Green Turtle Cay
With my dad coming for a visit we were searching for a place to meet up with him. We had originally planned on going to Treasure Cay, but you have to go around the Whale. The Whale is a very short ocean passage that most boats have to take in order to avoid shallow waters, and it can get quite rough depending on the direction of the swell. In order to go through you have to wait for the right conditions, and we didn’t want to risk him being there several days without us. Green Turtle is the most inhabited area on the north side of the Whale, and it turned out to be a great choice!
Audrey asked to get her hair braided for her birthday
We packed a lot into Dad’s visit including a full birthday week, dinner parties, and a snorkeling adventure with one of the local diving companies. They took us to one of the reefs further offshore. The first thing I saw when I jumped in the water was a giant (6-8 feet) reef shark swimming towards me. I immediately jumped out making a huge fool of myself as I tripped over my flippers. I wouldn’t let Lorelei get in and we sat on the side for a few minutes while everyone assured me that the shark would not bother me as long as I was not spear fishing. I eventually got back in and the guides were right, the sharks were not interested in us at all. We did see 3 different sharks, along with some barracuda, a gigantic grouper, beautiful tropical fish and amazing coral formations! For lunch we went to a beach off of Manjack Cay and fed some stingrays and snorkeled with them. The guides grilled lobster tails and made an amazing grouper stew, with salad and coconut bread. It was a feast. Overall it was a really fun experience.
Later in the week Dad rented a power boat to go explore more, and we went back to that island and even without the food the stingrays were abundant and very playful! We also saw some more nurse sharks on that visit and a sea turtle. We took the boat over to No Name Cay and fed the pigs that live there too. The island is otherwise uninhabited, but people come regularly and bring the pigs food and fresh water. A man that lives on Green Turtle also visits them weekly with tons of food and water. The pigs were so fun, but once Lorelei got a little too close to one of the mammas and she snout butted her in the leg. Lorelei was fine, but the same thing happened to a friend who was visiting later in the week and the pig butting actually broke the skin and she had a pretty nasty wound.
My dad rented a golf cart for his stay in order to get around the island. We had so much fun in it! We explored every beach– even ones that required a little off-roading. It made me and Jacob a little nostalgic for our epic road tripping days and I think we are going to try to save up so that we can rent cars or carts occasionally to explore more interior locations too.
Audrey getting a little lesson on the back roads
beach bonfire
Another thing we really loved about Green Turtle were the people! Everyone was incredibly friendly. We met tons of cruisers and also some great locals. The girls had a blast playing with a bunch of local kids we met. The dock at the Leeward Yacht Club (where my Dad had rented a house and we were keeping our boat) was a great group and really made the time there special. It was sure hard to leave them!
learning to crack coconuts from our neighbor Grant
One of our neighbors, Miss Cindy, offered to give the me and girls beading lessons while we were there. She is a professional, and owned a bead shop before selling it all to set sail with her hubby Grant. Now she makes amazing jewelry of every type. Her Bead Girl Nauti Line designs were particularly popular on the docks! She was so sweet to give us some great classes. We learned some different chainmaille techniques and Audrey and Lorelei made sea glass necklaces and adorable wire and bead rings. The rings were so cute that when a friend saw Audrey’s she asked to buy one from her. So, Audrey is now an entrepreneur. She sold 2 rings for $10. She was pretty excited!!
