Life on Green Turtle

We’ve been on Green Turtle Cay for almost a month now, and it’s almost time to move on (we were supposed to leave this weekend but big winds will keep us here a little longer). It hasn’t taken me long at all to fall in love with this little island. The people here are so friendly – everyone waves and says hello. We’ve even had total strangers offer us a ride (we were just out for a walk and politely declined). Things are definitely on island time – most people drive golf carts, most places are closed on Sundays, and many restaurants just aren’t open during the week (at least not for dinner – we tried to go out in New Plymouth in the middle of the week, and none of the places we tried were open at 6:30). I actually love that, because it means people are home with their families, but I hope it’s by choice rather than there being a lack of business.

In talking to a few business owners, they seem to be glad to have cruisers coming back, but life for them is far from normal. Dorian hit in 2019, and as the island was beginning its journey to get back on its feet, Covid hit.

We chatted with people at the Green Turtle Club and the Tranquil Turtle in White Sound, which is where most of the tourist accommodations are located, and it sounds like this is just their quiet season. But in talking to people in New Plymouth, it sounds like the cruisers haven’t come back to the extent that locals had hoped. We heard a lot of people talking about how they weren’t coming this year due to the challenges of complying with rapidly-changing regulations and/or a concern about spreading Covid and potentially putting a strain on local healthcare systems. We grappled with the same decisions and experienced some of the challenges of changing regulations (see my staging post). But I’m glad we’re here and able to help put a little into the local economy.

Storm repairs are ongoing, but construction is mostly centered on private homes – most businesses are open and we’ve found it easy to get everything we need. New Plymouth is a Loyalist settlement, and nods to New England style architecture are everywhere. There’s a sculpture garden in town featuring bronze busts of prominent Bahamians and a monument to the Loyalists who fled the former American colonies after the Revolutionary War. It hasn’t been fully repaired, but it’s really interesting to get the perspective of the other side of the Revolution. Just down the street is one of my favorite buildings in town, the old jail.

Donny’s Marina in Black Sound is well protected from pretty much every direction (and we’ve had some good strong blows roll through in the time we’ve been here), the moorings are inexpensive but well maintained and the monthly fee includes 20 gallons of water/week. On-site laundry is $4 and showers are $3. Since fresh water is a limited resource, it’s a luxury I’m happy to pay for. The marina is within easy walking distance of New Plymouth, which has several restaurants, golf cart rentals, a couple grocery stores and a hardware store. The depth at the entrance to Black Sound can be tricky, but as long as you’re mindful of the tide (radio Donny before entering), it’s fine. If you’re planning a visit to GTC, definitely book a slip or mooring here, and tell Donny we sent you.

Sid’s Grocery is surprisingly well stocked. I wasn’t at all sure what to expect the first time I went in, but I was pleasantly surprised at what was available. It’s not a huge store, and they don’t have tons of brands (as you might expect, since everything comes in by boat and it’s a small island, so they don’t have a huge volume of business), but I was able to get pretty much everything I needed EXCEPT fresh vegetables. I wasn’t at all surprised, as I’d heard you really need to go the day the boat comes in – I went a couple days before it arrived and almost all the fresh stuff was gone. Things are definitely more expensive, but again, since everything has to be brought by boat, it’s completely understandable. And I had psyched myself up for things to be even more costly than they were. The proprietor is wonderful, and when the credit card machine wasn’t working, she gave us a ticket for our groceries and told us to come back another time to pay. When we went back to pay our balance and provision, the mail boat had come in and they were really well-stocked with fresh fruit and veggies, so it really is about knowing when to go. We’ve changed how we shop – rather than going in with a list of specific things we want to make, we go with a count of meals and plan dishes based on what’s available that day.

The local liquor store is called Plymouth Rock Liquors, and the nod to my childhood home made me instantly like it. What’s more, they serve breakfast and lunch, and their breakfast sandwiches became a fast favorite of ours. They have a good selection of wine, which we’d heard was hard to find in the Bahamas, and the prices are reasonable.

Nick’s Bakery is another great little breakfast spot. They have good breakfast sandwiches (get them on johnny cakes when they have them!) and their baked goods are awesome – especially the cinnamon rolls.

Gillam Bay is maybe a 10 minute walk – we often take our morning coffee over before work, and we usually have it to ourselves. The water is an incredible, electric blue – exactly what you imagine when you think of Bahamian waters – but even more vivid.

From the marina, about a mile in the other direction from town is access to Ocean Beach, which is stunning. It’s supposed to be good for snorkeling when it’s calm offshore, and the patchwork blues of the water defy description.

On the other end of the island is White Sound. We’ve enjoyed visiting the Tranquil Turtle – a nice, laid back spot, with a beautiful location on the beach at the base of a hill, overlooking the Sea of Abaco and the rest of Green Turtle Cay. Their rum punch is really good, but trust me, you only need one! The Dollar Bar at the Green Turtle Club is also a neat little spot, and of course we added ours to the impressive collection. It’s a bit far to walk, but it’s an easy trip by golf cart (there are tons of rental places all over the island), or dinghy, and either spot will let you tie your dinghy up at their docks.

There are roosters and chickens everywhere, and every morning, we’re treated to an impressive chorus of “WTF, dude?”. (On our way to an early morning dive/snorkel trip in Hawaii, we came to the realization that that’s what roosters ACTUALLY say, and in our travels, we’ve found they have different dialects – in Hawaii, it’s “WTF, duuuuuude?”, in NY it’s an abrupt “TF, dude?” and here it’s generally “wtF, dude?”. Perhaps I need a hobby.)

While we’ve been here, we discovered Bahamian mac & cheese (you’re welcome) and peas and rice (you’re welcome again), and these are definitely finding a permanent home in our cooking repertoire. My favorite examples of both come from the Wrecking Tree, which seems to be more of a locals’ spot. If you go, get the fried fish – they somehow manage to keep it light and not greasy.

It’s been both nice and strange to have a “home base” again. I do wish we had more time to get out, as I’d really like to be able to get to know the people more, but I’m glad we’ve been able to get to know this place a little.

*To be honest, I hesitated to post this as-is. While these photos capture the beauty of Green Turtle, they portray a vacationer’s view of the island. I haven’t done a particularly good job of keeping my camera with me, and I don’t have a lot of photos that capture the day-to-day living part of the equation. I also don’t have any photos of the people, which are both HUGE misses on my part and make this post feel inauthentic to me.