tour boat stopped and let off 15 or so passengers who joined us. Most of them are Americans, and they thought we were nuts being out here in kayaks (perhaps correctly so?). We hung around a while after the tour boat left, then on to Boise Cay, where we intend to camp. We visited the “blow holes”, which were pretty cool. But this cay is solid rock, and I’m not convinced the beach wouldn’t be underwater at high tide. There was a neighboring beach/cay, but there was a roofed shelter and some pylons – and we didn’t know whether or not that particular area was private. (As we found out later, it probably was OK to camp there.) So we could see a beach on Square Rock Cay, but had to pass through a swift current split and some substantial waves to reach it – which we did. What a beautiful place this would be to camp – with a wide open view of the Atlantic to the east, for a perfect sunrise. But we realized there were no breakers or swells in the split we had just paddled through. Other than today all the splits we’d paddled through or past had big breakers nearby. The Atlantic was relatively calm, probably due to the strong west component to the wind combined with the outgoing tide. If we camped here, changing conditions could make it really tough to pass back through the split or even get off the beach. So we moved on against the rough ebbing tide and current, back through the split, to shallow water and on to Levi Cay, where we set up camp. It was a long paddle day for us – from 10 to 4:30, about 15 miles of choppy waves – like paddling in a washing machine again all day.
Day 10. Usually I am very popular with the biting insects. However this trip for me they have just been a minor pest. Poor Janet looks like she has the measles from head to toe. One negative of this trip is the amount of litter we saw, mostly plastic liquid containers (not really that much in these out islands, but any litter is too much in these otherwise pristine conditions). Initially I thought this could have washed in from anywhere in the world, but when we got back to Georgetown, it was obvious they have a huge litter problem here – sad. Their government obviously realizes this as there are “no littering/fine” signs everywhere, and lots of trash containers. The littering issue appears to be a cultural thing, and old habits are hard to break. They use Styrofoam takeout dishes at many of the restaurants too which blow all over the island and often into the water. Hopefully they will come around and realize they are trashing their own paradise. I’ve never really been a tree-hugger type. But this perhaps made me a little more environmentally conscious about keeping our oceans and land clean, and where our trash ends up and trying not to purchase items packaged in single use plastic containers. It’s a beautiful calm morning, up at 6:30 – just couldn’t stay in the tent any longer. Enjoying coffee and tea, oatmeal fortified with dried apple and cranberries. I will not confirm, but there may have been some dancing on the beach after sunset, and possible skinny dipping in the early morning a time or two on our trip… Paddled 8 miles today back to Roleville, stopping to see the pigs again. Very nice calm day. Tamara picked us up and took us back to Marshall’s guest house while telling us lots of interesting facts about her and her family’s life in the Bahamas. Tamara is a really nice person. We had pretty great weather most of our paddle with only a couple windy days, no complaints. This concluded our kayak adventure – now on to island life. Six more days to fill. We met Barry, a local, at the liquor store. He invited us to go fishing tomorrow with him on his boat. We weren’t quite sure what to make of him, so we passed on fishing. Later, after asking some locals, we decided he was probably an OK guy. We ran into Jillian again also, and she had rented a car because her daughter was coming to visit the next day. So, we went in the car with her to Shirleys, at the “Fish Fry” (a colorful group of local small restaurant “huts”) for dinner. We spent the rest of the week walking the roads around Georgetown, going to the Chat and Chill again and walking the Atlantic beaches/trails, and dancing to the “Rake and Scrape” band at various places. We met up with Barry again and he took us boating and fishing. Barry turned out to be a great guy and we had a fantastic day catching lots of fish – which we ate the next couple days. He also took us to a bay where the sea turtles have come to expect to be fed by the boaters. We fed 6 of them at least half of our bait (fresh squid), while stroking the turtles backs and massaging their necks while avoiding their powerful jaws snapping at the squid! Getting to know a few of the local characters was fun, and reading while looking at Elizabeth Harbor (lots of sharks) and the hundreds of anchored sailboats – all in all a wonderful time. The Bahamian people were very friendly, and we felt quite safe the whole time we were here. I wish I could better describe the beautiful shades of turquoise clear water here, the most memorable thing on this trip. Can’t get Mongolia out of my head either.
