Hatchet Bay and Governor's Harbour

We spent a few days at local settlements

David Harris

2/11/20253 min read

We have spent the last few days visiting settlements in Eluthera. Out first stop was Hatchet Bay. This harbour used to be an inland lake and they cut an opening to the ocean to create a protected bay. The entrance is stressful as it was not much wider than Rumaway and there was no room for error. The settlement is pretty run down and there are a lot of potcakes (Bahamas dogs without owners) which made walking around town a bit stressful. We had a beer with Emmett who owns a local bar that needs a lot of work! He is a musician and dreamer and has big plans to one day fix up his little place. One thing we love in the Bahamas is the friendly people and optimistic outlook that everyone seems to have. We then sailed to Governor's Harbour which is one of the larger settlements on the island. We really enjoyed our time here given its charm, great restaurants and access to groceries and other amenities. We rented a car on day 2 here and drove down the island. Eluthera is a very long Island taking over 4 hours to drive from end to end. We stopped at an ocean hole - which is a huge blue hole that is over 600 feet deep and has saltwater in it fed from tunnels through the limestone. It was full of small fish and amazing to snorkel in. The highlight of the drive was the Leon Levy Nature Preserve which is a Bahamas park which highlights native Bahamas plants, trees, etc. It was amazing to see the various ecosystems present on the island and learn about the plants. They highlight plants that can be eaten, poison, natural remedies and the many trees we come across during our travels. Lunch was at Tippys a beach bar on a beautiful powder white beach on the Atlantic side of the island. After another great dinner we had a Super Bowl party with just Sue and I which was a bit smaller than usual. We then made our way to Palmetto Point which has a beautiful bay and some interesting snorkeling. The highlight was discovering a freshwater vent on the oceans floor. There were lots of fish and an amazing amount of freshwater entering the ocean. Just as we were leaving a large shark made an appearance which hastened our departure back to the boat. Sharks are not uncommon down here and we see one about 25% of the time we are in the water. We are making our way down to the southern tip of the island via Rock Sound today and Sue and I will make the ocean crossing from Eluthera to Nassau (about 10 hours) where we will meet friends for our next chain of islands - The Exumas.