Great Exuma: Discover The Jewel Of The Bahamas For Boaters
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Great Exuma is calling—don’t let it go to voicemail.
For some, it’s the destination after the long journey south, a place to toss out the hook and enjoy the sunshine, beaches, and camaraderie. For others, it’s an important waypoint on a longer voyage that will take them onto the Eastern Caribbean. No matter how you look at it, George Town has been a hub for boaters for decades. But George Town is not just a town. It’s cruiser shorthand for an entire region of the Bahamas—the eastern shore of Great Exuma Island and the protected waters of Elizabeth Harbour. During peak winter months, 400 boats or more crowd into the harbor, but there’s plenty of room for everyone to spread out. Whether you’re planning a few days stopover or a few months of relaxation, here’s your guide to Great Exuma.
Getting to Great Exuma
Great Exuma is effectively the end of the road that is the Exuma Cays. The 30-mile-long island is also a location of some strategic importance for long-distance travelers. Beyond here, fuel and safe harbors become scarce.
The typical route leaves South Florida with stops in Bimini, Chub Cay, and Nassau. You can check in with Customs and Immigration at any of these stops. After Nassau, hop down the lovely Exuma Cays or head into Exuma Sound for a straight run to Elizabeth Harbour on Great Exuma if you’re in a hurry.
Sheltered by Stocking Island, Elizabeth Island, and a few smaller cays, the harbor offers dozens of pretty anchorages and easy access to town. Entry is via one of the two cuts—Conch Cay Cut on the northwest end and the North Channel Rocks Cut on the southeast end. The route from the cuts to town is well-charted. The most trusted charts for the area are Explorer Chartbooks, available digitally in the Aqua Map app.
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Overall, Great Exuma experiences milder weather than the northern Bahamas. Not as many winter cold fronts make it this far south, but the wind still clocks around and occasionally forces you to find a more protected anchorage. Summer is calmer overall, with more predictable weather outside the rare tropical system. Tides are only about three feet, but the currents can be surprisingly strong in the cuts between islands.
Tying Up or Throwing Out the Hook
If you’re looking for dockage, your choices are limited. The area has only a handful of full-service marinas, so most visitors plan on anchoring or renting a mooring
for most of their stay.
The Marina at Emerald Bay has fuel, floating docks, and resort-style amenities like a Greg Norman-designed golf course. It’s outside the harbor, accessed by its own channel from Exuma Sound. Any significant swell or easterly wind tends to make the entrance interesting, so it should not be considered if the weather is already up. With a rental car, Emerald Bay makes a good base to explore the island. Consider the adjacent top-notch resorts, Sandals Emerald Bay and Grand Isle, if you prefer to get off the boat for a while.
The second marina of note is the Exuma Yacht Club in George Town, a facility that has waxed and waned over the years. It is currently working on improvements, including a new breakwater. In Stocking Island’s protected hurricane holes, two small resorts offer moorings and some dockage. Saint Francis Resort has a new marina with 22 slips between 40 and 75 feet long. Kevalli House offers 12 moorings and nine slips for vessels up to 70 feet long, but there is no dock. Kevalli House is a popular option if you need a protected place to store your boat and fly home.
The talk of the harbor is the installation of the new mooring balls that sprouted up in late 2023. The program is a joint initiative of the Bahamas National Trust and the Elizabeth Harbour Conservation Partnership. More than 100 moorings were added in three fields: Red Shanks, Sand Dollar Beach, and Gaviota Bay East (Chat ‘N’ Chill Beach). Book them on Dockwa, with weekly and monthly discounts. Along with the moorings, new rules have limited anchoring inside Moriah Harbour Cay National Park.
Feelings are mixed about the changes, but there are still plenty of other places to drop the hook. Most boaters move around as the winds shift, finding their favorite beach based on the forecast. With a fast dinghy, you can settle in and explore the entire harbor. A few popular anchorages include Stocking Island’s Monument Beach, Kidd’s Cove in George Town, and either side of Goat along Great Exuma.
Exploring Exuma
Exuma International Airport makes getting to Great Exuma easy, so it has become a hub for adventure tours. Swim with a pig, turtle, shark, or whatever you desire—they’re easy to find. Exploring by rental car can also reveal hidden gems, like driving down to see the beauty of Little Exuma Island or visiting the charming settlements, beaches, and stops along Queen’s Highway.
Perusing the harbor has plenty of rewards, too. You can be alone on a picture-perfect beach one day, join the party at the bar the next, and go to town for supplies on the third. Plenty of snorkeling, diving, and fishing will keep you occupied. Stocking Island is a treasure worth exploring with boutique resorts, glorious beaches, miles of hiking trails and, of course, the Chat ‘N’ Chill—the legendary boater hangout.
Moriah Harbour Cay National Park encompasses the southeastern half of Elizabeth Harbour. The easiest way to access it is with a fast dinghy on a calm day when you can explore the miles of sandbars, beaches, and the famous lazy river. If you want to stay awhile, the new Red Shanks Cay mooring field is managed by the park.
The George Town Exuma Cruising Regatta is held every February. There are big and little boat races, but it’s also a huge week of fun, with beach sports, conch horn contests, a poker run, and activities for the kids. The event raises money for the local schools and community. In April, sailors and landlubbers alike will not want to miss the National Family Island Regatta, when wooden Bahamian sloops gather from around the country to ply the waters of Elizabeth Harbour. Cruisers are sometimes invited aboard to help crew on these fast-moving race boats, an unforgettable experience.
Finally, Elizabeth Harbour makes a great base if you want to spread your wings a little. It’s an easy trip to the Exuma Cays, Raggeds and Jumentos, Long and Cat Islands, or the Out Islands of Conception, Rum, and San Salvador.
Every Bahamas cruiser will pass through Great Exuma at one time or another. Some ridicule those spending the whole season in “Chicken Harbor” for not making it farther. But there’s nothing wrong with finding what you like and sticking to it. Great Exuma offers a wide variety of things to do, pretty beaches, a warm Bahamian welcome, and a taste of island life that so many of us long for. Plus, it’s the Bahamas, and it’s better out there.
-by Matt Claiborne
The post Great Exuma: Discover The Jewel Of The Bahamas For Boaters appeared first on Southern Boating.
Source: https://southernboating.com/destinations/great-exuma-discover-the-jewel-of-the-bahamas-for-boaters/
