The Exumas! We made it. Time to explore. Time to rest. With another cold blow coming through, we decided to just chill for awhile. We spent a week at the Highbourne West anchorage, mostly staying on the boat, before venturing out to explore. At the end of our stay, a strong southerly arrived and we moved to the protected cove at Highbourne North. We wish we had gone there sooner because it was completely calm and had an excellent coral head for snorkeling.
Highbourne Cay is the main stopping point from Nassau, particularly for the many large yachts who pay the fee to enjoy the nice beaches. We were surprised how many boats were anchored here. Until now, we had the Bahamas almost all to ourselves due to the Covid pandemic.
Allens Cay
What is casually referred to as Allens Cay is actually a cluster of several small islands – Allens Cay, Southwest Allens Cay, Leaf Cay and small islets the charts don’t name. They form a beautifully secluded sandy lagoon. We thought about anchoring in the lagoon, but it was below our shallow comfort zone.
The cluster’s claim to fame is that it is home to two endangered species.
Northern Bahamian Rock Iguanas
Usually called the Allens Cay Iguana, the Northern Bahamian Rock Iguana can only be found worldwide on the three main cays in this cluster. They can grow to 24 pounds and live up to 40 years.
We went to Leaf Cay, which has a nice beach inside the lagoon. It was covered with them! We had read that they are aggressive due to visitors feeding them, but that wasn’t our experience. They just sat in the sun. If you encroached within a couple feet they would either move away or simply stare at you. They are sometimes called Pink Iguanas. It was easy to see why. They also have a more Jurassic look compared to the iguanas common in Florida and Mexico.
The Audubon’s Shearwaters
These sea birds have been steadily declining throughout the Caribbean and as recently as 2000 had significant nesting areas on Allens Cay. This is an official picture of what they look like, which doesn’t match the birds we saw.
Long Cay
We began our journey south with a short hop to Long Cay and neighboring Lobster Cay. We had it all to ourselves for two days. With the exception of Lobster Cay, the snorkeling wasn’t great, but we enjoyed the calm water and exploring around. We also finally got the chance to fly our drone for the first time. Unbelievable. It provides such a different perspective and the image quality is impressive.
Lobster Cay
We had read that Lobster Cay was fronted by a great reef for snorkeling and lobster hunting. Given that it had two dinghy moorings, we were hopeful. It didn’t disappoint. Large compared to what we had seen so far, we saw plenty of corals and fish. Our only regret is that we came to snorkel and hunt for lobster. At roughly 25-30 feet, it would have made a better dive than snorkel spot. I was able to reach the bottom freediving, but there was no way I could hunt for lobster at that depth with my limited lung capacity.
Better though was the island itself. We found a small channel cut into the sandstone. We went in and found a completely abandoned build site, with a backhoe, trackers, jeeps, and storage facilities. At the top of the hill was a nearly-complete condominium, including bed, furniture and other basic amenities. The only obvious things missing were the lights. It was earie, like a scene from Jurassic World.
