Bahamas

  Harbour Island, Bahamas
Thursday, July 1, 2004

We stayed at the Dunmore Beach Club and had friends staying at Coral Sands. Although the island is only 1.5 square miles (or so I've been told) due to the heat/humidity I would recommend getting a golf cart.



Almost all the hotels offer some kind of service where if you contact them in advance the cart will be at the hotel and the key will be at the front desk when you check in. Only on busy holiday weekends might you find a shortage.

I walked through the Pink Sands Hotel and it looks beautiful, at least the lobby and dining area. The beach really is kind of pink but it helps to look at it through polarized sunglasses. I found out that there are actually pink algae particles mixed in with the sand which give it that look. It is very refreshing to sit on that beach since you don't ever get crowds.



Sure there may be wedding parties and groups of 8-10 people now and then but there is plenty of room for everyone.

I have to say that nothing is cheap on the island - from the hotel rates to the restaurants you would find it nearly impossible to enjoy yourself on a tight budget. But then again the clientele that finds its way to Harbour Island can hardly be considered "budget". There is less of a shock value if you go there knowing this (like we did after reading previous comments about the island) and just ready to relax and have a good time.

That being said, there are some fun places to eat like Ma Ruby's for its "best cheeseburger" (I think a dozen island places have this claim), or Angela's Starfish (4 conch fritters for a buck! But $14 for a lobster sandwich which was a little small) or Queen Conch where you get an extremely fresh conch salad which is almost like a salsa.

This was Ma Ruby's hat collection.



These are the conch shells after the poor little conch have been scraped out.



Dinner was excellent at the Dunmore Beach Club (grouper prepared excellently) and the lobster was very fresh and tasty at Harbour Lounge. Dinner at Ramora Bay was a little disappointing after all the hype but it could have just been what I ordered (grouper). The setting at Ramora Bay was very picturesque.



Probably the favorite thing we did was take one of the 2 and 1/2 hour afternoon snorkel trips through the dive shop, Valentine's. For $35 a person we were able to use the gear and were able to snorkel 30-40 minutes each at two different reefs. It was probably some of the best snorkeling I've ever done (although I'm only comparing it to the Barrier Reef, California coast, and Hawaii). The boat had 15 guests on board so if you are looking for something a little more intimate, I think hiring a boatman to drop you off on your own deserted island with a picnic lunch would be great fun. I do wonder what assurances you have he'll pick you up but I guess that's never been an issue.