The Berrys Blue Blue Water

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We have passed the Berry Islands 6 years now and this year we said we had to go and take a tour around the Berrys. WOW, this water is crystal clear and the beaches are empty and white powdery sand. We had our own beach for a day with our boat anchored off the shallows. Did I say shallows? YES, it is very shallow in every cut you enter and then you can’t go too far into the cuts because there will be a massive sand bore or sand flat fanning out from the ocean cut. So, you go in and find an anchorage right around the entrance and drop the hook. All are not like this, but the ones we were in were. We were in Alders, Bonds, Cabbage, Lizard, Hoffmans and Great Harbour Cay. We started at the south and work our way north around the top and then to the west side where we docked at Great Harbour Cay Marina. While there, we were invited to a lobster dinner at a friends house. Boat buddies of boat buddies are buddies of ours was our saying. Thanks to Bill and Trish who connected us with Mark and Jan who brought us to Kurt and Sharon’s home. What a fun fun night and a delicious meal. Our first lobsters of this year. Thank you so much, Sharon and Kurt and Marc and Jan. Check out these great pics…

A great time at Kurt and Sharon’s with Mark and Jan in Great Harbour on the beach!
Six beautiful lobster tails for the grill. Great job Mark!

We departed Hope Town under full Sail

Sailing south off Hope Town

First let me back up to Hope Town, where we spent a week with buddies and really enjoyed our time there. We set full sail out of Hope Town and sailed all the way to our anchorage off Linyard Cay. There we stagged up for the 12 hour motor sail out Little Harbor Cut and onward to the Berrys. We decided since it was so calm to just make a direct run and get into ALders Cay by dark and drop the hook. Then in the AM, look at the water we saw…

Our view out the porthole. WOW, look at that!
Standing on deck in the AM light our shadow on the sand in 7 foot deep water
You keep looking at the water and you can not believe this

We Move Around the Corner

The next day, after sleeping in, we picked up anchor and moved about 2 miles around the sandbar to Lizard Island off Cabbage Cay. Here we found even more beautiful blue water and white sand beaches and we made it a day of swimming and beach time. Simply setting up an umbrella on a remote white sand beach with no one else around is a very special experience.  Lizard Cay could be one of our all-time favorite spots we have anchored off of to date, but it is difficult to select, so we will make it a top 10 spot for now.

Our view from our umbrella
Umbrella cam
Our spot on the beach with another boat that just sailed in

Now for the BLUEST water ever

The next day we decided to head north and to motor into and out of each cut to see the areas and the other beaches. When we reached the northeast side of the Berrys off Hoffman’s Cay we set sails and sailed right into the BLUEST water we both have ever seen. Of course it was noon and the sun was bright and the sky blue and the water was 30 feet deep with a sandy bottom making it all perfect for reflections. But even so, this will remain the brightest blue water we have ever sailed into, and we both were overwhelmed by it all. All my photos are simple cell phone photos from my Samsung S7, I do very little to the photos other than resize them and add our name to the bottom right. Take a look at these photos and we are sure you too will agree, this could be the bluest water ever.

Sailing at noon around Little Stirrup Cay
Sailing at noon around Little Stirrup Cay
Sailing at noon around Little Stirrup Cay
The bluest water ever

Bullocks Harbor and Great Harbour Cay Marina

From the top of Little Stirrup Cay, we rounded the NE side of the Berrys and then sailed down the West side to drop the hook off Bullocks Harbor. We were concerned about the building East winds and we did not want to get stuck behind any east-facing cut with little protection. So, we booked a dock for 2 days and treated ourselves to our first dock since Jan 20th!

Entering the rock-cut channel
Docked and washing off the salt with the sunshade up
A local manatee swam by and I waved

So Much to See, so Little Time

Hayden and Radeen

We only had a week here and we only saw a few spots. There are so many places to discover and to explore here in the Berrys, that we can see ourselves stopping back when we pass by again next year en route to the Caribbean. We still need to decide if the Berrys are as special and as beautiful as The Bahamas National Trust islands of Warderick Wells and Cambridge and Shroud Cay, but we will leave that up to you all to decide. You simply have to make plans to sail into here and to explore the Berrys and the Exumas and then you can decide for yourself. What a joy it is cruising and discovering new areas as well as returning to favorites we have learned. Grateful we are.

Cheers

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3 Replies to “The Berrys Blue Blue Water”

  1. Ahhhh, your posts are killing me! So many memories. Glad you finally made it to the Berrys! Have a safe trip back. Loretta and Jim s/v Plan Sea

  2. Once again, you keep sending more beautiful adventures & scenery for us to drool over!!! The Berrys appear to be heaven – maybe some day……….woke up to NE blue sky, but 32 degrees, brrrrr.
    Enjoy your travels & keep sending!!

  3. What a terrific report! What great information you share! I sure hope to finally make it over next season. Thank you so much!

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