Staniel Cay/Big Majors Spot

Saturday, March 10


We pulled anchor and departed Black Point at 8:07am heading for Big Major Spot which is right next door to Staniel Cay.  After a leisurely two hour trip (8.6 nautical miles) we arrived at the anchorage on the northwest side of the beach at Big Majors Spot.   Staniel Cay is a short dinghy ride from Big Majors and it is a hopping place.  The 'Yacht Club' is in reality a bar/restaurant with a marina attached.  When we pulled in to the dock this is what we saw...

I started to climb up the dock (low tide) and Kerm said excitedly...What are you doing??  I calmly replied that we had to get out of the boat.  He had a pale look on his face and he said...well be careful!

This was the closest we had ever been to sharks and rays.

Kerm beat a hasty retreat to the land. We went for a walk around the village and checked out the little Ma&Pa grocery stores.  Bought some fruit and veggies.  Staniel Cay has a pretty international flavor to it but it is not fancy.  Cute little cottages for rest, painted bright colors, but no big hotels or anything like that. 
When we returned to our dinghy we saw this boat full of lobsters...no one was around to sell any to us so we pushed off.

Yummy

Thunderball Grotto is right across from Staniel Cay so we dinghyed over there to visit the location of the famous James Bond film.  It is an underwater cave that has a hole at the top letting light into the grotto.  It is beautiful, with fish and coral illuminated from above.  Linda coached us and we made it in.  Tide was low but the current was running fast so it was a little disconcerting.  The beauty was worth it though.  Now I need to watch the movie again to see the Grotto on film.  I think Linda took some underwater pictures but they are not developed yet.  

We returned to Southern Belle and watched the tourists come in to feed the swimming pigs.  This is a favorite tourist attraction and I only found one picutre on my camera...don't know what I was thinking. Take it from me..the pigs swim and they are big.  Also, there were about 7-8 little ones walking around on the beach.
 

We met a couple, Ed and Marge, who have a 42ft Marine Trader similar to ours.  We had them over for cocktails and company.  They have been all over the Caribbean and seem very adventurous to us. They are older than us but very active...in fact they went out 'hunting'  the next day and brought us back a big old lobster, which are lovingly referred to a 'bugs' by the cruising crowd.

We enjoyed our stay in Big Majors and used Sunday to rest and relax.  We were lucky enough to see the Green Flash again as we watched the sunset from our upper deck.  Our next destination is the Exuma Land and Sea Park.

Christie