Hello, Exumas!! Highbourne Cay area

In the spirit of trying new things this season (and with a desire to avoid New Providence Island for extra COVID caution), we took the route around the east side of New Providence Island with a stop at the Rose Island anchorage en route to the Exumas. To make this work we had an early departure from Rose Island to cross the skinny part of White/Yellow Bank with as much water under the keel as possible. Every “new” route has some degree of stress, but...SUCCESS! We dropped the hook off Highbourne Cay and were immediately treated to the joy of the Exumas—great snorkeling in crystal clear waters!

Up with the sun to catch the tide.

Some great snorkeling!

Highbourne is a private island with a marina and pricey restaurants—nothing we really need. We skipped it last year but enjoyed the snorkeling around Highbourne Rocks this year. We also lingered to visit with cruising friends on Kismet and Kolohe. Kolohe is another kid boat we met in Great Harbour Cay and as our kids had fun hanging out, it was worth making it work again!

Fun with friends

With winds shifting to have a more southerly component the anchorage got pretty rolly and we decided to move along...a whopping 4nm south! We dropped the hook in what is now near the top of my “best anchorages” list, Oyster Cay. We were simply alone. Holding was good and we were tucked into a little nook of the cay. We had some surge at high tide, but were otherwise quite comfortable. There was even good snorkeling nearby and we managed to spear our first lobster of the season. Not a bad way to start our time in the Exumas!

Ahhh...

Dinner!