We visited the Abacos as the last island chain before crossing back to the U. S. Most of our cruising in the Bahamas we spent in the Berries, Eleuthera and the Exumas. The Abacos were a bonus for us on our way back north. We staged near Spanish Wells, at the Egg Island anchorage to cross north to the Abacos. The anchorage was pretty rolly but it was super easy to get up and sail right off anchor before sunrise.
We ended up having just short of two weeks in the Abacos before we had our window to cross the gulf stream. We certainly didn’t see everything there is in this island chain but we did enjoy the handful of stops we made.
Lynyard Cay
We landed in the Abacos and anchored at Lynard Cay. We draw 6 ft so we can’t get into Little Harbor and the bay near there, The Bright of Old Robinson was very rolly so we continued in a couple miles, out of the swell. There is a small beach on shore and we found some what of a hiking trail to get out and stretch our legs. The anchorage was quiet and calm.
Snake Cay
We stopped here for one night and enjoyed taking the dinghy through Snake Cut into the mangroves. We saw several eagle rays and turtles in the shallow waters. This was also the first time in the Bahamas that we had the anchorage all to ourselves!
Hope Town
Our next stop was Hope Town. We found the water in the anchorages nearest to town to be pretty shallow. We anchored under the lighthouse for our first night in town. With the very low tide that happened we ended up touching bottom with our 6 ft draft so the following day we moved to anchor behind the Parrot Cays which was further out. The dinghy ride from there is just over a mile to town so it wasn’t too bad.
The town itself is super cute and we really enjoyed wandering around. We grabbed some ice cream and then headed to the grocery store. The store was not well stocked at all either time we visited. We were able to grab a couple veggies but not as many as we had hoped for.
Our final day in town we visited the lighthouse which is free to walk up. The views from the top are well worth the climb. Afterwards we treated ourselves to lunch at Cap’N Jacks which is right on the water. It was probably the best restaurant meal we had in the Bahamas and the prices were very reasonable. We finished off the night with a beach bonfire with some friends as a perfect end to our time in town.
Great Guana Cay
We headed north and stopped at Great Guana Cay. Anchored in Fisher’s Bay we had easy access to town. There are two beach restaurants here, Nippers and Grabbers. We didn’t eat at either but they both looked fun and were full of guests. There is a grocery store in town and a liquor store. The grocery store here was better stocked than in Hope Town. The beer at the liquor store was priced better than most other places we had seen. We really enjoyed the beach on the ocean side of the island. It is a huge beach with super soft sand and practically nobody else around.
Nunjack Cay
We skipped over Green Turtle and headed straight to Nunjack. We stayed here several nights. It had great north, northeast protection, okay south and southwest protection. There is plenty to see in this anchorage. We really enjoyed taking the dinghy through the mangroves to see the turtles. The nearby art trail is also nice to see. There is some creative art, mostly made with items washed up on the beaches.
To the north of the anchorage there is a nice trail system. There are a couple cottages on the island but they don’t mind if you walk the trails. The local tour boats also frequent this bay to feed the sharks and rays so you can see plenty of them as you walk the beach. If its calm on the outside, there is great spearfishing on the ocean side here.
From there, after the storms passed we had a window to cross back to the U.S. We headed for Allans/Pensacola Cay where we stayed the night before heading across the gulf stream. We didn’t go to shore at this anchorage but it looked really nice.
That concluded our 3 month cruising visa in the Bahamas. We certainly didn’t see everything but we felt 3 months gave us enough time to see quite a bit! Traveling through the Berry Islands, Eleuthera, the Exumas and ending with the Abacos was a great way to go! Hopefully we can cruise through again some day and hit some spots we missed this time around!
For more information on our time in the other island groups check out our posts below-