Day 1 Guests fly to Nassau, Bahamas. The captain meets the guests with a limo and brings them to the boat at Hurricane Hole or Atlantis marinas. The guests have the option of spending the day in Nassau shopping and/or casino and night life entertainment or leaving for the hour ride to the tiny island Allan's Cay, Exuma. Allan's is inhabited by a very large family of friendly Iguanas that love to be fed bananas.
Day 2 Weigh anchor and move south to Little Bell island and anchor. There are numerous snorkeling spots just south of this anchorage including the Exuma Sea Aquarium and Rocky Dundas caves.
Day 3 Move to Staniel Cay yacht club and dock. This small settlement is the big city of the Exumas. There are two restaurants and even a nightclub that has a big cookout on Saturday nights. The chef will have saved all the food scraps from the start of the trip for a special tender excursion that I'll leave as a surprise for now. There is also numerous private beaches and the grotto Thunderball Cave to be snorkeled. Thunderball has been in numerous movies including Splash and the James Bond movie Thunderball. This cay has a paved airstrip available for an air tour of the islands that should not be missed.
Day 4 Head north to Warderick Wells. Warderick is the park office of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. We'll pick up a mooring here in the park anchorage. There are over four miles of nature trails leading to caves, wells, and loyalist ruins. The island is haunted by a group of missionaries that wrecked and perished on the island in the late 1700's. You can sometimes hear them singing hymns at night. You may also see a hutia, a cute rodent the size of a small dog.
Day 5 Travel north to Hawksbill Cay. One of the most attractive cays in the chain and still in the Land and Sea Park. The island has numerous trails to explore and probably the most beautiful beaches. A five mile tender ride to the north is Shroud Cay. Shroud is actually a system of tiny mangrove islands connected by tidal creeks. We can explore the creeks by tender and waverunner at high tide. Some lead completely through the island to the beach.
Day 6 Move to Highbourne Cay. Highbourne is a private island and popular outpost for yachts. The harbor has regular visits by numerous spotted rays and a beautiful beach. There is also a beautiful refreshing spring.
Day 7 Return to Nassau and Hurricane Hole Marina to shop and gamble or go to Rose Island near Nassau to snorkel. Click the image of the snorkeler on the left to go to the Downloads Page for a QuickTime movie of snorkeling in the Bahamas.
This is only a sample and can be changed completely or in part. You may also visit Harbor Island in Eleuthera and/or Little Harbor and a blue hole in the Berry Islands. Ragazza's speed and grace will allow you more places to see and twice as much time in those places than almost any other yacht. She was built specifically for running the shallow banks of the Bahamas at a high rate of speed. Ragazza believes in leaving late and getting there early!