The Abacos
Mar 9th, 2006, 07:19 AM
#1
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The Abacos
We are planning a trip to Marsh Harbour and Green Turtle Cay. Any hints on attractions not to be missed, beaches to visit, and restaurants to try will be greatly appreciated. Does anyone have an opinion regarding staying at the Bluff House Beach Hotel vs. the Green Turtle Club?
Mar 9th, 2006, 09:11 AM
#2
Do not miss the beach at Treasure Cay, probably the prettiest in all the Abacos.
Try to day trip to Great Guana Cay, have lunch at Nippers. Beautiful beach, and Nippers is very cool! On Sundays the have a pig roast there. You will probably see dolphins on your way.
Also check out Elbow Cay for the day. Gorgeous town-Hopetown. Nice beaches, nice lighthouse. Easy to walk around hopetown. Beautiful clapboard houses with picket fences in pastel colors with gorgeous flowers draped all over-definately photogenic.
Try to day trip to Great Guana Cay, have lunch at Nippers. Beautiful beach, and Nippers is very cool! On Sundays the have a pig roast there. You will probably see dolphins on your way.
Also check out Elbow Cay for the day. Gorgeous town-Hopetown. Nice beaches, nice lighthouse. Easy to walk around hopetown. Beautiful clapboard houses with picket fences in pastel colors with gorgeous flowers draped all over-definately photogenic.
Mar 10th, 2006, 09:41 AM
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We stayed at Green Turtle Cay for Thanksgiving several years ago. While I don't think we picked the best time to be there --- soooo quiet --- it was not one of our favorites. After a few days, we wanted a change of scene and had a very hard time getting transportation to any other part of the island.
We rented a boat for a day but didn't find that allowed us to do mutch except during daylight hours.
Green Turtle and Bluff House are adjacent and those are the only places you can easily visit.
It was expensive and limited. As I said, I wouldn't go back.
On the other hand, we spent 4 days on Harbor Island and thought that delightful with a nice mix of quiet beaches and restaurant choices.
We rented a boat for a day but didn't find that allowed us to do mutch except during daylight hours.
Green Turtle and Bluff House are adjacent and those are the only places you can easily visit.
It was expensive and limited. As I said, I wouldn't go back.
On the other hand, we spent 4 days on Harbor Island and thought that delightful with a nice mix of quiet beaches and restaurant choices.
Mar 10th, 2006, 12:27 PM
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I think dove points out something very important about the Abaco cays -- while they are small, they are not so small that you can see everything you need/want to see without some means of transport. Taxis are not really part of the scene on GTC, though they are more available in Marsh Harbour.
When we've stayed on the cays, we have always rented a golf cart and a boat for some combination of days. A rental boat is great for daytime travel (you shouldn't be using them after dark, no matter how experienced you are), especially for island hopping but also around the island; a golf cart is good for day or evening travel on the cay.
Having transportation is especially nice on GTC because Green Turtle Club doesn't have a beach, and the Bluff House beach is not especially noteworthy. There is a stunning ocean beach a few minutes' walk from Green Turtle Club, but some really spectacular strands are a bit further away. Same with restaurants -- decent ones at Bluff House and Green Turtle Club, but other good ones near Black Sound and New Plymouth.
To get to other cays, you either have to ferry around (they run frequently and are pretty cheap), or go by rental boat. Make sure you get the Dodge cruising guide (www.wspress.com); it isn't called the "Dodge bible" for nothing. It's not only an invaluable resource for boaters, but a good overall guide for all visitors.
Finally, I will suggest you visit my personal webpage -- I was in the Abacos in November and my report can be found there. You can find it at http://www.homestead.com/islandtime/Abaco05_01.html
When we've stayed on the cays, we have always rented a golf cart and a boat for some combination of days. A rental boat is great for daytime travel (you shouldn't be using them after dark, no matter how experienced you are), especially for island hopping but also around the island; a golf cart is good for day or evening travel on the cay.
Having transportation is especially nice on GTC because Green Turtle Club doesn't have a beach, and the Bluff House beach is not especially noteworthy. There is a stunning ocean beach a few minutes' walk from Green Turtle Club, but some really spectacular strands are a bit further away. Same with restaurants -- decent ones at Bluff House and Green Turtle Club, but other good ones near Black Sound and New Plymouth.
To get to other cays, you either have to ferry around (they run frequently and are pretty cheap), or go by rental boat. Make sure you get the Dodge cruising guide (www.wspress.com); it isn't called the "Dodge bible" for nothing. It's not only an invaluable resource for boaters, but a good overall guide for all visitors.
Finally, I will suggest you visit my personal webpage -- I was in the Abacos in November and my report can be found there. You can find it at http://www.homestead.com/islandtime/Abaco05_01.html
Mar 10th, 2006, 01:06 PM
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http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...fong&fid=5
I was in Man O'War Cay about two weeks ago. Fabulous weather! Before I went I posted the above query thinking I would be zipping over to Marsh Harbor regularly. As it happens we did not go back to MHH until our departure time so I cannot personally attest to any of the restaurant recommendations.
I was in Man O'War Cay about two weeks ago. Fabulous weather! Before I went I posted the above query thinking I would be zipping over to Marsh Harbor regularly. As it happens we did not go back to MHH until our departure time so I cannot personally attest to any of the restaurant recommendations.
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Mar 10th, 2006, 04:13 PM
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We stayed at Bluff House 2 years ago--we won a really low bid on Luxury Link. We were upgraded to a very large, beautiful room with a balcony over the water, cathedral ceiling, sitting area.
You do need to rent a golf cart to get around the island. We started every morning with a full, made to order breakfast on the terrace. We would head out to the beautiful beaches--you need a golf cart to get to them. We usually had lunch at the Green Turtle Club--really nice screened in dining area. We really enjoyed dinners at the marina at Bluff House. The dinner we had at the more upscale dining room was very good. We did lots of dancing to the Gully Roosters--they played one night at Bluff House and one night at the Marina.
We took 2 trips with Brendal on his dive/snorkel boat. One day we did a snorkel dive trip and one day we headed over to Nippers. I am sure Brendal remembers us--my husband was bitten by a barracuda while we were waiting for divers who were diving with the sharks. We just jumped in the water to cool off. It was a pretty scary experience and unfortunately for us, it was our first full day on the island. He was really lucky though--he needed about 40 stitches. There is no doctor on GTC but the nurse practicioner was wonderful.
We took the ferry over to Treasure Cay one day--it was one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen--and we had the whole beach practically to ourselves. We had lunch at the little beach bar at the Banyan Beach Club.
We would probably not return to Green Turtle but our trip was certainly marred by my husband's accident. The island was really quiet--we were alone everyday on the beaches.
I liked the set up of Green Turtle Club better than Bluff House. Our room at Bluff House was great but some of the others looked less desirable. The staff was great. Continental Airlines paid for us to stay at the hotel an extra night--they cancelled our flight back to Miami.
You do need to rent a golf cart to get around the island. We started every morning with a full, made to order breakfast on the terrace. We would head out to the beautiful beaches--you need a golf cart to get to them. We usually had lunch at the Green Turtle Club--really nice screened in dining area. We really enjoyed dinners at the marina at Bluff House. The dinner we had at the more upscale dining room was very good. We did lots of dancing to the Gully Roosters--they played one night at Bluff House and one night at the Marina.
We took 2 trips with Brendal on his dive/snorkel boat. One day we did a snorkel dive trip and one day we headed over to Nippers. I am sure Brendal remembers us--my husband was bitten by a barracuda while we were waiting for divers who were diving with the sharks. We just jumped in the water to cool off. It was a pretty scary experience and unfortunately for us, it was our first full day on the island. He was really lucky though--he needed about 40 stitches. There is no doctor on GTC but the nurse practicioner was wonderful.
We took the ferry over to Treasure Cay one day--it was one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen--and we had the whole beach practically to ourselves. We had lunch at the little beach bar at the Banyan Beach Club.
We would probably not return to Green Turtle but our trip was certainly marred by my husband's accident. The island was really quiet--we were alone everyday on the beaches.
I liked the set up of Green Turtle Club better than Bluff House. Our room at Bluff House was great but some of the others looked less desirable. The staff was great. Continental Airlines paid for us to stay at the hotel an extra night--they cancelled our flight back to Miami.
Mar 11th, 2006, 03:41 AM
#9
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I would like to thank you all for your insights especially regarding GTC. I'll definitely look up the Dodge cruising guide which I've never heard of before. Until reading your responses, I naturally assumed both resorts were located on absolutely gorgeous beaches. We'll rent a golf cart and a boat and be on the lookout for barracuda while we're snorkeling. I'm sorry that you experienced such an unfortunate incident.
Mar 11th, 2006, 04:15 AM
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This is a great Abacos resource http://www.coconuttelegraph.net.
Apr 18th, 2006, 07:09 PM
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We are also planning a trip to Lubbers Quarters and have found invaluable info from Dr. Ralph and his forum. Google his name with abaco and it comes up---he will even personally email you if you have a question that you cannot find the answer to on his forum--Have fun and save some rum for us
Apr 25th, 2006, 04:19 PM
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rent a boat on your own and explore, explore, go to Tilloo Cay and see starfish the size of hubcaps, 15 of us went July 2004, rented two boats for three consecutive days and explored so many cays, try to go bonefishing, you will find the people on Elbow Cay some of the most friendly people we have ever had the pleasure to meet. and if anyone knows Christina Cartwright on Elbow Cay, please tell her the Blakemores from Tennessee send her warmest regards.
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