Conception Island

I didn't sleep good because the wires came loose in the forward air conditioner and it was hot. So... once most of us were awake (Moose slept until 10 am!!) Ben started repairing the AC, trying a few ideas to see what would work.

Loaded up into the tender to go to shore. We took the obligatory national park sign picture and then took a little trail to the Atlantic side of the island. The water was much rougher and Ben said it had a bit of an undertow, so the kids didn't get in. 

The sand here is considered pink, even though it doesn't look super pink, you can tell that some pink corals definitely contributed to the sand. We've seen this at a few beaches in the out Islands.

We ventured around the curve of the crescent beach to some big rocks. I read that there was a rope to hold onto to help people up to the top of the rocks, so we walked over to it.

Ben, Bear, and Roo went up first, each of them gasping once they could see over the top. When I climbed up, I could see why! The views were stunning. The beautiful Bahamas blues, with the waves crashing on the craggy rock in the foreground was a sight to see. Moose wasn't excited to walk over here from the other beach and thought I was lying about the rock climb. Once he saw it was real, he perked back up. We explored from the top of the rocks for a while before descending back down the rock face.

The tall rock we climbed up acted like a breakwater for this little cove so the beach over here was much calmer and had no undertow. We hung out, swam, beached, and built for a while.

On our way back to the other side of the island, Roo and I picked up several handfuls of trash that had washed ashore. Some of our noteworthy finds were 3 single shoes, a plastic hair barrette, and a sippy cup lid...  the rest of the trash included a lot more plastic bags, plastic bottles, and soda bottle lids. We likely could've picked up more, but we only had our hands to hold it all and got to a point where we were dropping and picking up stuff that was already in our hands more than grabbing new pieces.

On the beach on the other side, we did some more beaching, swimming, floating, and hanging. Moose was determined to find the most rare boa constrictor that only lives on this island and was discovered in 2015- a Conception Bank Silver Boa. Although he found some of their trails, he sadly did not see any snakes.

Bear and Moose snorkeled this side of the island since it was much calmer and had a few good finds.

Tomorrow we plan to take the Chicken through the mangroves trail. We have to go an hour before high tide and be back out by an hour after high tide, so we've got 2 hours to explore. We knew we wouldn't make it out there today for high tide, so we will go tomorrow.

Took a morning tender ride through the mangroves in turquoise water an hour before high tide. No issues with the tide getting into or out of the area. Just cruised through all of the routes until they deadended or got too shallow.

Back to the boat for lunch and sunscreen, then off to explore and play at the beaches.

Some days I don't have much to document because we don't do much. Today is one of those days. We were chilling out on the island for most of the day. It is so gorgeous here. The best part is that it is so secluded from the tourists and we get it all to ourselves!

I could stay here for several more days... or weeks. So could Roo. Moose can't fish here because it is a national park, so he is itching to move on. We will head to Cat Island in the morning.

San Salvador

Conditions were just fine, so we crossed to San Salvador. Initially named Guanahani by the Lucayan native people, renamed San Salvador (meaning Holy Savior) by Columbus upon landfall in the Americas, renamed Watling's Island by British buccaneer George Watling, and back to San Salvador in 1926. Currently home to 1,200 people- the most populated island we've been to in weeks!

Ben wanted to go to the marina here so we could have easy access to a rental car and not have to worry about leaving our tender anywhere while we drove around the 35 mile loop on the island. This island is the top of a 15,000 foot mountain that sits on the ocean floor, resulting in great SCUBA diving.

Pulled into the marina and once again, we spotted some resident sharks, circling behind us as we entered. There were 4 of them and they were all nurse sharks.

Everyone who works at the marina left for the week to go to a wedding. A dive boat guy helped us get a rental car. When the guy showed up with the car, he said it is 48 hour minimum, plus $100 deposit, so $230. Figured then that we would stay 2 nights and break up our stay into an exploring today and a beach day tomorrow.

Ben checked the tires of the white Nissan and the back two looked low, but the guy reassured him it would be fine and we could call him if anything happened. Ben took the car to check in and pay at the marina office down the road.

When he got back, we loaded up and went to Dorette's store to see what we could buy. We were told she had fishing things, but couldn't find any. Did see some new candies to try- Chick-o-Stick, peanut butter rolled in coconut. (Tasted like the inside of a Butterfinger.) Also found the Bounty Bar I got at Erica's Bakery the other day. We got 4 of each because Moose didn't want either of them, so he picked out a pack of tropical Skittles. I saw a stack of "Rocky Mountain Marshmallows" and laughed at the name of a pack of marshmallows produced in Chicago. At the checkout counter, there were mini loaves of bread pudding bread that we of course had to try. It was a sweet bread with raisins and maraschino cherries. Ben and the girls shared it. Moose and I didn't want any. They also had a deck of cards behind the counter that we got. The kids have been playing games with one deck of cards, some of them solitary games, so I figured it would give someone else a chance to play at the same time. All of that for $19.

Got back in the car and decided to drive around the island loop (on Queen's Highway) in a clockwise direction, so we could look out over the water instead of at the oncoming traffic.

First stop was the Dixon Hill Lighthouse, built in 1887. It was at the top of a somewhat paved hill. There were a bunch of goats roaming around, scratching themselves on the chain link fence, and eating/mowing grass.

In the guestbook, there was someone who was there at the end of May from Broomfield! Anyone know the Burchells?

We walked up 3 flights of spiral stairs to the top. The last set was more like a ladder than stairs. The steps/rungs were very narrow. 

At the top, we could peek into the center of the glass. Moose climbed up in there but I was too hot to go all the way up. The girls and I just peeked in. We heard people come in below, so I looked down and asked them to stay down at that level so we could come down. Then, Moose found a small (2 ft square) door to the outside. Ben tried it and it opened! We didn’t go out, but definitely could have stood on the balcony around the top.

Drove down a side street to check out beach access for tomorrow. It was covered in sargassum and washed up plastic trash. This was the Atlantic side. Passed on that beach.

Continued around the island. Saw a turn off that would take us to Snow Beach. It said there was a resort called Guanahani (original name of the island) back there and a kite-surfing paradise. We took a peek at the beach access there and saw more of the same. Didn't continue down the road to the resort. It seemed like it may not even exist. This side of the island looked like a hurricane hit it in recent years. Looking at the resort reviews, there hasn't been one since 2 years ago.

Another stop was Watling's Castle. We didn't wind up stopping and continued on past the inland blue hole as well. The kids were getting stir-crazy and we said we could come back tomorrow.

Passed by the Columbus marker at Landfall Park and said we'd explore there tomorrow as well. There are 4 markers there to indicate the initial landfall of Columbus on October 12, 1492- on or near the spot. The guy at the marina told us that the torch for the 1968 Olympics, held in Mexico, was lit on that beach.

Checked out the marina pool and decided against it. It didn't look like it had been cleaned in a while. Lots of things floating and growing in it. Maybe it is because everyone is at that wedding?

Passed by Carter's Snack Bar on the way back to the boat.

Back at the Cartermaran, we played some cards, cleaned up a bit, and went to bed.

Slept in. Ran a load of laundry. Ben, Moose, and Roo went to check out a different store for groceries. Came back with some bagels and lemon juice to make some lemonade. They filled the car up on the way home. Ben said it only took 3/4 of a gallon to drive the loop around the island yesterday.

Ben checked the forecast for tomorrow and let us know it had gone from 2 footers to 4 footers. We talked about staying and chancing it, but ultimately thought leaving this afternoon would be best. This place is nice, but there's not enough for us to do to be there for several days waiting for a better window. Turns out most people come to the Club Med here to SCUBA. It was quite shocking to know so many people lived here. From our drive yesterday, it seemed way less inhabited than our other more recent visits.

Hopped into the car and went to the Columbus marker and beach at Landfall Park with plans to be back to the boat by 2. There were minimal shells, some sea glass, and two local boys swimming. Bear went into the water. Ben laid on the beach. Roo and I walked the shore to see what we could find. Moose started building in the sand with driftwood. When Roo and I turned around to walk back, Moose was no longer playing alone. The two local boys joined him. They're brothers who are 5 and 10 years old.

Ben called to make sure the rental car guy could meet at the marina at 2 pm and he could. That left us with about 90 minutes at the beach.

Left the beach, got the boat engines turned on, and just had to wait for the guy to get the car. In the meantime, Ben called the marina and told them we were leaving early. They hadn't charged us for tonight, so we dont have to worry about that!

When the car guy came (2:08), he checked to make sure the tank was full and gave Ben the $100 deposit back. Pulled the lines and got underway around 2:15.

Once we were away from the island, we had zero waves! Maybe it was like half-footers on the beam at 5 seconds, but it was hard to tell when each wave peaked.

Moose had one line out trolling for a good chunk of our travels. He got a bite, of course, while Ben was napping and I was at the helm. I had to slow down so he could reel it in. I looked back to see a 3-4 foot fish with a long bill and a sailfin leaping out of the water. He hooked a marlin! Ben came up to see what all the commotion was about. Now the questions really started going through my head... Can he reel it in? Didn’t the sportfishers tell us marlin season JUST ended? Do we keep it? What the heck do we do with it when it makes it to the boat and is flapping around everywhere? How do we get it on the boat? Where do we put it?  Should we eat it? Will we even like it? After about a minute of reeling it in, we no longer saw it jumping and knew it had gotten off the line. What a catch and core memory!

Made it to Conception Island by 7:15. Anchored just as the sun was approaching the horizon. Ate dinner outside as the sun was setting. This place looks beautiful and we cant wait to explore over the next few days!