North Bimini

What an amazing place! There’s a tremendous amount of history and heritage for an island only seven miles long with 1500 residents. Bimini shares many of the same historical footnotes as other Caribbean islands; indigenous people discovered by Christopher Columbus (and then enslaved), Juan Ponce de León searches for the Fountain of Youth and eventually Ernest Hemingway comes to fish. But Bimini also has unique distinctions like the underwater “Bimini Road” , a rich American historical tie with Prohibition and several native endangered species of reptiles and fish. The people are incredibly inviting and you never feel unsafe or accosted for chicklets or $10 photos.

The outer part of the islands have the beaches, waves and sunshine you’d expect from an island. Inside the protected harbors and anchorages, the pristine water hides nothing. Tarpon, other bonefish, rays and nurse sharks can be seen any time of day. From the dock or boat, you just look down as if you’re standing on the top of the worlds clearest aquarium.

Obviously, we arrived via boat so there’s specific rules and observations that must be followed. For the Bahamas, you can only enter if you have a pre-approved Health Travel Visa. You get this by taking a rapid Covid Test in the states and completing an application. Once the Bahamas approved this, you can sail into the port with your quarantine flag flying and then visit immigration and customs.

We were granted a 3 month cruising permit which includes a fishing permit. We’ll likely head out to the Berry Islands this week to meet up with some other cruisers we met. Our goal is to get the Exumas soon and spend as much time as we can there before we have to head south to avoid summer hurricanes. Kendall is already acclimated to the islands. Right now she’s off paddle boarding with our boating neighbor and her hair has already made the transition!