lt20

Hey all - Real close to booking our week at Staniel! One more question - we are a family of 4 - kids 9 and almost 12. Most of the trip reports I've seen are 4 night trips. We are planning a 6 night trip. I am assuming we will not run out of things to do, but want to verify! Also, husband is very interested in bonefishing, which actually sounds pretty fun to all of us. Anyone done it from the Staniel area?? THANKS!!

eaf2007

Cliff is one of the best bonefishing guides on the island. He took my family on a more general trip, but told us lots of fishing stories! You can contact him through the yacht club. We were there for 4 days and wished we had more time. Especially if you are comfortable with the Whalers, you will have plenty to see/do/explore. Have a great time!

lt20

This was the best trip EVER! Can't say enough good things about Staniel Cay!!

joan

Oooh, lt20, tell us more!

Where did you stay? Did you bonefish? Snorkel? Run out of things to do (somehow I don't think so!)?

lt20

We stayed at the Staniel Cay yacht club in Ocean Blue. Yes, bonefishing with Cliff - great fun for all (mom, dad, daughter 12, son 9). Cliff was AWESOME - we also did another day with him where he took us all over including the Exuma Land and Sea Park (spectacular), Compass Cay (lots of fun for all hanging out with the nurse sharks) and, yes, GREAT snorkeling. I was worried as I had read that we wouldn't find that - we did. Snorkeling in Thunderball Grotto was too cool - and we rented the movie before we left which made it even more fun. Absolutely did not run out of things to do. (We were there 5 nights - would've loved 7+). The Whaler they give you at SCYC is great - we visited the swimming pigs twice, spent a day on Bitter Guana Cay with the giant iguanas, delicious picnic lunch on a different deserted island each day. The people at SCYC couldn't have been more friendly or helpful. We rode our bikes around the island each day (Pirate Trap Beach was our favorite) and started to feel like family. We visited Pearl at the Pink Pearl each day. We hiked across the top of the island. We hung out on the docks each afternoon and watched the fishermen bring their daily catch in - some of which we ate that night. We went in August which is low season and so we always had this feeling of being the only people left on earth. We jumped in our whaler, picked an island and never saw another person. But back at SCYC for meals was great, everyone was so friendly, the bar was fun and the food was FANTASTIC!! (Gee, can you tell we enjoyed it??) If anyone has any other questions, let me know - I can't recommend this vacation enough!!!!!

joan

"We jumped in our whaler, picked an island and never saw another person."

Aaaahhh, that is pure paradise in my book!

Darn it - now you've added another island to my Must Visit List!
Thanks anyway

caribtraveler

lt20: My husband and I have booked a stay in June. Curious to know how you got there and how it all went. As this point we think we'll fly Continental to Nassau and take Flamingo Air to Staniel Cay. I'm glad to hear you loved your trip. We think we will too. Thanks.

lt20

We flew Watermakers from Ft Lauderdale. It was a great experience - the pilot let my 9yo son sit in the co-pilots seat on the way there and he thought that was the coolest. The view of the islands from the air is just spectacular. If you have ANY questions at all feel free to contact me directly (lstimmonsATyahooDOTcom)- definitely have lots of info to share if you're interested, love talking about it - tons of pictures etc.... You will LOVE it, I've no doubt....

caribtraveler

I just booked with Watermakers. I'll email you. Thanks!

albee622

more often than not, i have found myself looking at staniel cay and the whole "aura" around vacationing in such a place has gotten my attention!! ive visited the bahamas on a few occasions, and im curious about what it would be like to experience such a closeness with sea life, pigs!!!, boating and adventure.....i did get a taste of remoteness with my childhood friend last year, staying at club med in san salvador, and then another time on the powerboat to the exuma's from paradise island. both times i was struck by the beauty and sense of peace you feel while there.

my hubby and i are trying to "steal" away in august and i have looked into staniel cay, booking it because i have a feeling they do book up as time goes on....i gotta admit im a little nervous, we are kind of used to a tad bit more "pampering" but i think we are ready to trade that off for the ability to carouse around in a boat, finding new beaches, and pretty much just hanging in bathing suits and flip flops all day, without any primping and fussing....looks amazing and caribtraveller i was happy to see that you are also venturing off the beaten track....i will look forward to your report!!

if all that i have read is true-blue, and the beauty and remoteness is a blessing....than it will surely be heavenly!!

thanks It20 for such a great report. im sure i'll have questions..we too are staying in ocean blue.

we looked into turks and caicos and jamaica for awhile, my girlfriend cannot get away so i started hounding my hubby for a late summer trip...and now i feel like we are ready for a change of pace....not sure how my hubby will take to a puddle jumper, or whatever it is they call this miniature plane...but what the hoo!!

we decided to travel to fort lauderdale and transfer over to watermakers....

happy travels!!
alison

lt20

Hey Alison - Feel free to contact me directly with any questions - I am soooo jealous. We absolutely loved August because it was completely quiet (I think it can get pretty crazy during the high season). I'd love to share any info you need.

kellybeaches

Hi It20,
I tried emailing you but it must have gotten bumped to your junk mail. We’re looking into doing a week at Cape Santa Maria on Long Island end of February and a week in the Exumas first week of March 09. How far of a boat ride is it from Staniel Cay to Great Exuma? We’re looking to rent a house either on Great Exuma or Staniel Cay. I looked into SCYC, but we need larger accomodations as we’ll be traveling with 4 adults, a toddler, and baby. We also would really like to be directly on a beach-it’s just easier having your own beach out front with little ones, although it does look like SCYC has a very small beach by the docks. The activities you did on your trip sound like exactly what we want to do. How far are all those cays from staniel cay? Did you use Cliff for all your boating trips (does he have a website or contact info)? Is it a quick ride to the pigs w/the whaler? Just trying to figure out if it would better for us to stay on Staniel Cay or Great Exuma. Thanks!

joan

kellybeaches, probably none of my biz, but have you considered the weather in February/early March in the Bahamas? It would be too chilly for me (in the 60's most likely). I would consider heading further south to the Caribbean at that time of year...

kellybeaches

Hi Joan,
I've heard/read that it's still warm in Long Island and the Exumas that time of year as they are so far south -just above Turks & Caicos. I believe it can get down to the 70's at night, but according to the sites and books I've read it's still in the 80's during the day. Hopefully that's correct info

Ps-I just got It20's reply to my email, and it looks like Staniel Cay is where we want to be. Thanks for your help!!

albee622

thanks lt20, i just sent you an email....we too are using watermakers from florida, should be quite the adventure...sounds amazing from your description.

talk to you soon!
alison

ishkribbl

KellyBeaches,
We just returned from a week in Eleuthera and I agree that I think you will be cold in February or March on Exuma or Long Island!!!! The water was still COLD to us (April 11-20) and we had some almost gale force winds and high seas. Just to let you know. We are planning to return to Exuma next summer after years since the last visit but based on April in Eleuthera I am going to plan for May or June!
Good luck!

kellybeaches

Hi ishkribbl,
I just wanted to give a quick update. After panicking a bit about the weather, I did some heavy research into it and from what I’ve found out, it is still warm year round in the southern Bahamas islands. The person I talked to who was there in early March said it was upper 70s/low 80s everyday. The other person I talked to who was there early April said it was warm and they never needed a sweater at night. Both said the water was warm.

I also found this info on bahamas.com.

Still, there is a climactic difference between the southern and northern Bahamas, as the islands are spread over 750 miles. In the north it is possible to feel the influence of the same sort of winter cold fronts that might affect South Florida. Occasionally, the air temperatures will dip into the 60's at night, but a more reasonable expectation is daytime highs of 78 degrees dropping to 70 at night and for summer perhaps 10 degrees warmer overall, bringing air temperatures into the 80s both day and night. In the southern Bahamas the temperature year-round might be 5 degrees warmer on average.

Just sending along this info in case you did want to go to the Exumas during the winter months. It sounds like the weather will be warm there. I’ll post my trip report next year and let you know how we made out

EternalTourist

My fiance and I are looking at the Exumas for a possible honeymoon location (early October). Would you recommend STYC? Are there tons of kids?
In January, I spent the day at Fowl Cay and absolutely fell in love with that area. It's SO different from the Caribbean I've known (we live in Miami, so it's an easy trip for us).

We're both pretty active, "out-doorsy" people, and I'm afraid we'll run out of things to do.

Thoughts?

lt20

I think it would be an awesome place for a honeymoon - there were a few kids, not many, when we were there, but it may depend on time of year. Also, there were no "little" kids there when we were there, it's not really set up for them, so the kids that were there were pretty low-key. I would think early October would be fairly low season and not a big family travel time. Besides, I think you'll end up spending so much time on your boat alone, it won't matter anyway. I can't imagine running out of things to do, especially if you can spring for some charters. We were there 5 nights and wished we had longer. Depending on how much time you have, perhaps you could do 2 islands in the Exumas?

EternalTourist

Did you rent a boat while you were there, or was it included in your rate? If you rented it, about how much was it?

The website is very confusing to me. I'd like to do the AI plan, but I don't see the rates listed.

Thanks for your help!