Great Guana Cay

Posted by Greg Posted on March 6, 2013 3 Comments on Great Guana Cay
Posted in Life on the Water, The Bahamas, The Exumas

February 4 & February 7 – February 12.

Boat sails off the coast of Great Guana.

We spent another five days at Great Guana Cay. This twelve mile island is the second largest in the Exumas. On the west side there are many spots to park out of the prevailing winds. There are also paths to get to the east side. The isle has cliffs, caves, beaches and snorkeling spots a-plenty. Enjoy the scenery.

On Tuesday February 12th we sailed down to Cave Cay to stage our trip further south. On Wednesday we waited for a slack tide and went out the Cave Cay Cut into Exuma Sound. We had perfect weather to sail past the Musha, Rudder Cut, Darbys, Lignumvitae, Prime, Bock and Scupper cays to Lee Stocking Island. You folks in the States are sending us more nasty weather. We’ll be here at Lee Stocking until it passes.

Great Guana is a beautiful island with lots to do. Besides the wonderful community of Black Point there is plenty of hiking, good anchorages, wild life and awesome vistas.
Spiky seed pod. (1)
Cliff on north end of Great Guana. (1)
We love climbing around in these rock formations. There are interesting shapes and contrasts everywhere. The camera rarely does them justice. (1)
View from north end of Great Guana Cay. (1)
These limestone strata are over a million years old. The latest time they were pushed up from the ocean floor was 15,000 years ago. The wind and water are slowly turning them back into sand. Again. (1)
Rock formation at Jack’s Cove. (2)
Rock formation at Jack’s Bay Cove. (2)
The sea side of Jack’s Bay Cove area. Trash and detritus wash in but there is no way for them to wash back out. (2)
Cliff face. We tucked under a similar one to eat lunch while it rained. (2)
Rock formation. Does it look like an animal? (2)
View of White point from beach on the north side. (3)
Papa, Mama, and Baby cairns at White Point. Usually cairns mark trails or points of interest. These stacks seemed to have been created solely for their esthetic value. (3)
Succulent plant life.
Abandoned osprey nest at White Point. (3)
View looking south from White Point. (3)
Cove on the sound side at Heddy’s Land (4)
Rock formations on the sound side. (4)
Looking under rock shelf at low tide. (5)
Sand dollars and sand dollars burying themselves in the sand. (5)
Zillions of sand dollars here. (5)
We find trails on many of the islands we visit. The trails are usually marked with cairn or debris washed up on the shore. This trail was very well marked, which was wonderful since it wound through scrub, a mucky mangrove swamp and over rocks. (5)
This tour group of kayakers was traveling from Georgetown to Staniel Cay. They camp on beaches along the way. This day was very windy, but they stayed close to the leeward shore. (6)
This shot was taken on the sound side minutes before we saw the kayakers. Which side of the island would you like to row on? (7)
Cave near Oven Rock. You can tank dive in the fresh water to a depth of 70 feet. In this spot, you can clearly see the shallow bottom. (8)
Stalagtites near Oven Rock. (8)
Looking outward toward entrance at Oven Rock cave. (8)
The cave was very dark. I steadied my camera on a rock and set it for a minute exposure. Next time I will bring my tripod. (8)
Greg takes a COLD freshwater bath to give you an idea of the cave’s dimensions. (8)
Cave at Oven Rock. (8)
More stalagtites. (8)
A pair of ospreys guards their nest. Sorry. This is as close as they would let us come. We saw another pair shortly after this. (9)
Wreck on beach near south end of Great Guana. (10)
Wreck on south Great Guana. Looks like a home-made anchor with no chain and a polyurethane rope (rode). Maybe that’s the reason the boat’s on the beach now. (10)

3 thoughts on “Great Guana Cay”

  1. Your timing is impecable! We had snow flurries this morning and it is bitterly cold with gusting winds. Love seeing all the sunshine and the beautiful water. Missing you all.

    Reply

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