We decided it was time to hit the Bahamas again. Since our kids don't have passports (pity!) we have to leave them behind when we leave the country. We went to our old standby "Our Lucaya" on Grand Bahama Island. We drove down to Ft Lauderdale to fly out where it is only a 30 minute trip by plane.
This is the fourth year in a row that we have gone to Grand Bahama. It's not our favorite, but it's the
easiest to get to and the cheapest. We stay in the Westin there. Every trip before they have always put us in Breakers Cay which is a high rise over by the Sheraton. The views from Breakers Cay are awesome, but you can't hear the ocean because of all of the equipment in the main building.
This time we were put in Lighthouse Pointe. Lighthouse Pointe is on the far end of the property by the canal and harbor and is about a five minute walk from the area where Breakers Cay is. We LOVED it! While the view is not as unobstructed (you have palm trees breaking up your view) you can hear the ocean from your balcony and it is so uncrowded. Lighthouse Pointe has it's own pool and beach area that it shares with the Lanai Suites. Since there are far fewer hotel rooms on this end it feels like a different vacation.
We went on a tour the second day we were there...well...not really. We signed up for a tour to get
transportation to Gold Rock Beach. Gold Rock is where they filmed Pirates of the Caribbean and is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. After discovering this beach last year, that was our only "must" on this trip. So we signed up for the cave tour because that was our cheapest way to get to Gold Rock since it's out in the middle of nowhere on the island.
It was high tide at Gold Rock, and we had been warned, but we had no idea how high high tide was. Last time we were there it was medium tide (not sure if that's an official classification or not) and the beach was forever wide. We figured with hide tide we would still have a lot of beach...not so. We still really enjoyed it, but high tide doesn't compare. The colors are not as profound at high tide...it's definitely worth trying to time with low tide, or at least the tide going out. So had we gone during the afternoon instead of morning, it would have been much better.
When we got to Gold Rock I took special care to set up my video camera just right to record the beach while we were there. I placed it on a bench that was simply a few boards over some sand and rock. I got everything perfectly level and was recording the beach as we enjoyed our swim. For about 45 minutes it was just Jay and I on this beautiful deserted beach until the others finished their cave tour. Well all was fine and dandy until a rather large and loud lady decided to SIT on my flimsy "tripod" that was the weak boards. So much for leveling out my video camera since my tripod went down by 5 inches on one side. And her kids kept standing in front of the video camera as well. Thank goodness that I have video editing software.
After Gold Rock we were taken to a restaurant on Treasure Beach called Banana Bay. We were a little
irritated because lunch was not supposed to be involved (we even asked) and Jay only had $20 on him. Well my irritation ended the SECOND I saw the beach behind the restaurant. Jay stayed in his funk for a little while but I could not! It was absolutely beautiful! I definitely want to make it back there the next trip. The food was pretty good, or what we managed to get with $20.
This was the scene at Banana Bay...
Take a peek at the photo album from our trip.
