March Break Cottaging in the Bahamas
Special to the Globe and Mail by Iain MacMillan
February 25th 2010

Here’s a story about cottaging in the Bahamas.  More and more people are finding the out islands of the Bahamas to be just what they are looking for with some similarities to cottaging in Ontario.

Our first mate Matt dismissed the idyllic Bahamian scene in a way only a 15-year-old could. "Let’s go to another island, this one’s got seaweed on the beach - it’s totally ghetto here."

In fact, with so much to choose from, we had all become fastidious about our picnic spots, so, a half-minute later, we were once more screaming across the swimming pool blue waters of the Abacos. With a 225-horsepower outboard on our transom, Matt’s left hand gripped the boat’s steering wheel tightly while his right faintly nudged the throttle down again, hoping his dad or I wouldn’t notice.

In between anchoring off white-sand islands, snorkelling over reefs and exploring little settlements, our two families spent a week in a boat exploring the Abacos. Here, we joined pods of dolphins, swam over sting rays and sorted keepsake sand dollars. As the sun began to sink late each afternoon, we would head back to the cottage porch to retell the day’s adventures while the day’s catch barbecued on the back deck. For Canadians familiar to cottage life back home, the similarities were striking. It’s pretty easy to feel comfortable quickly in the Abacos.

With no holiday plans for the kids’ March Break last winter, we started looking for a unique but affordable family getaway in February. After some searching, I found that four flights to Nassau from Buffalo were cheaper than one from Toronto. I knew we wanted to get beyond the hustle-bustle of the capital, Nassau, and after researching online for beach houses on a long list of out-islands, I liked the sounds of the Abacos, where we could have a beach holiday, but on a different beach each day.

So, along with our friends John and Debbie and my wife Ray - and our kids, five in all, ranging in age from 7 to 16 - we rented two cottages on the tiny island of Lubbers Quarters. With no regular ferry service between the Abacos hub of Marsh Harbour, we agreed to share a mid-cockpit 21-foot Dusky with its ample outboard, its corpulent gas bill - and its wonderful opportunities.

We landed in Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco Island, after an hour-long flight from Nassau. Arriving on an earlier flight, John had already picked up the boat, soaked and torn out the most important two pages from the cruising guide and began the week-long battle with his teenage boys over who was going to drive and at what speed.

Because Lubbers has never had ferry service from Marsh Harbour, unlike the more well-known out-islands of the Abacos (Elbow Cay, Man-O-War Cay and Great Guana Cay), it has seen little development. Hydro arrived so recently that our gingerbread cottage, Green Bananas, still had propane lights. In fact, the parallels all week to Canadian cottage life were almost eerie. Replace pink granite with white sand, pines with palms, keep the neighbour’s visiting black lab - and welcome home.

The generally protected shallow waters of Abaco Sound stretch north-northwest more than 100 nautical miles between Great Abaco Island in the west and the chain of barrier out-islands to the east. The Bahamas are a boater’s paradise and there’s probably no easier or safer area playground than the Abacos. If you’re comfortable handling a boat in a bigger Canadian lake, you shouldn’t have a problem tooling around in a rental boat in the Abacos. Of course, if you prefer someone else to deliver you to your doorstep, there are plenty of ferry- and water-taxi-accessed islands with small resorts and hotels, restaurants and shopping.

Sadly, but just like at home, many simple cottages are being torn down and replaced with buildings more fitting to their new contents: granite counters, satellite TV, air conditioning, private swimming pools. But we were looking for an old-style retreat, and thankfully Green Bananas and John and Deb’s Pink Palms next door delivered. As with a lot of Canadian cottage country, neither family locked doors or windows, day or night. While the kids played board games or sorted shells in the loft, nostalgic thoughts would go through my mind each evening as I held a cold Kalik beer in one hand, and with the other, pulled the rope for our outside hot shower located on the deck among the palm fronds.

The Bahamas aren’t the West Indies, but given the setting and our perfect weather, we had to remind ourselves that we were actually farther north than West Palm Beach, Fla. Yes, the Bahamas are warmer than Florida thanks to the Gulf Stream, but Christmas and early winter can be akin to being at the cottage in late May or early June if the winds come from the north. And because much of the barrier reef, which protects the Abacos from big Atlantic swells, run north-south, trying to drive at full speed can get a little sporty. But with islands seemingly swimming distance apart, short adventures can be easily planned.

Our daily routine began with two or three well-kept dogs from the neighbourhood entertaining the kids with games like fetch the coconut. Around 10 or 11 a.m., lunch had been packed, drinks stored on ice, sunscreen applied and cameras placed in Ziploc bags. The boat, which spent its off-hours swinging freely on a sort of washing-line mooring off the jetty, was brought in for loading and after a few last-minute returns to the cottage, off we’d go.

Every day presented a different beach. Sometimes it was near one of several settlements that have been populated since United Empire Loyalists first came ashore. Other days, we’d just drop the anchor off one of many deserted islands. Local biota ranged from enormous star fish regularly found through the crystalline water to hermit crab reluctantly gathered and entered into races near the grassy dunes.

We also explored protected waters, tying up at the free permanent moorings provided at national parks that protect the coral reefs from dragging anchors. My daughter Heather wasn’t sure about snorkelling at one such spot one day. The deeper water over the reef had lost its almost artificial aqua colour in the late afternoon sun and the breeze had picked up, making an uncomfortable chop. But with encouragement she went over the side.

"Ooooo! It’s like a whole city down there!" came the squeals of delight after most of the mouthpiece was out of her mouth. "Cars and buses and taxis going everywhere!"

Enjoying the moment, while her siblings and friends duck-dove with similar shrieking and splashing, the scene seemed an apt comparison and wonderful introduction to the undersea world. Building corals resembled buildings, swaying branching corals and sea fans were like trees and shrubbery, countless fish of all shapes, sizes and bright colours were oblivious to us for the longest time as they scurried about the day’s business. Perhaps the most incredible sight was simply the condition of the reef. I haven’t seen a reef so alive and so pristine since I was Heather’s age in the 1970s.

And, with no other humans in sight, it was a typical setting on our trip: We had it all to ourselves.

Tagged in: Langford Tropical, Abaco, Andros & the Out Islands of the Bahamas, Deserted Beach Cottage - Andros Bahamas

Watering Holes of the Exumas
Island Hopping in the Bahamas Out Islands
January 29th 2010

The Exumas  are filled with hundreds of tiny cays  many of which host cozy  and unique lodges and memorable drinking holes.    Last week’s National Post   has a good story  that gives a good feel for the  laid back feeling of the Exumas in  the heart of Bahma’s Out Islands. Have a read here

National Post

Tagged in: Langford Tropical, Abaco, Andros & the Out Islands of the Bahamas, Deserted Beach Cottage - Andros Bahamas

The Out Islands are the Real Bahamas
Unspoiled and spectacular, the Out Islands of the Bahamas offer an ideal beach eco vacation.
January 26th 2010

The Out Islands of the Bahamas  offer  the eco traveller an ideal tropical adventure. Even though they are a short flight  and quite close to the the US, they remain  off the radar of large tour operators, wholesaler cataloques and  mass toursim. Thankfully this translates to islands that are quiet , unspoiled and an ideal choice for a relaxing Eco vacation in the sun. Bahamas Tourism just came out with  short videos on a few of the islands including the Abacos , Andros and Cat Island - three islands that we at  Langford & Company  love and offer unique trips to! Have a look here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwDBPXEQ1ik

Tagged in: Langford Tropical, Abaco, Andros & the Out Islands of the Bahamas, Bahamas - Andros Kayak, Snorkel & Beach Adventure