Staniel Cay is one place we have never been that is quite a famous stop on this journey. It is home of the Staniel Cay Yacht Club that has been here for many years. It is also home of Thunderball Grotto, a cave with a reef. The cave has several entrances, some underwater. Once in the cave, there is a high ceiling. Light shines through many openings above. Low slack tide is the most popular time to go. It can get quite crowded with tour boats.
We left Black Point early as we wanted to approach Staniel Cay at high tide. We arrived around 930 am. There was one mooring ball available and there was about 3.5 feet of water under us at high tide. We went to the yacht club to pay for the mooring. We asked about the depth and they felt we would be better at one of the other balls. Luckily, two more balls had opened up. We paid and headed back to move the boat. The tide this week is about 3 feet, they said.
Once we were moored again, we ate lunch and prepared to head to the grotto. Slack low tide was around 2:30 so we planned to get there at 2:00. As we headed over, it seemed that the current was already slacking. We anchored at the same time as one other dinghy. We entered the main entrance of the cave. It was beautiful with so many fish. The light from above and the cave were really spectacular.
The grotto got more crowded quickly and soon, the boat traffic and number of people made it tricky. Pound for pound, the people quickly outnumbered the fish. We tried to snorkel on the outside but the tour boats were coming in close and dinghies were everywhere. When a tour boat almost backed into their customers trying to get to the ladder, we decided to leave. The current was picking up too.
We took a little dinghy trip around the harbour and spotted several turtles. There was lots of current. Later we went to town and walked to find the grocery. We did not find the bakery. Places were closed but we now knew our way around. We had an early dinner at the yacht club casual restaurant. I had a blt on Bahamian bread, a Jeff and Deb recommendation. We may return to the grotto at high tide tomorrow.
