More of the Amazing Exumas

Docks at Staniel Cay

Nurse sharks in harbor

We left the Exuma Park boundaries and headed south to Staniel Cay where we anchored behind Big Majors Spot for a night.  We left Raydiance at anchor and took off in the dinghy for Thunderball Grotto- THE grotto James Bond escapes from in the Thunderball movie.  Unfortunately we did not have the camera in its underwater casing so we have no interior pictures.  As you can see by James' (Tom's) head, even at high tide you can snorkel inside without having to go under the water's surface.  If you want to exit the large opening on the opposite side, you do need to duck under for a moment.  Once inside it opens up to a large cavern which has several overhead openings.  We were there on a brilliant sunny day and the beams of sunlight coming through lit the whole area.  The water was crystal clear and filled with a large variety of species of fish including some big grouper and a small ray.  Tom of course had to pose on the ledge James sat on in the movie.  I was so wishing we had the camera!  It is a magical place and we WILL have the camera ready on our next visit . We have already decided the Exumas are a must return visit!  Have I convinced any of you to join us yet?

The name is Bond, James Bond!

Thunderball Grotto is under this cay.

There are pigs on the beach at Big Majors.  If you dinghy close in they will swim out to you in search of hand-outs.  They are reported to be very fond of carrots.  We saw them from our boat, but they did not come out when we had the dinghy close.
  We needed fuel so we went to the docks at Staniel and then stayed there for three nights.  There is a small settlement at Staniel where we bought wonderful homemade bread including the coconut bread I had been reading about in the guides.  Makes great French toast!  We rented a golf cart to tour the island which has several private homes and a few small resorts.  Sunday was superbowl, so we watched it in the marina bar/restaurant with a large crowd of boaters and island residents. With my beloved Packers not involved, I really didn't care who won.  But we enjoyed the environment and the game was a good one.  The next day we again anchored behind Big Majors Spot and the Staniel Cay Divers came to the boat and picked us up to go out in the Sound for a two tank dive.  We were hoping to do more diving from Raydiance but were hesitant to leave it at anchor on the Sound near a drop off area.  So we opted to go with a dive operator.  We did two deep dives (about 100 feet each) so they were short but interesting.    Below are some of the creatures we encountered.

Corals and sponges

Where's the butter?

This green moray was swimming freely when we first encountered him.  Usually morays swim away from divers, but this one was curious about us.  He kept swimming toward me even when I turned away from him.  Finally he gave up and swam into an opening in the coral.  The lobster (above) had been hiding in that hole, but he shot out quickly when the moray entered and proceeded to scurry down the coral wall.  Guess being in the open with us was preferable to the new neighbor!

A three foot long  hawksbill turtle out for a swim.