Staniel Cay - Exumas, on James Bond territory

So, we’re in Paradise – greenblue ocean, white sand, blue sky and slowly rolling side-to-side on a sailboat caught by the wind. Short puddle-jump from Nassau with definately not Richard Bransons private jet (or maybe it was 40 years or so ago…) to Staniel Cay airstrip in the Exumas, and we suddenly find ourself on our home for the next 2 weeks – S/V Sea Smoke and with our goood friends Ty and Kelly. In January they set out from Florida to sail the Bahamas for the next months, and bravely invited two vikingdivers with no experience of dealing with sails and stuff to join them – how fortunate are we! Stein has not wasted time and yesterday under Ty’s strict supervision brought us to Bitter Iguana Beach under sails – and back!

Staniel Cay is a tiny settlement in the Exumas, which has seen and still sees great profiles. In 1965 it was the location of James Bond movies Thunderball, and films like Jaws and Pirates of the Caribbean has also been shot in the ares. With good reason, - its cays and waters surrounding are just pictureperfect, and draws sailors from around the world. Celebreties have homes in the area, private islands for others to gaze at from the seas. Still a very relaxed athmosphere, the Exuma chain of islands and cays have pure tranquility to offer, although a few sailsboats in the area on Bitter Iguana we had the whole beach to ourselves just to share with the local residents – a group of endangered iguanas. Precious got her first testrun under water, playing with the sunlight and sand. Just snorkeling though, as we have to find tanks to get us properly under water. A visit to Staniel Cay Yacht club yesterday and we got to see one of the main attractions – dosens of nurse sharks resting under the pier waiting to be fed… not sailors though, peaceful creatures you can actually go into the water with them.