MAYAGUANA TRIP REPORT #1 Mayaguana is easternmost and the most isolated island in the the Bahamas. It is fairly large, but home to less than 250 people scattered in three settlements: Pirates Wells, Abraham Bay and Betsy Bay. You go to Mayaguana for one of four reasons: to reprovision a sailboat, to fish flats for large bonefish that rarely see fishermen (only 150 tourists all of 2005), to dive or walk the many miles of pristine deserted beaches, or to visit one of the great sea turtle sanctuaries in the world. "Sanctuary" is a bit strong: it is only isolation that keeps the Ridleys, Loggerheads and Green turtles from wholesale slaughter (and even then I witnessed the distressing scene of a pair of local fishermen butchering a 4' turtle). That stated, on a slow day I would see 30-40 turtles from the very young less than a foot wide to adults in the 4' class. One day I saw over 75, most happening upon me while I was canoeing the giant system of Curtis Creek. I watched a 4' Lemon shark chase one for three minutes: man can those babies SCOOT when threatened! It escaped....) Mayaguana is hot, only 40 miles from Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos. It is similar top those islands: flat, rocky, with limited fresh water but stunning ocean flats, beaches and a living reef that crawls with lobster and fish. The people are friendly, but poor: subsistence fishing and occasional smuggling are how they make their livings. By the way, Mayaguana and Great Inagua are legendary among smugglers, providing a good refueling or off-loading point. The airport runway's approaches are filled with crashed DC3's, Lockheed Loadstars and other ghosts of drug smuggling planes past. Accommodation options are very limited: a guesthouse in Abrahams Bay for about $30 US/night, a more (and the only) upscale place, the Baycaner, which is $190/day for 2 with all meals and water included (including use of a truck to cart yourself around the island, and the use of canoes on Curtis Creek- a really good deal), or camping, which is possible but rough. There are three stores on the island, and the guesthouse and Baycaner serve meals on a advance notice basis. You can buy fish from fishermen every day on the docks. You access the island via Bahamas Air three times a week ($200 RT out of Nassau), the Bahamian mailboat out of Nassau once a week, or by sailboat. (Sidebar: the Bahamasair flight that came in a couple days after I did turned back, as the windshield was cracking and the co-pilot was pressing out with his legs to keep it from caving in. The passengers were in life jackets in crash positions. The only other 2 guests scheduled for the two weeks I was there were on that flight, and elected to return home. Promptly, I am told.) Like so many other remarkable places in the Caribbean, a US development company has big plans for the island: 160 second homes, an upscale resort, probably a bloody golf course. The Bahamas and that part of the world in general are filled with the ruins of such grand dreams: the locals are eventually left with hammered eco-systems, crumbling support structures and a crime problem where none existed before. MAYAGUANA TRIP REPORT #2 My wife and I went to Mayaguana a couple of years ago. I loved it; my wife hated it. Why did I love it? Well, it is isolated and totally unspoiled. The reefs are pristine and teeming with life, big fish, beautiful corals. I got a chance on two occasions to go spear-fishing with Shorty Brown, the owner of the hotel in which we stayed, rather grandiously called "Baycaner Beach Resort". I am not a very skilled spear fisherman, but even I managed to spear a few lobsters and pick up my share of conch while I admired the expertise of Shorty and his friends. The cost for these spear fishing trips? $0.00. But, I was expected to do my share of the work on the boat and at the dock and I was expected to be able to take care of myself. As I said, the reefs are beautiful. I walked a couple of miles west of the hotel to the ferry landing and found a great place to snorkel. Lots of fish, including eagle rays, barracuda, large nassau and tiger grouper and a couple of sharks. Now, Why did Ellie hate it? Well it is isolated, which means there are sometimes shortages. Of essential things, such as the kinds of food that we would normally like to eat. Our hotel, which is the only real hotel on this fairly large and sparsely populated island, is situated on a beautiful half-moon bay about three miles long. Although the beach is very beautiful, it is not well maintained, there are pop tops and can scattered about. The hotel looks like a great idea that ran out of money before it could be fully realized. The rooms are rudimentally furnished (we had to scrounge around to find a chair) and very poorly lighted with no bed-side tables. If we wanted to read at night, we would have been better off going outside in the moonlight. For much of the week we were there, we were the only guests; the only other guests we encountered were Bahamians there on business. You ask what is there to do and see. Well, aside from the snorkelling and spearfishing, not much. I'm told the bone-fishing is world-class and there is a flock of wild flamingoes on the eastern end of the bay. Nightlife? There are the moon and the stars. The price? Very low. Our bill at the hotel, including all of our meals (you must eat at the hotel; there are no restaurants) came to about $1,100 including taxes. Is this the place for you? I doubt it. I know that I couldn't get my wife back there for all the tea in China.