Our first visit to Soldier Cay

Several boats left Great Harbour Cay Thursday heading the same direction as we did. While some headed to the Hoffman’s Cay area, we opted for Soldier Cay. We had never been, it looked neat, and we could possibly stay through the next round of southerly winds.

I’m just going to say it—Thursday was an epic cruiser day! We fished the ledge on our way over and caught a nice blackfin tuna (and a cero mackerel that we released). It wasn’t massive, but could have been 3-4 good meals for the two of us that eat fish. Instead we opted for two big, fresh meals! Five boats were already in the anchorage when we arrived and we struggled to find good bottom to set the hook, but we saw lots of turtles during the evolution and finally did find some suitable sand after dropping the dinghy to recon the field. Then to top it all off we had a beach bonfire at sunset and watched the sky change from fiery red to pitch black and glittering with stars. It was just our little family on the beach and it was a beautiful evening.

Friday we decided to hunt for some snorkeling spots. The water was a little chilly and the swells coming in the cuts made for sloppy conditions so we headed to the beach for some low-key snorkeling. Some neighbors had been spearing some coral heads out in the middle of the channel into the anchorage, but we just didn’t feel like getting tossed around and we had some nice tuna ready for dinner! At this point we had also decided to stay put for the weekend’s southerly winds.

Today we hiked over and around the island, played and relaxed on the beach, met another cruising family, then hunkered down for gusty winds. We are getting rocked around a little, but the protection is good enough and the anchor is holding!

We could see making this stop again. It may not be a place with a popular tourist site, but the ease of navigation and peaceful, pristine beach are enough for this crew.