Exploring Exuma Land & Sea Park

On 11/26, we left Highborne Cay for Norman's Cay, approximately 7 miles away once you have negotiated all of the rocks, coral and shallows. Just offshore near the cut, there is a sunken WWII era military transport plane that was once used to support Pablo Escobar's cocaine business. In 1978, Pablo's point man began purchasing a portions of the island to use it as a location for resting & refueling. In 1980, one of the pilots fell short of the runway Pablo had built and landed the plane on a shallow sandbank. The pilot, passenger and its cargo survived and plane floated to its' current resting place to create an artificial reef and an excellent snorkeling spot. We enjoyed the snorkeling immensely but unfortunately didn't get any of our own pictures due to a leaky Go Pro.

After Norman's, we weighed anchor for Shroud Cay, which marks the beginning of the breathtakingly beautiful 176 square mile Exuma Land & Sea Park that was established in 1959 to preserve and conserve the local flora and fauna. We found a spot on the western shore with quite a few mega yachts and all of their play toys (including helicoptors, giant rafts with slides, jet skis, etc.). It was the first we saw more than a handful of boats near our anchorage, let alone these apartment building sized ships.

   

We were anchored near the entrance to a heartland of mangroves and creeks. I pumped up my stand up paddle board, while Mike & Mary (on Dream Weaver) unloaded their kyacks and we went for a paddle with Andrew as our chase boat in the dinghy. We didn't see much other than a few small fish and a 3 foot barracuda, but it was an idyllic spot for paddling around.

Back on board, we had Mike & Mary over for BYO ribs and whatever other sharable food we could find while watching the horizon for the green flash at sunset. Andrew thinks he saw something green!

The following day, we weighed anchor for Warderick Wells, our last stop in the Land & Sea Park. We arrived around noon and lazed about while Mike & Mary scouted some snorkeling spots. Eventually, we dinghied in to the park office onshore to pay the $0.50/foot anchoring fee. (The park is the only place we have encountered an anchoring fee so far.) Later, we snorkeled Emerald Rock, which had a variety of small white, yellow & blue fish but nothing too spectacular. We were all looking forward to the next day when we were to visit the swimming pigs!