Staniel Cay
“Thunderball” is a James Bond movie, and in it he dives into a grotto here in the Bahamas, which is named Thunderball Cave. The creatures and I snorkeled through it before, and we knew the Nell’s and Danny would love it, so our next adventure took us there. Just off Staniel Cay there are several large rock stacks in the water that look like they are floating, and Thunderball Cave is inside one of them.
We anchored the dinghy and swam between rocks through the stiff current and into the calm of the grotto. Beautiful reef fish and corals are abundant and gorgeous white sand covers the floor.
The creatures have provided me with some of their underwater shots since I’m about ready to donate my prehistoric GoPro to Poseidon. (It’s time for me to buy a better underwater camera)
The creatures climbed up the outside of the rock mound and jumped in through holes in the ceiling. Emma unfortunately rubbed up against some coral that left her with itchy welts over the entire port side of her body, but we all had a blast anyway.
We also took the dinghy over to the dock at Staniel Cay and walked around town in search of a store with some fruit snd veggies. It’s a quaint little town with brightly painted homes and big friendly Bahamian smiles to greet you. Glade and Aidan enjoyed breaking out the Penny boards, and Jude is becoming quite the ninja at it too.
We bought a $12 watermelon, a $7 honeydew and bread for $4.95 a loaf. Crazy prices! The only way locals can afford to live here is to fish, and they are amazing at it. We watched a couple of guys unload a ton of lobster and grouper from their boat to sell to the Yacht Club Restaurant.
At the marina area where the local gut their catch, nurse sharks, turtles and rays come in to feast on the free meal.
We took advantage of the opportunity and swam with them for quite a while. Sierra got a picture of me taking a photo of this beauty.
Mycah got an amazing shot of several sea life in one frame…
What a beautiful place!
With beautiful people.
We spent some time scrubbing our girl down. Everyone got involved and we made some progress.
Chad also gave himself a good scrubbing on the stern. I can’t imagine a more beautiful bathroom!
Today we leave Staniel Cay and are heading toward Georgetown. Even though the new auto pilot motor arrived, we still can’t get it working, so Danny is ordering more parts for it which will be flown in to Georgetown. It’ll also give us a chance to fill propane bottles and provision a little more.
Adventures of a Tribe 