Day Six – Lighthouse Girl…and Boy . . . and sharks, for real!

Thursday was to be the marquee day – Lighthouse Beach (often described as the most beautiful beach on an island full of beautiful beaches, and the beach in the background photo for this blog) by boat with Donald from Eleuthera Tours. Writing this back at Oceanaire, making a jerk chicken and rice dinner, exhausted, we have only one reaction – WOW.

We made the long drive to Davis Harbour to meet Donald to begin our journey. We were both a bit early, so off we went. Once again we were stunned by the colors of the water – emerald to turquoise and sapphire…and amazingly clear. Donald, who was charming and kind, gave us the inside scoop on all of the beaches we passed, and coming around the point to Bannerman Town, we made a breathtaking approach to the western side of Lighthouse beach, greeted by its trademark cliffs and cave.

This cave would be home base for Donald and his crew as they prepared our lunch of grilled conch, rice and peas, and cole slaw, washed down by quintessentially Bahamian rum punch.  Donald was wonderful from the start, insisting that we take our time, relax, we’re not on any schedule. “Come back whenever you’re hungry.” 

While they worked, they sent us off over to the other side of the peninsula to explore, swim, snorkel, and walk the endless pink sands on the eastern side.

We were told to take our time, and we did. The water was so calm and clear, and with coral reefs like fingers and clusters of stars within walking distance of shore, I had to get my snorkel gear on immediately.  I even convinced Krista to join me, figuring we’d see any sharks (AKA “wild” dolphins) from a long way off.  This was instantly the best snorkeling of the trip. I really wish I had a more reliable underwater camera, as, oddly, with the waterproof pouch, the camera takes crummy stills through the plastic, but pretty good videos. When we get home to a real internet connection, I’m going to post a bunch of videos.

There was a school of bonefish in the shallows, a group of medium-sized barracuda just floating innocently along, one HUGE barracuda (four plus feet long!) a big stingray, a spotted ray, and all sorts of beautiful fish.   There was also a group of other snorkelers, which helped to reassure Krista of the shark-free status of this gorgeous underwater garden. 

VIDEOS:  Snorkeling: Lighthouse Beach Snorkeling

              Barracuda!  Oooh, Barracuda!

Soon, we decided to take a break and go for a long walk on the beach. Just after we put our snorkel gear away and began our walk, we spot a large dark shape slowly cruise into the reef garden. This was no dolphin. It was unmistakably a large bull shark*, 5-6 feet long, coolly cruising through where we had just been snorkeling a minute before. We watched from shore (actually, I stupidly waded out to try to get a video, but it just moved a little tantalizingly further away from me.)  After the first shark passed, then another,  smaller bull shark cruised right on by.  I figured I’d never get Krista back in the water this trip. (* Thanks to Donald for the identification of our finned friends)

After our walk, though (and by the way, one of the pre-requisites of this trip for both of us was opportunities for REALLY long beach walks. We chose wisely.), Krista was up for going in again. The snorkeling was THAT good. Then, of course, shortly after we got back in, we realized that the other group was spear fishing, which explained the presence of the bull sharks, which implied that there’d be more, and agitated, and we took that as our cue for lunch.

And lunch turned out to be the best part of the day, anyhow. Donald had a table set up with an island print table cloth in the back of the cave, rice and conch grilling over an open pit fire in aluminum packets, and a LOT of rum punch waiting for us.  Lighthouse beach is impossibly impressive and beautiful -- the geography, the sand, the water --  but eating native food in a cave overlooking the most stunningly blue water either of us has ever seen, listening to Donald regale us with stories, and getting a little warm from the delicious rum punch, was perhaps the best moment of the trip for both of us.

 

 Krista kept exclaiming, “This is ridiculous!” as she looked out on the azure expanse. Words don’t do it justice. Pictures don’t do it justice. Perfection is like that sometimes. Finally, after jumping back in the water like a couple of teenage kids, we loaded the boat for our trip back to Davis Harbour.

  On the way, Donald put out some fishing lines, and I landed a nice barracuda, which jumped and fought like a champ.

When we got back, Donald showed Krista his technique for removing and prepping conch, gave Krista the shell, and then he left us with one final thought.  From a newlywed to us veterans, he said, “I hope that in 15 years I’ll be celebrating my anniversary with Kristel.”  What a touching way to punctuate and add weight to an amazing day.

Tomorrow is unbelievably already our last 24 hours on this beautiful island.  We are hoping to spend a quiet day around home, packing, and then, as our grand finale, attend the legendary community fish fry in Governor’s Harbour.  Say hi if you’re around. We’ll buy you a Rum Bubba.