Allens Cay, Exumas

Our next stop was Allens Cay. To get there we had to cross the Exuma bank. We were advised to make sure we had a good weather window, with good visibility, to watch out for coral heads as we went. It’s all about VPR (visual piloting rules), using the color of the water to help direct your course to avoid the coral heads. Kim and I took turns on the bow, swapping out every 20-30 minutes looking out for coral heads while Aislin and Ben were pilot/ co-pilot at the helm for the 7 hour trip across the bank.

We arrived at Allens Cay and now are officially in the Exumas! The anchorage was well protected, although there was a weird current with lots of eddies present. Usually anchored boats all swing in unison with the current or wind (whichever is stronger) pointing the angle of our swing. However in this anchorage everyone would swing different directions for no apparent reason, it was unsettling. We had a great spot right next to a little beach on an island inhabited only by iguanas.

What we didn’t know until the next morning was that little beach is where the tour groups like to stop. There are several operations that come from Nassau, and do an Exumas for a day tour. First stop– iguanas at Allens Cay. So our morning coffee time was filled with the fun of watching tourists boats come and go.

Once we even had a seaplane taxi right in between us and a neighbor’s boat to take some tourists to see the iguanas.

When the first boat of the morning arrived about 20 iguanas would run out to meet them. I think they were used to being fed breakfast every morning. Then by the fourth or fifth boat there would be maybe 3 iguanas left that still had an appetite, tourists would have to walk around looking for them. So if you ever book this trip you might want to make sure it’s an early one!