One of the most beautiful...Conception Island

The first anchor stop in Calabash Bay was pretty wavy and rolly so after a couple of hours and watching new boat after boat anchor up next to the inside point at Cape Santa Maria, the men recon'ed it and we moved. Yes, much better.  Above are waves crashing on one of the two reefs on the eastern edge of the bay that become awash at low tide.

Our new view of Cape Santa Maria Resort was quite nice and the comfortable new spot allowed for water exploration.  No seastars were injured in the swim excursion.

The opposite of April Fools, the next morning we started to Conception. This was to be a sailing trip--apparently we had not been doing an acceptable amount of sailing so now that was a priority for us. Of course the wind doesn't care what we want so it was to be a full day to go the 16 or so miles with about 8 tacks I believe. But we sailed dammit so there. Not to mislead you, we have sailed anytime we could and motor sailed when we had to...if you need to get someplace, you get there how you can. I've mentioned before that sailing isn't really about sailing a lot of the time but even motoring around Bagamian Cays and Islands if pretty much awesome.

We chose a more southern anchorage versus West Bay where most boats stop. We had this breathtaking beach and gorgeous anchorage all to ourselves.  We did a quick snorkel trip right there by the boat and I was struck by all the green yellow and purple fans growing on the rocks. Another coral world, another unique environment and special personality.  Mark and I went to another reef and Jon walked on the shore and found the ruins by our anchorage.

That's me!

Elkhorn coral formation--you actually say 'Oooohhhh!' when you come upon it.

PS, I'm quite comfortable snorkeling now if you hadn't guessed :-D

That night's sunset included a photobomb by a Carnival Crusieship heading to San Salvador probably.

The next day we took the dinghy around to the West Bay beach---Aaaaaamazingly beautiful--for a hike. Wasn't sure about the path noted on the map but it turned out to be a beautiful path along the eastern side with beautiful views of the reefs and ocean.

I stared at this view for quite a while...I liked the combination of plants and sand and limestone rock and varied blues of the ocean. Seriously, I took like 20 pictures.

Cannot find out who did these...but I like them a lot. Must make up a good story for them.

The lagoon on the other side of the island.

Ugh, heartbreaking

Now this was interesting...piece of a plane? Satellite? Rocket Booster? It for sure had the looks of space related debris!

That's a turtle out there...there were four of them we saw while picnicking 

Well one of us still smiles for the camera. Mark claims he was mid-chew. After our hike we went on a tour of the mangrove creeks.

Coming in at a low tide

We saw turtles everywhere darting here and there when we came close...many sharks too--little ones but so fascinating to see them in the creek

Same view as the first shot but on the way out after the tide came in. We didn't snorkel but I bet that would have been out of this world had the tide worked in our favor a bit more. Not this time so back to the bait to move to the main anchorage where we noticed the boat of a couple we saw in GT and had hoped to talk with about their Hobie like dinghy.

More wonderful underwater shots from our snorkel and snuba outings at Conception.  This island was simply amazing.  A "must go" if you ever get to the Bahamas! Quiet, unspoiled, coral reefs, mangrove creeks, and dream inspired beaches.

The final day there after the grand snorkel and snubs adventure, we invited Roger and Hannah of Hanuna (I know it's spelled wrong sorry) for a impromptu happy hour on the beach. We also were joined by Pirene Wien a sleek trimaran whose captain, Chris, was from Austria but spent much time over the years in the Bahamas. It was a fun way to end our time in Conception and guess what?!?!! We saw a green flash from the beach that night! Finally!! Not a bad way to spend Good Friday in my opinion.

Conception is magic and any trip to the Bahamas must include a visit there. I think disappointment was in the air because we did not follow onto Rum Cay with the other boats. Unfortunately we have to be getting somewhat towards the return home and that means saving some trips for another time. Ah the realities do rear their ugly heads when you are busy dreaming of other destinations.  Mark's new series of cliches include--you gotta leave some meat on the bone or you gotta leave hungry or some other variation. I say 'add it to my own list when I come back next spring with my sister.'