Shroud Cay- Natural Lazy River

Our Thunderball Grotto adventures wrapped up pretty early since we got a headstart on our day, so we hoisted the tender, lifted the anchor, and moved on to Shroud Cay, which is still part of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. There is a natural lazy river on Shroud and it sounded like a great next adventure. 

We were underway for a short jaunt before dropping the anchor, applying sunscreen, and loading into the tender. Ben put air in Big Bertha, a multiperson inflatable tube, so that the 5 kids could ride in that while the 4 adults were in the tender, freeing up some space for our journey.

There are 2 different natural lazy rivers to explore on Shroud Cay, and both were pretty close to where we anchored. We set off on the southern river and kept our eyes peeled for anything interesting. I mentioned that if I was a sea turtle I'd definitely be living in this area because it was calm and peaceful, away from the boats and people. The depth of the river was deeper than we were tall, so we stuck our feet over the edge of the tender to enjoy the cool water while the sun beat down on the rest of us. As we got further in, the depth got shallower, so we got out of the tender to float down the river. Ben held the line of the tender and kept it closeby. There was a small current pulling in the direction we were headed and it pulled us along. At times, those of us who are more vertically challenged had to float or hold a boat handle to get through deeper segments. It got progressively deeper and even our tall people weren't able to reach, so we loaded back into the tender and Big Bertha, stating it would only be until we could see when it got shallow again.

We were all a fan of cooling down and exploring by floating along the shallow parts of the lazy river.

All we had to do was kick up our feet and float while the current pulled us.

It wasn't long before we started seeing sea turtles. It can be tricky to spot a sea turtle from a boat because, at first, they look like a round piece of coral or a patch of sea grass, but as they're approached, they zoom off. (Seriously, they're super speedy!) Every now and then we'd find one and watch it long enough to see its head pop up to get a breath of air. We all would take turns announcing when we spotted one and were giddy to be able to see them. I knew the turtles would love this place!

The dark circle was one of the first turtles we spotted.

It is a little easier to see the turtle in the water here.

While on the lookout for turtles and driving the tender, Ben spotted a 7-foot nurse shark swimming in the same direction we were headed, over by the mangroves. Everyone saw it and gasped. No one was expecting to see one there. By that point, we were all thankful we were out of the water and no one asked to get back in after seeing that. Had we seen the shark before getting in the water, I don't think anyone would've gotten in! That would've definitely changed my feelings about this location, which quickly became my number one stop so far.

Shark spotting!

My brother-in-law and I had been eyeing a cloud that seemed to loom overhead and become darker with each passing second. There was a beautiful beach that looked to be a thin piece of land with the ocean on the other side. Everyone wanted to get out and play there, but the impending storm made the adults nix the idea. Watching the cloud move quickly, it wasn't long before it was over our heads, pouring on us. It was a little chilly, but welcomed, due to the heat we were experiencing only a few minutes prior. We couldn't do anything about it or escape from it, so we all just soaked it in and laughed, chalking it up to memories made. I looked back to see the 4 kids on the floor of Big Bertha, with Bear (she must've pulled the short straw) on top of them all, acting like a human umbrella. The 4 adults and my 16-year-old niece were thankful for hats and sunnies to somewhat keep the rain out of our eyes.

A beautiful picture that will become a core memory! We wanted to stop here and explore, but the clouds had other plans for us.

Like storms in the Bahamas do, this one ended after 10 minutes. Of course, we were almost back to the Cartermaran when the sun came out. We set up the Rubber Dockie and jumped and played off the boat. 

Some of us were helping a father and son on a jetski who got separated from their vessel. They came up to our boat while we were playing outside and asked us to help them. We tried contacting their family on the radio, by calling on a phone, and sending texts, with no luck. We were able to charge their phone for a bit so they'd have that and then sent them on their way. About 2 days later, we found out they were successfully reunited!

The next morning, we woke up ready to take on the northern lazy river, with hopes of finding a beach on which to set up camp. Ben read that this one was the more shallow river, so we were looking forward to a peaceful float down this river too. We didn't get in because we saw at least 20 turtles and were enjoying watching them from the Chicken.

As we rounded a corner, we happened upon our own beach at low tide where the lazy river met the ocean, similar to what we had seen the previous day and wanted to stop and enjoy, but couldn't because of the storm. It was evident that at high tide, the waters were all connected, so we made it there at the perfect time. The kids loved jumping the violent smashing ocean waves, playing in the soft sand, and running down the hill into the water. I don't know which made it more enjoyable- being there and having the place to ourselves or watching the kids have the time of their lives.

This beach was accessed by the lazy river, but actually met up with the ocean, which is where the kids are playing in this picture.

Our plan for the morning was to spend a little time exploring this lazy river, hopefully, do a quick beach stop (check!), and return to the Cartermaran allowing enough time for us to travel down to Compass Cay and explore there before too many people got there to do the same thing. Although we were enjoying ourselves, we knew we wanted to get to Compass Cay. So many of us were back and forth about this decision though, because of the opportunity cost. Did we really want to give up what we were soaking in and enjoying for something that could be better or could be worse?!

Low tide makes for a sandy and entertaining beach until it is time to get back in the tender and go to the Cartermaran. We read on the maps about how part of the lazy river is inaccessible during low tide, but we figured with such a low draft, we'd be okay. Turns out, even low-drafting tenders could get stuck too. Every now and then the adults had to jump out of the tender in order to reduce the draft even more and sometimes this even included pulling the tender through the most shallow parts. All of the in and out got annoying, so my sister and I decided to join the kids in Big Bertha. The swing of that thing, while the tender was driving was extreme! We thought it was pretty funny.

This was what it looked like at one point in our journey while walking the lazy river.