Saturday is a beach day. The beaches here are amazing. White sand for miles in each direction, same sand 100 metres into the sea, and warm water.
We leave The Riding Rock headed south for Long Bay and our first beach. We ask and find out that the speed limit is ’40’. So we putz along and eventually arrive at the Columbus monument and a most amazing beach. We look at the monuments but they are not unusual enough to keep us from the water. The water is sooooo blue and so clear. We jump in, it is a bit cool after experiencing the water in a wet suit, but after only about literally 2 seconds the water is superb. Bag beach one.
On the road again and 40 seems a bit slow, the road is built for speeds at least a bit faster, we haven’t seen any police vehicles, so I chance it and up the speed to 60. We are in search of Grotto Beach. It is off the main road and we venture into a ‘subdivision’ mostly unmarked of course and it takes a while to locate the beach. We find two adjacent beaches, I’m not sure they have names, but both are quite nice and we swim off the tamer sister beach and bag beach 2. We try one last time to find Grotto and bingo. It is on a small side road with a gazebo and a parking area for five or six cars. Debbie runs carefree into the water while B and I gaze across the open water.
Grotto Beach
Heading to the east side I realize that ’40’ is mph not kph. 60 kph is now the speed of choice and the distance goes by much quicker. We are looking for Snow Bay. After a short side trip, headed toward Guanahani Resort we see it in the distance, decide we are not that interested in the resort, turn around and later find we were on the way to Snow Bay but just gave up too early.
East Beach
We continue on our way heading towards a settlement called United States where we will search out East Beach. A short drive down a side road and the Atlantic Ocean is before us. We can’t quite see Africa but the view is great. The waves are bigger on this side but the water is no less clear. As we enter we all comment on the fact that the water is much warmer on the open ocean side. We thought this odd but what is, is. The sand here is absolutely silky. So soft we all mention it.
Around the next corner is the only lighthouse on the island. It is open and you can climb the eighty stairs and view the entire island. The views over the land and out into multicoloured waters is well worth the vertigo of climbing a set of stairs straight up.
The Lighthouse
Next. Back to the west side. I cannot remember the name of the beach on the north west section of the island. After three spectacular beaches this one is a bit ordinary but only by Caribbean standards. Again, as it had been all day, there are only three people on the beach, us.
The last stop is Bonefish Beach. Club Med occupies a small portion of the beach but only about a tenth. That end of the beach is still public so if you don’t mind crowds you can saunter over, but from what I understand you cannot go beyond the beach without a ‘wristband’ or you will be escorted from the property. Mighty neighbourly of them. The beach is long and the sand extends far into water making it a great place to laze about with an occasional dip into the clear blue.
We like to get a look at the places we visit. Today we bag five beaches. Every beach on the island is worth a visit.