Conception Island, Bahamas
⇚ Monday, February 10, 2014 / Stephanie / Uncategorized ⇛
Conception Island is uninhabited. The island has been protected as a land and sea park by the Bahamas National Trust; it is best known for exceptional diving/snorkeling and for it's green turtle population. During settled, easterly weather West Bay at the northern end of the island offers protection with a mild swell. Our chart is a bit deceiving; West Bay is large, open and easily navigable between scattered coral patches. The water remains deep, roughly 14 feet, nearly to the beach. From the moment we'd arrived, sailing through the sapphire blue, gin clear water with a milky white sand beach sprawled before us, we knew it was worth the trip! However, the photos do not do justice to this small slice of paradise.
Brian and I kayaked southward along Conception Island's coastline to a creek entrance that lead into the island's interior.
At the creek entrance, we found an outgoing tide. Water was surging out from the interior. We attempted...paddled and paddled and paddled...waves swamped our kayaks and we were fortunate to stay afloat. Finally, we abandoned the head-on approach and let our kayaks be swept onto the rocky shoreline. Safe!
We paddled far into the mangroves. Through silty water, we spotted green turtles darting this way and that. They were skittish! We also spotted a few small sharks lurking below.
During our paddle back toward Rode Trip, we explored a bit of the shoreline.
Time to hit the water to cool down after all this exploring!
Brian and I kayaked southward along Conception Island's coastline to a creek entrance that lead into the island's interior.
At the creek entrance, we found an outgoing tide. Water was surging out from the interior. We attempted...paddled and paddled and paddled...waves swamped our kayaks and we were fortunate to stay afloat. Finally, we abandoned the head-on approach and let our kayaks be swept onto the rocky shoreline. Safe!
We paddled far into the mangroves. Through silty water, we spotted green turtles darting this way and that. They were skittish! We also spotted a few small sharks lurking below.
During our paddle back toward Rode Trip, we explored a bit of the shoreline.
Time to hit the water to cool down after all this exploring!2 Comments
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From stephanie on Feb 25, 2014
Greg, nice to hear from you and best luck with your cruising plans. Beyond G-Town we absolutely love the Ragged Islands and Long Island...hoping to make a few other stops on our trip through this year too! If we see you we'll be sure to stop by! -
From Greg on Feb 22, 2014
Great blog. We late looking forward to Conception Island when we get back out there cruising. We only got south to Georgetown before. Hope to see you 'out there' in about 9 months. Greg sv Knot Tide Down www.knottidedown.blogspot.com