What Is Your Favorite Island In The Bahamas? Try This One…

Many have visited popular islands in the Bahamas such as Nassau, Grand Bahama, Paradise Island, Castaway Cay, and others. Each one has their own unique character. I recently visited a quaint little place called Spanish Wells. It is actually located on a small island called St. George’s Cay.

According to Wikipedia it is: “2,000 ft wide by 9,380 ft long, located approximately 500 m (1,600 ft) off the northern tip of Eleuthera island. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 1,551 residents. Spanish Wells is extended, however, by a bridge that links it to neighboring Russell Island, which is 5.8 km (3.6 mi) long and has become an integral part of the community.^[3]Spanish Wells is so small that many residents get around the island using golf carts instead of full-sized cars. The first colonists were the Eleutheran adventurers from Bermuda (intending to be some of the first settlers of Eleuthera), who suffered shipwreck on a reef, known as the “Devil’s Backbone” off Eleuthera in 1647. After living in a cave known as “Preacher’s Cave” on Eleuthera, they ended up at Spanish Wells. Among other, later, groups of settlers were Crown loyalists, who left the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Historically, the island was used as a last stop for Spanish ships returning to Europe, where these ships refilled their water supply from wells created for this purpose – thus the English name of the settlement: Spanish Wells.”

My husband, Donnie, and I celebrated our 19th anniversary in December 2017. We like to go on an Anniversary/Planning trip each year right after the New Year. We make our goals and plans for 2018 while on this trip. We also do fun stuff and just take time to connect.

My husband, the pilot and entrepreneur, had been wanting to fly his TBM 700 (six seater, turbo prop) to the Bahamas for a while so we decided to give it a go. There was only one requirement: he had to do a trial run first. Being that it was going to be his first time flying his own plane (he’s flown international before as an Air Force Reserve pilot on KC-135’s) to the Bahamas and over open water, I didn’t want to be the guinea pig. Since he had to do his annual recurrent training anyway, he took his instructor, Brett, along to North Eleuthera which is next to Spanish Wells to kill two birds with one stone.

For an open water trip, there are a few essentials that he had to secure before taking the flight. To be prepared, he purchased a Garmin In Reach Explorer beacon. It has satellite coverage for 2 way texting from anywhere, tracks your location every 10 minutes, and has an SOS trigger that has a direct link to the search and rescue center. We also had to get an inflatable water-activated life raft, as well as life vests. He also had to familiarize himself with customs procedures for entering the countries, getting a customs decal for the aircraft as well as filing the flight plan as usual. We also made sure to bring extra cash to tip the airport employees for their services. It is always a good thing to show appreciation to the people taking care of your aircraft. In addition, a lot of foreign countries don’t use credit cards in many areas, especially on smaller islands, and getting to an ATM can sometimes be a challenge.

Fortunately, Donnie’s training flight went well without any issues so I felt more confident flying with him over the ocean. I am not a fan of flying and I’m always a bit anxious, especially when we fly our plane because I am not a pilot. If something happens to my husband, Donnie, while in flight, I have to know what to do. I try to learn as much as I can each time I get in the cockpit. I do have plans to get some training in case of an emergency. I won’t get my license per se, as that would require me to fly a solo flight which I do not want to do.

My husband has the best training in the world from his time in the Air Force and he has kept up with his training on his airplane, way above the minimum required by the FAA so I know he is a great pilot but I still get anxious, regardless.

There were many storm clouds we had to fly around so our decent into North Eleuthera airport was a bit bumpy. Of course the view was beautiful. A few airlines such as United, Delta, and Jet Blue have flights that go into North Eleuthera, the closest airport to Spanish Wells.

The owner and caretakers of the cottage arranged for a taxi to take us to the ferry where we then took a 5-10 minute ferry ride to St. George’s Island where Spanish Wells is located.

Once we arrived at the dock in Spanish Wells, the caretaker picked us up and drove us a short ways to the cottage. The location was amazing…the beach is protected by a reef and the depth of the ocean floor is only about 4 feet max for a long ways out, making it ideal for kids and families. I knew the water would be cold in January but the air temps were also chilly, in the low to mid 60’s, cloudy, rainy and gusty for much of the time so even sitting out on the beach wasn’t really an option. We just had back luck with the weather.

The cottage we rented was a 1 bedroom with a loft that slept about 6 people total. It had a kitchen with pretty much had everything you would need. It also had amazing views of the ocean.

We were hungry since we didn’t eat or drink much the whole day. We try not to eat or drink much the morning of our flight since our plane doesn’t have a bathroom and we knew the flight was going to be two and a half to three hours long.

We rented a golf cart since that is the most common form of transportation there although some still drive vehicles. We rode over to Wreckers, an outdoor restaurant on the harbor side of the island. Most of the restaurants are outdoor there with little to no indoor seating. The BBQ nachos were yummy!

We went to the only grocery store on the island, Food Fair, to get a few things. It had limited hours and limited food. It closed at 12p on Wednesdays. Pretty much everything other than fish, conch, or lobster has to be imported so options were limited. The produce looked bleak and the selection was small. There was no milk at all the entire time we were there and we went to the store 2-3 times while there. There was no deli or bakery, although there was a shelf where you could buy home-baked goods from the locals. Darlene & Skeeter made some really good sweet breads.

The next morning, we did our “vacation workout” that included sit-ups, push-ups, squats, bent over row, and a run on the beach.

Later we went to eat at Eagle’s Landing, one of the only indoor restaurants on the island. We tried the conch fritters and the conch chowder. It was so good that we ordered them the other two times we went there to eat.

Since this trip was a planning trip, we spent most of our day making goals for 2018. Due to the poor weather, we stayed indoors most of the time. So when we went out, it was pretty much to eat. Donnie also got me a massage appointment with the local masseuse (probably the only one) in town.

Our cottage came with kayaks and bikes. Since the water was too rough to kayak, the next day we decided to take a bike ride for our workout of the day. Sorry I don’t have any pictures of the bike ride as I didn’t have anywhere to put my camera. We biked over a bridge that lead to another island, Russell Island. This island was similar in size but less developed. It was mostly land for sale and homes, one makeshift store and one restaurant, The Sandbar. It was VERY hilly for a cruiser bike so after an hour, I was exhausted. Workout was done for the day!

We wanted to go on a boat tour but due to the weather and rough water, we had to sideline it for this trip. We want to return when it’s warmer to try to swim with the pigs, snorkel for huge star fish, deep sea fish, spear fish, reef fish, bone fish, tour nearby islands, see turtles, scuba dive.

After our bike ride, it was time to…you guessed it. Eat. For lunch, this time we tried out the Shipyard.

Later for dinner, we went back to Eagle’s Landing to get some conch fritters and conch chowder again. We stopped at the store again and then spent the rest of the day planning. We tried to get ice cream at Eagle’s but they ran out. The other ice cream place, Papa Scoops, was only open from 730-1030p at night and it wasn’t time to open yet. So we stopped at the Generation Gap restaurant and got some chocolate lasagna. It was pretty good.

The next day, we did our vacation work out in the living room of our cottage again. Then we got ready to go…eat. We went back to Wrecker’s, where we ate on the first day since the food was pretty good.

We did some more planning and then packed up for our departure the next day.

The next morning we drove our cart to the dock and then loaded onto the ferry to do the same thing in reverse. We had to go through customs again on the way out. Then we loaded the plane and took off. Weather was much better and smoother this time. We flew to Wilmington where there was only one employee to process customs which took 5 minutes and then flew back to Raleigh.

I would call our first flight to the Bahamas a success. We look forward to coming back and also checking out many of the other islands. Even though the food was really good, I like Spanish Wells because it has a calm, quiet, laid back charm. I feel that it is a very safe oasis in the Bahamas compared to the bigger islands. The beach where our cottage was located would be great for families with children because the water is relatively shallow, clear, and calm. Not to mention riding in a golf cart is a blast, especially for kids! Everything is so close and just a few minutes ride on the golf cart. There are so many things to do.  We plan to go back to experience all the water activities when it gets warmer and to eat some more conch chowder!

What is your favorite island in the Bahamas and why? Comment below.