April 2-6, 2010

Great Harbor Cay Marina, Bullocks Harbor, Berry Islands, Bahamas

Our trip to Great Harbor Cay was uneventful and we shared the seas with a couple of cruise ships. And as we came around the northern tip of the Berry Islands, this Norwegian Cruise ship was at their private island enjoying a day at the beach.

Great Harbor could be appropriately called a “diamond in the rough”. It is almost like a little secret about how nice it is even the entrance to the marina channel has been narrowly cut through the rock.

When we landed at 5:30 on Good Friday, we had lots of help; Joe, the new manager/owner, Barry (dock master), Sam (dock help), Consuela and Simone (office). They all shook our hands and told their names and then invited us to a BBQ they were having for staff that evening. WOW!

We were already impressed, and did join the evening festivities for awhile meeting more staff and other boaters. The marina has been under new ownership since July, 2009. At that time dock and townhome renovation took place. Everything looked neat and well-kept.

Saturday was a day of laundry for me, and with only two machines, it did take all day (with walks for Porter in between). He and I found a Ship Yard Beach on the west side that was all of 100 feet long. We played fetch with a stick and Port rousted a stingray. It just swam a little bit further away.

Easter Sunday was a beautiful day and we were going exploring in our rented jeep (using the term lightly). I am really sorry I didn’t take a picture of this vehicle. It had a crack in the windshield, nearly bald tires, a canvas top that was not attached on sides or back, and we had to hold the top down for most of our travels – you get the picture…. At any rate, it transported us (with Port) to the Beach Club on the Atlantic side (about 1 mile) for an omelet breakfast. The Beach Club was setting up for the Easter Egg Hunt for all the children of the island.

From there we went to the south end of the island to Shark River/Shell Beach. The tide was coming in, but we were still able to find shells and play with Port. This beach went on for quite a ways and we could walk out a couple hundred yards.

We found a golf course (Mark said it was more like pasture pool) on the island and learned that it has 18 holes, but only 9 are kept up by the people who play at this time. The Clubhouse was abandoned in the mid-eighties and stands at the top of this hill with a walkway over the road.

We had to go back to the boat to get water and towels and then we were off the northern end of the island. We went as far as the road could take us and found ourselves in dense underbrush, mangroves and short palms. Surprisingly, we found another jeep back there and two guys that said we would need good shoes to hike to the edge of the island, but that there was no beach. We left and went to Sugar Beach and the Caves instead. This was a smaller beach with a cave formed out of the rocks. The waves were getting a little rough here so we didn’t get wet.

Mark and I very much enjoyed our stay at Great Harbor and understand that more renovation is yet to come. We had Grateful washed and waxed (top side) for a very reasonable price. One fellow made conch salad (ceviche) right at the dock all day Saturday. He keeps the conch on a stringer and alive until he needs them. His salad was all sold out for that day. Everyone we met really didn’t want the secret to get out about how really beautiful Great Harbor was. I think it was more than the scenery – all of the people we met were friendly, smiling, many singing, and there was a feeling of “family”.