We left Nassau and traveled to Norman’s Cay.   Once again, we were crossing banks, where there are shallow areas with coral heads.  The shallowest was the Yellow Bank, but we came through OK.   We arrived in Norman’s Cay which is at the north part of Exumas.   Norman’s Cay has a great snorkeling site, a plane wreck from drug runners in the 1970s and 1980s.   There are a lot of stories on how the plane went down, but this article has an interesting read.   The Plane Wreck of Norman’s Cay  We snorkeled on the plane wreck and saw a very large Baracuda just hanging out. 

From Norman Cay, we motored to the first part of Exuma Land and Sea Park.  The Park is a take out what you put in location.  There aren’t any services in the park, such as trash pickup or even internet.   Untouched beauty all around.   The Exuma land and sea park must be one of the most beautiful areas in the world. 

The first stop was Shroud Cay.   Shroud Cay has a river with a current that you travel by dinghy to an amazing beach.  The beach has a pretty large current, where you can ride the current while on your back.   On the river, there are many sea turtles, just cruising on the river, popping up their heads and playing with our dinghies.   We took out the kayaks and had a lot of fun kayaking in the area.  The water is an unbelievable color of blue, teal, green, so many colors.   There is a strong current, but lots of fun.   And of course, our nightly sundowners with the BBC group.  Where we bring our chairs to a beach, enjoy our rum drinks or beers, share snacks, and blow the conch shell as the sun sets.  

From Shroud Cay, we traveled to Wardrick Wells, another part of the Exuma Park.   Wardrick Wells has moorings, and you must be on the moorings.   This is one of our favorite areas to visit.   There is a very nice hike to Boo Boo Hill, where cruisers leave a piece of driftwood with the boat name on a pile of other driftwood.    There is also a great snorkeling spot.   The best thing we saw was a pair of  spotted sting rays,  dancing through the waters.  We also saw beautiful lion fish as well as other fish, and undisturbed coral.    Our kayaks came out again, and we enjoyed kayaking in the beautiful waters of Wardrick Wells.  

Our last stop in the park was Cambridge Cay.  The host boat for Cambridge Cay was Privateer from Newport, RI.  Lisa Smith is a fellow member of woman who sails, and we met her and husband Greg earlier on our trip in  Brunswick, GA.   We are learning the cruising community really is a small and tight knit group.    Near Cambridge Cay is the SeaAquarium.  This was a great snorkeling area, where you really felt like you were inside an aquarium tank.  The fish were all around us, and the coral was beautiful.   We also took a hike to the Atlantic Side of area.  Lesley had a chance to sit and meditate at one of the most beautiful beaches ever.   So private, and amazing.  Off this beach was Mark Zuckerberg’s yacht.

We spent 3 or 4 days at Cambridge Cay.   What a relaxing place where we had great happy hours.  One of our buddy boats, Miss Adventure, has two geologists aboard.  They taught us about the stromatolite, which are the tiny microbes that existed 3.5 billion years ago!  They are the oldest living organisms.   We also saw sharks in the water, some nurse sharks and some bull sharks.  So swimming was out for now.  

After leaving Cambridge Cay, we left the Exuma Land and Sea Park.  Our next stop was Staniel Cay, to sit out a northly blow.