The tiny islands of Bimini, Bahamas, were perfect for a short get away from Nebraska in November. Nebraska in November=cold and dreary. Bimini in November=warm and beautiful. And by “warm and beautiful” I’m referring to the people, the culture, the water, and the sunshine.
At the time I was still working, so to save a few vacation days I arranged to fly in to the South Bimini Airport (BIM) and meet up with Liberty in North Bimini. That turned out to be a wise move, because Liberty, on her way from Jacksonville, Florida, experienced a weather delay. In Bimini a day before Liberty’s arrival, I checked into the Hilton at Resorts World Bimini for one night. This resort is luxury at its finest, appearing to have been dropped from the heavens right smack dab into one of the most beautiful places on earth.
After clearing customs and immigration, Liberty, captained by my husband Bill and his crew member Justin, picked me up dockside at the Hilton at Bimini World Resorts.
Brown’s Marina on North Bimini became “our marina” for the rest of the trip. Brown’s Marina is the first marina as you enter Bimini Harbor. We didn’t choose Brown’s because of it’s close proximity to the ferry, customs and immigration, the straw market, restaurants and more, we chose it because the people at Brown’s extended a very warm welcome upon our arrival. That is also the reason we will return to Brown’s Marina on our next trip to Bimini.
The S.S. Sapona was a concrete ship that ran aground a few miles south of South Bimini during a hurricane in 1926. It now sits in 15 feet of crystal clear water and is a fantastic scuba diving and snorkeling location. We anchored and took to the water! Bill and Justin snorkeled while I kayaked. The shipwreck is more than a little eerie, especially when one is actually inside of it, but we did it anyway! (I can’t believe my friend, Kelly, wasn’t here-she’s the really adventurous one.) However, we were rewarded with close up views of many colorful tropical fish.
The Gun Cay Lighthouse was established in 1836. There’s just something peaceful about looking at a lighthouse…
We spent one morning at the Bimini Shark Lab on South Bimini. The Bimini Shark Lab was established in 1990 to study sharks and rays. The sweet college interns who hosted our tour explained that the Bahamas is home to one of the largest number of shark species, which makes it a great place to study sharks. (A fact I wish I didn’t know!) These young ladies are actually responsible for “shark wrestling”, which they explained as going out, locating, and somehow wrangling juvenile sharks into the boat for the purpose of tagging and studying them at the lab. Following two weeks of study, they return the young sharks to where they originally found them. And, get this, they somehow even talked their parents into funding this part of their college educations! Bill and I went into the juvenile shark pen with our hosts and even touched the sharks. That’s the closest I hope I ever get to a shark-cross your fingers because we swim in the Bahamas a lot!
And, although I have been duped by many fountains of youth during my years of travel, I can’t resist…
We all had a great week. As I write this post, I can’t wait to dip my toes into, I mean dive right into, the beautiful Bimini blue water again.