Emerald Bay Marina on Great Exuma Island

On April 11, 2015 we set sail for Great Exuma Island which had to be navigated on the outside of the Exumas in the Atlantic Ocean.  The wind 15-20 knots and the waves 2-5 feet were on the nose, so we motored for 7.5 hours for 33 nautical miles in not the best of conditions, but doable.  We arrived at Emerald Bay Marina owned by Sandals Resorts for only $1 a foot with free laundry!  The average cost to do a load of laundry in the Bahamas is $8 and we have seen it as high as $12.  The water is metered at $0.43 per gallon for R/O water.  It was very warm when we arrived, so we made an ice bath in our cockpit to cool off our hot little feet.  The marina is beautiful with lounges, library, billiard room, dive shop, Monday night free rum punch and food, and access to the beaches.  We spent quite a few days here to clean the boat, clean our clothes, provision our food, fuel, relax and enjoy!  One of the best places we encountered was Big D’s Conch Spot on the beach.  Big D makes the conch salad fresh (his helper swims out to the ocean to get the live conch) and puts on quite a preparation show with his culinary skills.  We asked him to show us how the conch is cleaned and the video is a must see!  Chuck even ate the thistle from the conch – it’s a manly thing.    We were able to visit the Sandals resort very close to Emerald Bay Marina.  Sandals really knows how to make a luxury resort.