The Aquarium
After two horrible nights playing mooring ball melee at Warderick Wells Pirate’s Lair, we headed off to see The Aquarium and nearby submerged plane between Little Halls Pond Cay and Soldier Cay. The other attraction is that Little Halls Pond is owned by Johnny Depp, which he made into an even bigger attraction by posting a must-see beach sign.
A strong north wind was expected that night and we had pre-selected the Soldier Cay anchorage, in part due to proximity to The Aquarium and in part due to the belief that the north sandbar would provide some protection. We still had a lot to learn.
We rocked violently all night. It was our third straight night of no sleep. The next morning, we weren’t in the mood for sight-seeing and departed immediately for the peace of Staniel Cay.
Bay of Pigs Anchorage
While often referred to as “Staniel Cay”, the large Bay of Pigs anchorage is actually off Big Majors Spot, around the corner from Staniel Cay. It’s enormous, protected, and very popular. It’s the cover picture of our Exumas Explorer Chartbook (ninth edition). We spent a full week here, relaxing, grocery shopping, and seeing the sites.
As a sign of things to come, the first evening greeted us with a spectacular sunset.
Staniel Cay
Staniel Cay is a small settlement, with Staniel Cay Yacht Club as its main cruiser’s hub, a small airport, and a handful of shops. The two small grocery stores are known by their colors – the “blue store” (Burke’s Convenience Store) and the “pink store” (Pink Pearl Groceries). The two are next to each other, which is good because we usually had to visit both to find everything we needed. There is also Isles General store down the road, which has some basic boat supplies.
Pig Beach
Pig Beach is one of the three beaches in Bay of Pigs and we had been watching the small tour boats come and go for days. One particularly nice day, we decided to head over. On our approach, a pig came swimming out to greet us. He had impressive swimming skills! He was all over the side of the dinghy begging for food. We only had one carrot with us (supplies were low), so Brenda gave him half. That only spurred him on more, so Brenda caved and gave him the other half. So much for feeding the pigs!
When we reached the beach, a very sad looking pig came slowly toward us. We called her Eeyore. We’re used to only seeing pigs at the state fair – very fat pigs. This one was gaunt. You could see her rib cage and she didn’t look healthy. We wished we still had a carrot for her. She just stood next to the dinghy, so Brenda lectured her to watch the dinghy until we returned.
At the top of the beach is a small covered pavilion with each pig’s picture and name. Next to it are some small structures for the pigs to rest in the shade if they wish. One particularly large pig was snoring in there, while most of the others were out front burrowing in the sand. Whenever a tour boat pulled up, 4-5 pigs swam out to greet them. Despite hearing they were aggressive, we found them all to be quite friendly.
Thunderball Grotto
The 1965 James Bond film Thunderball featured extensive water and scuba diving scenes, a part of which was filmed in a natural grotto a couple hundred yards off Staniel Cay. It is appropriately named Thunderball Grotto.
The grotto is a large dome-shaped cave, with multiple underwater openings and a few openings in the cave ceiling. At one end it trails off into a long narrow passage that eventually leads out to a pristine coral garden. Within the grotto are mobs of small reef fish looking for a handout and occasionally mobs of floundering tourists. We both brought some bread and the highlight of our visit was watching Brenda scream and swim in terror as the tiny fish swarmed when she released some of her bread into the water!
After exploring the grotto by day, we returned to Falcons Nest and watched the movie that night (we have all of the Bond films in our collection). In the film, Sean Connery gets out of the water inside the grotto at night and waits until the next day to be raised through the ceiling via a rescue helicopter. We thought the grotto would have a bigger role in the film, but the marketing works and many people come to visit.
Snorkeling the Majors
North of the anchorage at Big Majors Spot is a collection of small cays and coral heads. Some great snorkeling!
When we were rounding the corner toward Exuma Sound, a large Barracuda (over 4 feet) made it clear we were not to continue. We’ve had a lot of experience with Barracudas when scuba diving and are used to how they tend to hover and stalk – but from a distance. This one came straight at us and backed us off halfway back to our dinghy. We didn’t get a good shot, but at one point he came within two feet, opened his mouth wide, and bared his teeth. We got the message!
