Well technically we were in Eleuthera yesterday, when we anchored in Royal Island Harbor and all day today we were “off of” Eleuthera but finally we have landed in Rock Harbor Cay Eleuthera where we can actually visit a town. My impression of Eleuthera so far is just that there’s not much to it. It’s tropical with many of the same features that the Abacos had. Low-lying islands with beautiful crystal clear water are visible everywhere you look. It isn’t quite as lush (it’s hotter here and yes the water temperature has gone up 10 degrees- it’s 75 now), but the hotels and businesses seem to be 20 years behind those we just left in the Abacos.
There are few marinas and they seem to me to be separate from the towns. The locals I’ve met seem more authentic, not the sugar coated version from the Exumas. Don’t misunderstand; I’m not voting for one or the other, just contrasting the two. In the Abacos there seems to be an understanding of what the tourists contribute to the economy and in Eleuthera, perhaps because there are fewer tourist, there isn’t much thought given to the tourist.
When we went ashore at Marsh Harbor I likened our trips to the grocery and marine store to the travels of the ants. All of the boats in the harbor, whether at a marina or anchored out seem to converge on the same dinghy dock and if you could have taken a photo from the air you would have clearly seen a distinct path of white people with wet butts (cruiser butt from the dinghy ride) and backpacks moving in a steady stream from the dock to the key stores and back again; most days the kids and I were among them. This doesn’t happen to the same degree in Eleuthera. First it doesn’t have the same type of accommodations for the cruiser Eleuthera just isn’t there yet. It doesn’t seem to have a handle on its natural resources yet as trash is everywhere. Eleuthera does have an abundance of coral heads, which we hadn’t seen in such quantity in the Abacos. It does have bountiful fish, which is a big plus, you couldn’t swim at Marsh Harbor so I didn’t want to eat the fish there either. Eleuthera also has a dinghy dock that is nearly at the airport so… for that it gets an A+. No big taxicab bill to get a guest from the airport.
We plan to stay one extra day in Eleuthera to see the “ocean hole” a phenomenon I am eager to observe to. Nearly in the town is a large lake like body of water, which is actually salt water. There are a number of them in Rock Sound but the largest is just a short walk from the dinghy dock. The ocean water is filling the ocean hole via an underground passage way and there are numerous fish in it. Monica, from Taua tells me there is one that we can snorkel in in the Exumas.
