There will be times on our trip where we will look back on the places we will visit to update the “best of so far” list. Without much doubt, Rose Island will continue to figure strongly for however long we travel.
What do you need?
- Nice safe sheltered anchorage with no swell and good holding– tick
- Lots of white sand – tick
- Not too many to share the scenery with – tick
- One of the best snorkelling areas in the whole of the Bahamas – tick
And just for a little bit of kudos
- Used for a Bond film (because it is so gorgeous) – tick
Bit difficult to see how we were going to go wrong. Oh and did I say the weather was near perfect too? So smug……
We arrived at Rose and anchored off. Flip and Eleanor did the anchor check and immediately found a coral head teeming with fish including a Lion fish. These are kill on sight in the Bahamas. As foreign invaders from sometime in the mid 90s, they are killing vast numbers of indigenous fish breeds. Unfortunately it was too deep to try the Hawaiian spear out so it got a reprieve.
The next morning we headed ashore with a mix of paddle board, dinghy and swimming. The snorkelling kit was deployed and all the grown ups enjoyed time on the reef just off the beach. We also spotted some dive boats anchoring about 400m off at another reef which we paddled out to for a gander. Brilliant – the Bond site! I’ve included a fair number of photos here which I think you will get the idea from.
Over the next couple of days it really was repeat as necessary. Lots of time in the water, lots of sun and great fun on the beach. Pretty easy life really.
My memorable event was how well Eleanor’s swimming and confidence in the water has come on in the short time we have been out here. Flip was swimming back and forward to shore from the boat for exercise and Eleanor announced she wanted to join her. Having done 125m in a pool before as her longest swim, we were a bit cagey but said she could try it as long as a safety boat and paddle board went with her. There was no need to worry. 550m later in open sea and against the wind, she stepped ashore with a big smile. She then jumped back in with her snorkelling kit and swam for another hour.
Mum and Dad pleased to announce they have bred a fish……
All good things have to come to an end and so we moved down to Nassau Yacht Haven to celebrate Xmas. However, two days in Nassau were more than enough. For the Swift’s last day in the Bahamas with us, guess where we went back to? And it was still as near to perfect as you would want……
Thoroughly recommended.
skylarkingaround 