Great Harbour Cay was a retreat for the “Who’s Who” list of celebrities in the ’60s and ’70s, but hurricanes, poor planning/management, and the drug cartel presence on Cistern Cay in the 80’s lead to the decline of high-end tourism on the island.
The 18 hole golf course, 9 holes of which are still maintained by locals, was a world-class course designed by Joe Lee – Jack Nicklaus used to play here. Today, the clubhouse lies in ruins. We tried to explore on Saturday, but with sections of the roof ready to collapse, we decided it wasn’t the smartest place to be in high wind.
The blow that came through over the weekend brought chilly weather, and we were bummed to break out jeans and sweatshirts again.
On Sunday, we borrowed bikes from the marina and rode out to the Sugar Beach caves and the Sugar Beach Resort ruins. I haven’t been on a bike in years, and I knew I’d feel it the next day, but it was worth it. The beach was breathtaking, and we had it entirely to ourselves. I could have spent hours sitting in the cave staring out at the electric blue water. The hotel ruins were neat to check out – the island has reclaimed most of the buildings, but I can only imagine how incredible it must have been to wake up to that view.
We were so happy to have a long weekend and get the bonus time to explore on Monday. We took a dinghy ride out to the DC-3 again and planned to dinghy to town to get groceries, but we couldn’t find a good spot to tie up. Instead we dropped off the dinghy and walked back to A&L Convenience in town for provisions. On the way back, a couple pulled over and offered us a ride. They used to be cruisers and have since retired but have a home on the island.
After provisioning, we walked down to Shark Creek at mid-tide – we’d hoped to dinghy through the creek, but timing didn’t work out for us. The walk to the beach was pretty, especially the last bit once the paved road ends. A day at the beach is never time wasted, certainly not this one. The beach is stunning – Travel + Leisure recently listed it in their top 10 most beautiful beaches (and I don’t disagree). We waded out across some of the sand bars and saw a baby shark in the shallows.
We walked to Hammerheads for dinner and along the way, a local fishing charter captain stopped to offer us a ride since he was heading there with his charter. Dinner was great, and our new friend was kind enough to give us a ride back to the marina afterwards.
Every morning, we have coffee on the beach and soak in the electric blue water, and it’s my favorite way to start the day.
