Tag: Eleuthera

Must Have Items for Eleuthera

While Eleuthera is incredibly beautiful and it’s people friendly, make no mistake it is also an adventure! Eleuthera is very rural as are most of it’s beaches. There are no amenities on most beaches, so you will need to provide them yourself.

The first thing that I would suggest is having a cell phone with you while exploring the beaches more off the beaten track. The Island has pretty good cell coverage since it is so narrow. Bringing your everyday cell phone may prove not be the best idea because of roaming charges that can be extremely high. In stead go to amazon.com and look for a cheep Unlocked GSM cell phone. Be sure it is “Unlocked.” Once on the island of Eleuthera there are BTC offices in most of the settlements. You can go into one of these offices to purchase a SIM card that you’ll insert into the GSM phone you bought and you’ll have local coverage. You can expect to spend around $15 for a phone.

Again the island is rural so there are lots of mosquitos and sand flies (no see ums). You will need to prepare for dealing with them. During the day the bugs are not that prevalent, but as the sun begins to set they come our with ferocity! My favorite device for keeping them at bay is the Thermocell Mosquito Repellent also available on Amazon. We would start this device up when we are outside and put it under the table we are sitting around, or upwind if the breeze is blowing a bit.

I’d also take a camping hammock or two with me as the beaches have stands of trees that will support the hammocks offering for great relaxation in the shade of the trees. Don’t get the type that has the boards to spread the hammock out. They are really hard to pack.

A swimmers towel is a great addition to the travel kit. The swimmers towel dries quickly and ads tremendous convenience over traditional towels that get wet and stay wet for a long time. The swimmers towel is also small and easy to carry. Before the swimmers towel was available we would use synthetic chamois, still an option in my mind.

There are many other things that you can use on the beach. I’ll leave those things to your imaginations, but in my mind the items that I have listed above are not generally considered for travel. They will make your trip to an island like Eleuthera much easier. Have a great adventure!

March 14, 2016
Rock Sound Pics

Just thought I’d upload a few photos of Rock Sound just to give a quick view of a few parts of this sleepy village located in South Eleuthera.

Enjoy!

March 1, 2016
Rock Sound Cave

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

February 19, 2016
Ocean Hole

Ocean Hole

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.

February 16, 2016
Disconnect In Eleuthera

Disconnect

Need a break but can’t really disconnect? Want to get your kids off the couch and out of doors without a fight? Eleuthera is the perfect place to disconnect. Sun, sand, and crystal clear sea will draw the kids out side and away from the electronics.

Eleuthera

Is a great choice of a get-a-way. It is easy to get to. It is not overrun by people. It is gorgeous. The beaches of Eleuthera are consistently voted among the best in the world. Not only are the beaches

North Side Beach on Eleuthera, Bahamas.

outstanding, you may see one or two other beach goers in a day. A beach feels crowded if there are more than 10 people on it!

Homes

The best way hands down to take advantage of Eleuthera is to rent a beach front home. There are a number of homes that have been purpose built as vacation rentals. Many of them are built with on suit rooms so that couples or families can share a house for the week while keeping privacy. The homes are generally designed around large living rooms and kitchens to make passing what little time you will spend indoors in comfort. Click here for Vacation Homes.

Things To Bring

Normally there is a list of fishing gear etc., but I am going to give a few tips that you may not get elsewhere but will definitely improve the vacation experience on the island.

Meat is probably the most difficult thing to buy on the island. I would suggest that you take any beef, chicken or pork that you intend to consume while on here. Most experienced Eleuthera travelers will buy and freeze the meat they intend to eat while here. Buy a 30 quart cooler from your favorite home store and pack your meat in the cooler before going to the airport. Duck-tape the lid shut and keep the roll of tape in your carry on incase someone needs to look in the cooler. The cooler will come in handy while on the beach or driving around Eleuthera. Seafood is not something you want to bring, as there are places that you can get fresh fish daily, or you can catch your own.

The next thing that I definitely recommend is a bug repellant device Like the one pictured below. The bugs on the island near and after sundown make life miserable out side. Pack the devise and the butane cartridges in your checked baggage. We will take this device and put it up wind or under a table we may be sitting around. These devices will clear out the bugs for twenty feet around them. Being on Eleuthera on cloudless nights is totally breath taking, not to be missed.

February 15, 2016
Eleuthera Fishing

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!

September 23, 2014