In this final part of our three-part series from the Bahamas where we discuss bareboat yacht chartering in the Exuma Cays, we are exploring the top things to see and do in the central Exumas between Compass Cay and Staniel Cay.
For a broader overview of cruising or bareboat chartering in the Exuma Cays, read our overview of the Exumas.
Compass Cay
Compass Cay is the first island beyond the southern border of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. Here you’ll find a marina with limited services, decent anchorages, tight channels to navigate, and a few interesting things to see.
Navigating and Anchoring at Compass Cay
Compass Cay has marked channels into the marina from the Exuma Bank and from Exuma Sound through Joe Cay Cut. The route in from the bank is complicated. When coming from the south, you have to first zig north, then zag south and around the cay and into the marina. When approaching from the North, you can slip into the channel at the northern end of the island through Conch Cut. This route is exposed to the Exuma Sound, so could be rough if the winds are strong, especially if they are conspiring with the tidal currents, which will be stronger the farther you are from high or low tide.
The channel into the marina has a chart depth of 6 feet, so you might need to wait for high tide to enter in a monohull sailboat. Charts mark a number of good anchorages alongside the channel on the bank (west) side. Use these if you are headed to the marina, but don’t plan to use the dock.
Rachel’s Bubble Bath is on the northern tip of the island. You can get here through conch cut at the north, or by entering the channel from the south and continuing north where the marked channel turns south. There’s a very nice bay here for anchoring.
Compass Cay Marina
Services at Compass Cay Marina include a marina with what you’d expect to find at a gas station; except fuel, lol. Ice, beverages, snacks, and sometimes burgers. Reverse osmosis water is available for $0.50 per gallon.
I don’t know why you’d want to dock, but if you do, you’ll spend $210 per night for a 40-footer with 30-amp electric service. Electrical service is a must in many instances because you won’t be allowed to run your generator at night.
There are several good bays to anchor in along the north end of the west side of the island. To go ashore at Compass Cay, there’s a $10 per crew member day use fee.
Nurse Sharks
The big attraction at the Compass Cay Marina is the school of nurse sharks that congregate at the docks. The water is shallow enough to wade with the sharks but keep your arms out of the water (which reduces your risk of being bit).
Rachel’s Bubble Bath
Rachel’s Bubble Bath is a shallow lagoon with an area of low rocks that separate it from the Exuma Sound. Waves from the sound spill over the rocks to create a foamy bubble bath. You’ll get the best experience at high tide when the water from the sound is closer to the top of the rocks.
If you anchored at the north end of the island, you are in the right spot to head to Rachel’s Bubble Bath. If you tie up in the marina, you can hike across the island to the bubble bath.
Fowl Cay
Fowl Cay Resort is a private island that shares an anchorage with Big Major Cay to the south. The resort welcomes boaters to the restaurant for lunch and dinner. When building our itinerary, we planned to eat at as many restaurants as possible. This not only made for less work and mess on the boat, but reduced our provisioning needs (which is an expensive hassle here) and is a great opportunity to meet the locals as well as other cruisers. Unfortunately, we missed Fowl Cay when building our itinerary, but would have definitely stopped in for a bite the night before we went to see the piggies.
Swimming With the Pigs at Big Major Cay
This is where the famous original Swimming Pigs of the Bahamas are waiting for you to feed them. You can read our in depth guide on the Bahamas Swimming Pigs here.
Staniel Cay: Heart of the Exuma Cays
A stone’s throw south of Big Major is Staniel Cay. This is the most developed island between Nassau and Great Exuma. This is usually the southernmost point on a weeklong bareboat charter and is the first cay with full provisioning available after leaving Nassau. When we chartered a bareboat yacht here in the Exumas, this was actually our first stop as we put in one long travel day to go south, then slowly worked our way back north through the islands.
When you arrive on the island, stop by the dockmaster’s office near the dinghy beach to pick up a useful island map.
Anchoring at Staniel Cay
There’s lots of well protected anchoring and smooth sandy bottoms on the North end of Staniel Cay. Some of the waters are a bit shallow, so head for the darker colored areas if you have a deeper draft or are just more cautious. There are a number of mooring balls available here to rent from Staniel Cay Yacht Club if you’d prefer; be sure to stay well clear of the mooring areas if you are anchoring.
Consider heading deeper (eastward) into the inlet past the three islets between Staniel Cay and Big Major Cay (the northernmost islet is Thunderball Grotto). You’ll find a less crowded anchorage with more interesting views from your yacht. The water is still plenty deep enough to anchor here, and there are even a few mooring balls.
Staniel Cay Yacht Club
The Staniel Cay Yacht Club is the main development on the island. It is located on the northwest corner of the island. I think the ‘club’ would better be described as a resort than a yacht club. It is open to the public. The club has a restaurant, bar, marina, fuel dock (with fresh water), day boat rentals and vacation cottages.
When heading ashore, there’s a protected beach for dinghies between the fuel dock and the marina. Go slow, and tip your prop up before entering at low tide: the inlet is shallow and rocky.
Restaurant
The Staniel Cay Yacht Club has a fine dining restaurant, and a bar with a more casual menu. The food was great and was priced toward the high end of what we find back home in Portland. You will not be disappointed with the lobster salad. Be sure to make reservations for dinner.
Fuel dock
Fuel prices are regulated in the Bahamas. So re-fueling in the out islands shouldn’t be any more eye watering than in Nassau. Use the opportunity to top off your tanks and not worry about fuel levels as you head back north.
Diesel was $5.75 per gallon. This compared to $5.49 for diesel at Palm Cay Marina in Nassau, and $5.60 for on-highway diesel at the pumps back home in Oregon that week (the Russians had just invaded Ukraine). The gap narrows if you pay with credit card as Staniel Cay did not charge a fee, but Palm Cay charged 5%.
Note that if you are refueling your dinghy, most outboards in the Caribbean are still two-stroke. If that’s the case you’ll need to add two stroke oil, which is available by the quart (way more than you’ll need) at the Harbormaster’s Office. A good friend, the late Chris Christensen, once told me that its okay to use a higher ratio of two stroke mix than intended; “It’ll just smoke like a sumbich,” he’d say, but if the mix is too low, you won’t have adequate lubrication. So better to err on the side of a little extra oil if you don’t have a good way to measure it.
Cold, clean, reverse osmosis water was $0.40 per gallon. Be sure to check the readings on the water meter before and after you water the boat; it doesn’t reset for each customer the way the fuel pump does. Learn from the Busy Boaters: we didn’t check the meter and ended up paying for 170 gallons to partially fill a 100-gallon tank. If you can solve for X on that math, hit me in the comments below.
Boat Rentals
The Staniel Cay Yacht Club has a fleet of 17-foot center console Boston Whalers available for rent. They are equipped with 85 horsepower two stroke Yamahas.
There were also couple of Starcrafts with a more traditional bow and 70 horsepower four strokes. Compared to the cathedral hulled Boston Whalers, these boats probably offer a more comfortable and drier ride. The four stroke motors will also be quieter, less stinky, and sip less fuel. In perfect conditions they will be slower, but you’ll be able to run faster in rough conditions without getting banged up. On a windy day with a wary crew, I’d consider the latter.
Provisioning at Staniel Cay
There are three stores for provisioning.
- Isles General Store has a dock on the creek near the airport, making it the most accessible if you’ll be getting anything heavy. Don’t let the photos on the website fool you. I don’t know what modern giant, full-service supermarket those photos came from, but they were not taken on Staniel Cay.
- Pink Pearl Grocery and Burke’s Convenience (aka the blue store) are located a few blocks inland from the now abandoned and unusable Happy People Marina. The best way to access them is to take your dinghy to the south end of the Yacht Club beach and walk the rest of the way.
Pricing will be obscene, and selection will be poor at all three stores. The severity of the issues will be dependent on how recently the mail boat delivered new inventory. If you have time to be picky, consider checking out all three stores. If you don’t, head to Isles in the dinghy.
The aptly named Liquormat is the island’s only combination liquor store and laundromat. In fact, it is the only liquor store on Staniel Cay, with or without washing machines. It’s up a small hill behind the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, so bring a cart or a friend if you’ve got a big list.
Other Restaurants at Staniel Cay
South of Staniel Cay Yacht Club, there are two other, more casual restaurants on the island. The Taste & Sea Cafe and Big Dog’s Restaurant & Bar
Things to Do at Staniel Cay
Thunderball Grotto
Thunderball Grotto is a beautiful water filled cavern with holes in the top that let sunlight through. Beneath, there is an abundance of coral and fish. The light coming through the holes creates a magical environment. So much so that this cave was used as a set for the finale in James Bond’s Thunderball (hence the name) as well as Splash. If you watch the scenes, they are actually filmed entirely underwater. So, while the cave itself is really cool, the magic lies in how the cave creates very unique lighting for the beauty that lies beneath the water.
How to Explore Thunderball Grotto
Thunderball Grotto is just north of Staniel Cay Yacht Club. So close, you could swim there from the docks. There are three little islets in a row; the grotto the northernmost of the chain. On the north side of the islet there is an entrance on the west side and the east side. There is more clearance at the west entrance. So this would be preferrable if you are unable to go at low tide.
My recommendation to see the grotto is as follows.
- Head to the west entrance in your dinghy a bit before low tide.
- Have someone stay with the dinghy while the rest of the crew swims into the grotto. This is for two reasons
- Your rental dinghy will probably have a grappling anchor that is useless in the sand at the grotto
- It is easier to let the current push you through the grotto and get picked up on the other side. The person staying with the dinghy can motor over to the west exit and wait for the crew to pop out.
- Wait for slack tide, which will be around the time of low tide. Depending on how close you are to low tide, there may be a lot of current making it difficult to swim or take good pictures. If that’s the case, wait. There are ledges on the cave walls that you can stand on to rest while you wait. Or you can float through back to the dinghy and make another trip. At slack tide, the current disappears completely, allowing you to explore all the little nooks and crannies in the cave without a fight.
Pirate Trap Beach
If you take your dinghy southeast from Thunderball along Staniel Cay, you’ll eventually run into a shallow dead end, called Pirate Trap Beach. I guess its called ‘Pirate Trap’ because it looks like the path will laad you out to the Exuma Sound; instead it shallows and ends abruptly with a low wall of rocks. As long as you aren’t trying to flee the British Royal Navy, you’ll be glad you took this path. After the channel gets too shallow for your dinghy, get out and keep walking. 50 yards or so further and you’ll find a lagoon that’s no more than 5 feet deep at low tide. Its filled with white sand, coral, colorful fish and the clearest water.
There’s also plenty of sandy beach where we found tons of hermit crabs working the area. A great place to relax and get some sun while the rest of the crew snorkels…if you are into that sort of thing.
What surprised us about Pirate Trap Beach was that we had it all to ourselves. Yes, we spent several hours exploring here, just a few hundred yards from Thunderball Grotto and the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, but never had to share.
Snorkel a Plane Wreck
If you don’t have the plane wreck at Norman’s Cay on your itinerary, you’ve got another chance to snorkel a shallow plane wreck here at Staniel Cay. This plane is a bit smaller and less famous. However, unlike the Norman’s plane, this one actually crashed with a full payload of marijuana. The wreck is about half-way down the east side of the island. It is clearly marked on charts. Head over with your dinghy at low tide. This will give you minimal current to fight and get you closer to the plane in shallower water.
Swim with Nurse Sharks
There is an area in the marina on Staniel Cay to swim with the nurse sharks if you aren’t going to make it to Compass Cay. We also saw a number of nurse sharks swimming around our boat while at anchor.
Final Word on the Exuma Cays
Staniel Cay was as far south as we sailed during our week in the Exumas. This allowed us to see the most famous sites in the island chain while only covering about half the length of it. It also leaves more for us to explore next time we come!
This was in many ways the Busy Boater crew’s favorite bareboat charter destination to date. There was so much to see and do on our boat with relatively easy navigation and anchoring. The ability to find solitude with the comfort of knowing that other boaters weren’t far away was fantastic. The lack of infrastructure and services made this a more challenging trip to plan than anything we’d done before. However, it also made us appreciate the conveniences of home when we returned.
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out all of our resources for bareboat chartering in The Bahamas’ Exuma Cays: