A week of Bahamian sun and sand, in Eleuthera (2)

Paradise

Eleuthera is one of the many islands of Bahamas, unique in its own way. It is a 100 mile long island with an average width of a mile, and has a worm like shape, making it one of a kind. At any point on the island, you are within walking distance to the sea on both sides, the Caribbean and the Atlantic. I had read a couple of reviews about what to expect before going there, but nothing had prepared me for what we finally would experience. It was like being away from the world, in a place where time had slowed down...


Getting there

Getting to Eleuthera is easy. There are three airlines which fly onto the island - Bahamas air, Pineapple air and Southern air, from the US and within Bahamas. And even though it is such a small island, it has 3 separate airports. One in the north, one in the centre and one in the south. Clearly this place is popular with tourists, who are lazy and don't want to drive too much.

We were flying out at 730 am from Nassau airport and surprisingly, it was very cold in the morning. As expected, the airport was quite small but it did have a lot of flights going to its various islands. We were flying Bahamas Air to Governors Harbour, the airport in the centre of Eleuthera, and the flight was expected to be only 15 mins. There are flights to all 3 airports on the island at around the same time, and Bahamas Air combined ours with the flight going to the Rock Sound airport, in the south.

Our small plane to Eleuthera

However, they did not change it on the display boards showing the gate numbers, and we kept waiting outside the gate showing the flight going to Governors Harbour! Thankfully we figured it out on time and got on board the right plane. It was a small propeller plane and looked charming in front of the morning Caribbean sun. Funnily enough, since two flights got combined, the seat numbers were no more relevant and they asked us to sit anywhere we wanted. Thankfully we got window seats, which was wonderful.

As the way to Eleuthera was full of stunning views. The sea there wasn't deep, and you could see the rocks at the bottom too. And then we flew over some very small islands which each had a house on it. I am sure, these must be those typical billionaire holiday homes and they looked quite desirable from above.

We first landed at the Rock Sound airport within 15 mins. It was surrounded by very dense mangrove forests all around. It was very casual there, as people were getting on and off the plane as they wished. Some even got off by mistake when they didn't need to. And a guy entered the plane through the door to take the luggage off. We then took off again for a 10 min flight to Governors Harbour.

Eleuthera from above

As we flew along the island, we could see the one central road which runs from north to south and is visible from far. And the edges of the island were lined with some stunning coastal towns, lines of elongated white sand beaches and amazing crystal blue-green waters of the Caribbean Sea. The rest of the island was full of mangroves. The views throughout this 10 mins plane ride were very captivating.

The airport was quite interesting too. We got down and walked to the room which was the terminal. A guy got our luggage from the plane and just kept it on the outside of the airport so we could pick it up 😀. There was no luggage belt there. And we asked for a taxi as it was about 15-20 mins to our hotel, 15 kms away on the main road of the island. The guy who runs the airport duty free shop at the airport also drives people to their hotels, so he got his car out and dropped us at the hotel.

We could already see that we have come far away from civilisation as the road was bare and the air warm. I asked the taxi driver a question and he answered for the rest of the 20 mins drive a prepared speech as if the radio was on 😀. He told me the history and geography of the island, about its people and their life - all as if he was reading from a prepared speech. As if he told the same story to every passenger of his. It was actually quite funny.

Even though the island is so small in terms of area, its different parts are different and have a different vibe to it. The northern part is made up of Spanish Wells and its villages have a Spanish influence plus Harbour Island, a very famous resort island for the rich and famous. The rest of the island is very sparsely populated.

The island has only about 11,000 people. Everyone knows each other, its extremely safe and no one locks their doors. It is famous for its pink sand beaches. Also, the movement for Bahamas's freedom started from this island, from Cupids Cay, a location at the Governors Harbour village where our hotel was located. Apparently our hotel was earlier part of the Club Med hotel chain, but when one of the yearly typhoons destroyed it, it was taken over and converted to French Leave Resort.


The French Leave Resort and around

Our resort

And then we reached our hotel - The French Leave Resort. Thereafter, for the next 4 days we were in a different planet altogether, life became surreal for us. The resort was out of the world - in terms of its gorgeousness, calmness, beauty and luxuriousness. It was located on the Caribbean side of the island, and had a beach on the Atlantic side. The resort was quite spread out, with individual English white bungalow style villas with full or partial ocean views. It had an infinity pool, a jacuzzi, lot of outside sitting area, a very popular restaurant and some activities to do around. All enclosed within tropical shrubs and trees.

Breakfast views

Most of our days were spent lazily lounging around the hotel itself. Morning would start with a sumptuous breakfast in the restaurant, with a gorgeous view of the blue green waters and the Governors Harbour village across the bay. It was the perfect way to start every morning.

The hotel pink sand beach

Then we would sometimes go to the beach which was on the other side of the island and we could take our golf carts to get there. The beaches on this island have a pink tinge because of a small animal called Foraminifera, which is brought to the shores by the tidal waters. Their beach was in fact a pink sand beach, and seemed endless. It was definitely one of the best beaches that I have been to. And it was mostly empty, our hotel just had some sunbeds there, that's it. The water there was sparkling green blue and the sand was white and pink. It was choppier and windier as this was the Atlantic side, so it was a bit tough to swim in the waters with the waves and the wind. There was lot of sand also in the air, which covered all our stuff. But it was still fun to lay here in the sun, enjoying the view.

One of the days I went snorkeling off this beach and was amazed by the corals and sea life. The reef was a dead one but I could see how it would have been full at some time, with the huge rocks, all covered with dead corals. There were loads of fish there, at least some 40 types. In all colours, white, blue, yellow, orange, fluorescent yellow and blue. Everywhere. I also saw a sea snake which was a first for me. I got so engrossed in the snorkeling that I lost count of time and distance. I ventured quite deep out in the sea. I was also at times swimming very close to the reefs below, but thankfully not when the snake was around 😀. I really enjoyed the snorkeling here, though the winds had made swimming in the waters a bit tough.

Infinity pool

Then we would go back to the hotel, and laze in the pool or jacuzzi or sit in the shaded area for a long time. The bay there had a striking green colour which shone brilliantly when the sun was out. Without the sun, it would look a deep blue, still pretty but not as brilliant as the green. We went snorkeling in the bay but didn't see a lot of fishes, just a few sea cucumbers and a few fish. One afternoon, I went kayaking in the waters too and loved it. It got too hot very soon though, so I came back without leaving the bay. Also apparently the water was choppier than usual, thought I didn't feel it. I have generally kayaked in much tougher waters than the Caribbean sea.

The rest of the day would go just like that. There was a gym in the hotel too (but we never used it). And the infinity pool where we were most of the time. Or the jacuzzi next to it. Even though it was warm, when the clouds were out, I would feel a bit chilly, and sit in the jacuzzi, gazing lazily at the sea.

But during peak afternoon, it would get too hot. It took me a few days to figure out how to move the umbrella around during the day, that I could still stay out in the sun, next to the pool but still not feel too hot and avoid direct sun. I also realised that the bay used to look different depending on whether the sun was out. The green that we loved would go away when the clouds were out. When it got too hot, we would come back to our villa and sleep. It felt so amazing to just laze and do nothing the whole day.

There were two jetties at the resort where boats would come and dock, sometimes the visitors would come to the resort for the day too. And the views of the jetty and the bay at sunset were magnificent. Each day we had a different view, depending on how many clouds there were on the horizon. And each sunset was unique and fascinating in its own way...

One day we ventured out to the village. It was quite average though, as it had a lot of rundown buildings. The ones on the main island, which were holiday homes were definitely prettier. The village looked glorious at sunset though, from our resort, with its twinkling lights reflecting in the calm bay water. We also found a grocery shop in the village and got groceries to cook in our villa. The cost of everything was multiple times though.

Views from our villa

Our room was upgraded to an oceanfront deluxe villa, and it was awesome. It was like those English wooden bungalows, made of wood, with lot of windows and very airy. Right outside us was the jetty and one of the best views of the resort. And the rooms were very comfortable, perfect for such a lazy life. It was so hot everyday that all we wanted to do was sleep and relax. It was like we had come into a slow time zone.

The service at the hotel was very friendly too. The owner and the managers all knew us by name and made a lot of effort to help us, whether it was getting taxis, booking rental cars or diving, giving tips on what to do and so on. In fact one of the staff was a dive master herself and helped us plan for the dive. All in all, they took great care of us. Though we had a day when there was no internet in the resort, which was tough to deal with 😀.

Peaceful evenings

And the nights at the resort were perfect. One day there was live music in the restaurant which added to the whole ambience of the place. There were countless stars in the sky that were visible. And even the Milky Way could be seen two of the nights. It felt so amazing just to sit outside, with the waves lashing on the cliffs, no sound anywhere and just the stars above. In fact one day, there was a power cut for a bit and the sky looked absolutely fabulous! When I was there, I suddenly realised its been years since I sat outside under a clear sky. It was just amazing. Of course the mosquitoes in the evenings didn't help, there were loads of them. But they would clear out by night, so we could observe the skies comfortably...


Trip to Harbour Island, diving and exploring the island

There was only one day in the 4 days that we left the resort. That day, we rented a car and drove to Harbour Island which is in the north of Eleuthera. You can rent cars from the locals, most of which are second hand cars. Ours was a Japanese one, with instructions in Japanese. But it got us where we needed to go, so no complaints.

We had an early morning diving start from Harbour Island, and so left around 7 am from our hotel. The drive was about 50 miles and along the central road, known as the Queens road. While driving out, we didn't stop much on the way, just kept driving north. The sun was coming out and the morning colours were very refreshing. It was also coldish in the morning which we hadn't expected.

On the way, we crossed lot of small towns along that one single road. There were lot of bungalows on the sides, all isolated from each other and with sea views. The rest of the drive was just surrounded by green dense mangrove vegetation all around. We sometimes would come near the sea and sometimes would drive in the interiors. One noteworthy place on the way was Hatchet Bay which was quite crowded (relatively). Apparently the ferry from other islands comes here, docking inside the lagoon protected from the open sea. It would be good to come here sometime later.

We kept driving like this (the road was pretty good) and then turned right for the airport in the north. Right next to it is the ferry terminal at 3IS from where you can get boats to Harbour Island. This island is clearly popular with Americans, as direct flights come to this north airport from the US. We also saw a law firm's charter plane at the airport. And you can just get out and drive 10 mins to the ferry to Harbour Island.

Harbour Island

The water taxis leave from there every few mins as soon as it is full, and costs $6. A lot of locals stay on Eleuthera island and go across daily on work. Interestingly, they all say hi and talk and chat with the people in the taxi which felt like a welcome change. The taxi dropped us at the Valentines resort where our dive centre was located.

On the way to dive site

The day was glorious and sunny. We took a boat from the resort and they took us some 30 mins away to our dive site. The boat ride there was scenic. The water was not very deep all the way, sometimes just 7 feet deep and had a great sparkling green colour. At times, we could see the rocks on the bottom and sometimes the reefs too. We also crossed a few islands with holiday homes, seeing up close the lives of the rich and the famous.

Corals on rocks

The boat driver was quite talkative and told us titbits about his country. Apparently the Bahamian flag has 3 colours which stand for its people (black), sun (yellow) and turquoise (waters). He said he was from the island of Abacos which was all destroyed in the typhoon season and that's why he was working here.

Moray Eel

Our first dive site was at a wreck, called St. Fuegos. It was a good dive with lot of small reefs and some usual fishes. The next dive at Cabbage patch was outstanding. First, we saw loads of different kinds of fishes, lobsters, moray eels, lion fish, file fish, sea cucumber, sting ray and so on. There were some corals too. And it was fun to explore all the huge rocks and their surrounding plant life.

Dolphins

The crowning glory though were the dolphins! It happened in the middle of the dive when a group of four dolphins came near us, and I was late to spot them. They left soon enough, and I thought that maybe I had imagined the whole scene. We swam around a bit after that when I kept trying to figure out if I really had seen them or not, when the dolphins came back again. They kept circling us, swimming fast and slow, diving in and playing with the rocks, and generally having a good time. They then swam away and I was happy that this time I had got a good look at them at least.

Dolphins up close

They then came back a third time, as if coming back to make sure we had seen them play 😝. We could hear their whistles, watched their acrobatics in the water, and were just mesmerised with their antics. I think I forgot for a moment to breathe too, I was just so engrossed in watching them play around, swim around us and almost come face to face with us, as if smiling 😊. I think after this, we didn't really care about seeing anything else on the dive. It was already the dive of a lifetime and I felt on top of the world.

Dolphins

Dolphins

Dolphins

Lion fish

After this, I think we were done for the day. We went to eat at the Blue Bar and were surprised at how expensive the whole island was. We then explored a bit of the island and walked to the Pink Sands beach which is supposed to be the most famous beach of the island. To be honest, our hotel beach was definitely better. Though apparently the sand gets pinker on some days, especially during sunset. The beach was nice, with blue waters and white pink sand till where you could see. There was wind still and the water had too many waves.

Pink sand beach on Harbour Island

Its so hot during the afternoon that it makes you very lazy. We could have explored the island on golf carts but didn't. We did come across some churches and lot of pastel coloured houses which were very pretty. After spending some time on the beach, we walked back and took our water taxi to our car.

So we started our drive back and even though we had decided to stop and explore a few places on the way back, we finally didn't. We only stopped at the glass bridge which is the narrowest point of the island, where the island is barely 24 feet wide! And standing there you get a view which I hadn't imagined till then. On the one side is the Caribbean sea, green, shallow and very calm. And on the other side, the deep blue deep choppy waters of the Atlantic. Their difference is quite stark. Looking at this scene this way made me see the differences clearly. And it felt quite exhilarating to stand in the middle, where two oceans meet.

Between the oceans

While coming back we also stopped at the famous cliffs of the island but couldn't find them, so we just came back. Back to our resort before sunset, we sat in the pool and jacuzzi and enjoyed the sunset from our room. There are a few other places to visit on the island, like Gregory Town, Caulding Cay for its snorkeling, 'Ocean Hole' for its natural inland swimming and the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve. We didn't venture out much from our resort, so missed these places but they may be fun if you have more time.


And just like that our vacation ended. We were flying back to Nassau on the short 15 min flight and then off to London. We again had an early morning flight (somehow, 4 of the 7 mornings we had to wake up at 6 am which wasn't fun). There were dark clouds today, so it was colder. The taxi driver on the way back was also chatty. He was saying that sometimes they do get a cold wave in the island, when the temperatures touch 21 degrees Celcius 😁. Apparently the island is so safe, that people rarely lock their doors or cars. Also it is cheaper to go from Eleuthera to Miami than other islands in the Bahamas, so a lot of locals would have been to the US but not to the other islands of Bahamas! That was a very interesting piece of information.

Governors Harbour "airport"

The airport was full of people as it was just a room and there were multiple flights at the same time. But it had very simple processes, so we were ready to board very soon. We landed at Nassau on time and had to take a different terminal to go to US. However, they have immigration check at the Bahamas airport itself, which makes the connections in US a lot easier. And their restaurants have outside seating, which I found quite interesting. It even started raining today, though we didn't mind as we were leaving. And just like that, our vacation was over.

This trip was definitely one of my best, and the laziest. The place was lovely and I can see myself going back to Bahamas, maybe to a different island next time. By the way, its definitely not a cheap holiday by any standards. The food, the travel, the hotels are all exorbitantly expensive. Plus they all charge 20% tip on top of everything. And the hotels charge extra charges per day plus service charge on top of the room rates.

Still I loved it. The Caribbean is always the best place to relax, with the waters, the sun and the amazing vibe of the people. My all time favourite holiday destination...

Nassau(1)