To Do

Rock Sound Cave

Published on by troybook

The Cave at Rock Sound is located just outside of the settlement going south toward Green Castle. There is a white church building

Way to Boiling Hole and the cave
Way to Boiling Hole and the cave

on the opposite side of the road so it’s easy to find. You will need to park along the side of the road. It used to be almost impossible to find, but recently the locals have build this kind of rough set of stairs down to the blue hole and put up the stone wall to make the way down.

Boiling Hole

This blue hole is not that deep. It is called boiling hole because there

Boiling hole one of two blue holes in Rock Sound.
Boiling hole one of two blue holes in Rock Sound.

are always bubbles coming to the surface. There is not enough water exchange to keep the water from stagnating. It is still a very pretty location but not much to do there.

Keep on the path that leads around the side of Boiling Hole off to the left. You

Poison Wood don't touch.
Poison Wood don’t touch.

continue through the low scrub type bush common to the Bahamas. On the way be careful not to touch the tree with the black tar looking sap coming from it’s trunk. It is called Poison Wood. It is like poison ivy on steroids so please avoid it.

The Cave

Not too far on is the entrance to the cave. It is a top entrance,

Cave Entrance
Cave Entrance

making getting into it a bit of a challenge if it weren’t for the makeshift ladder placed there. I suppose it’s time to say that I don’t recommend that anyone go into the cave. It’s best to view it from the top.

 

 

 

 

On the way in we saw a bit of the local wild life. Some of the locals

Lizard on ladder.
Lizard on ladder.

may serve as a deterrent to some. but we found them to be quite hospitable. The first was this little lizard kind of being a ladder hog.

At the bottom we found a resident of the cave. It was a Brown Racer, one of the local species of snake. He didn’t seem to like his home being

Snake in cave.
Snake in cave.

invaded so he took off to a dark corner somewhere. They are harmless. There are no poisonous snakes in the Bahamas, but there are a few toxic bugs.

 

The cavern at the entrance of the cave is rather small but a passage leads to a pretty large cavern that makes me think the cave

Small passage to next cavern.
Small passage to next cavern.

floor may be below sea level. There was evidence of an owl off to the right in the form of some poop and bones of small critters such as mice. The owl was not there.

 

 

Through the passage the cave opens up into a surprisingly large cavern. It is cool the way the roots from the

High cave ceiling with roots from trees on the surface.
High cave ceiling with roots from trees on the surface.

trees above come through the ceiling and all the way into the floor. I am stunned at the size of the roots considering the small trees above. My kids can be seen at the bottom of the roots, they are totally dwarfed by the height of the ceiling of the cave. There were other caverns at one time but the ceiling has collapsed making those caverns inaccessible.

Ocean Hole

Published on by troybook

Ocean Hole

Ocean Hole Eleuthera.
Ocean Hole Eleuthera.

Was something that we totally took for granted growing up. It was simply the local swimming hole. Some of the local fishermen had put a few local fish in the hole, which do very well and have become themselves an attraction.  The come it seems to the sound of foot steps on the steps leading down to the water. Many people bring old bread or other scraps along to cast to the fish competing for as much as they can get. It was my thinking that the tourists came to see the fish, not realizing the greatness of the ocean hole itself.

The attached video offers a great view of the ocean hole and the surrounding village.

Local Lore

Of course surrounding such a dark mysterious hole in the centre of the village stories and legends abound.

We all knew for example that Ocean Hole had no bottom, and there were very large animals living in it’s depths. These legends were almost confirmed when scuba diving legend Jacques Cousteau and his team made an attempt to pierce it’s depths. They were met with darkness so great that as I remember it they made it to only 65 feet before being forced to abort the dive.

Swimming

Each time we went swimming in ocean hole we would begin to challenge each other to make the swim across to the other side. We would eventually venture out into the depths with our hearts pounding in our chests swimming on top of what seems like an endlessly deep ink black depth. It felt as if we were paring into space itself. The really weird part is that the water is crystal clear on the top, and you can see light shafts disappearing into nothing. It makes me feel really small.

When you visit this great location, you must make the swim out into the depths, let us know what your impressions are.

Eleuthera Fishing

Published on by troybook

One of my favourite ways to spend time on the island of Eleuthera is fishing. How ever you like to fish, it can be done on Eleuthera.

The island has quite a following of fly fisherman who frequent the island. The draw of Eleuthera for the fly fisherman is the fact that there are a number of great flats that can be reached by car. One needs only to google diy fly fishing eleuthera to discover how and where to cast a fly.

While fly fishing is great fun on Eleuthera, I also like to take a spinning rod and stop along the rocks on the eastern side of the island. I have had great fun with a cheep rattle lure about an inch long off the rocks. Cast the lure out and reel it in. I have caught Grouper, Mutton Snapper, Spanish Mackerel, Jacks to name a few. This lure will do, get the blue one. I have also cast those lures at shoals of Jack charging the beach driving bait fist to the shore. What a blast!

There are charter boat captains too. They will be very happy to get you hooked up on what ever is running. There are times when the Exuma sound is so glutted with Mahi that one can just about walk from Eleuthera to Exuma! There are lots of bill fish too.

When the sun gets hot it’s always solo refreshing to slip into the gin clear, refreshing sea. After all people come to Eleuthera to vacation. The main thing is, Have Fun!