Taking the kids to the outer Bahamian Islands
Harvey and George, impatient for lunch, were swimming around the shoreline of the deserted Bahamian Beach when we arrived. Our lunch was steamed lobster and conch salad -- lobsters and conch that our extraordinary guide, Brendal Stevens, had just caught. He dove effortlessly -- without a tank -- deep under the clear, turquoise water to spear the skittering lobsters and grab the conch from the sandy bottom, aided by his young assistant, Devon Laxton, who looked like a mermaid, her long blonde hair streaming behind her. Harvey and George, though, just wanted some raw fish, preferably fish they could snatch from between our toes. What do you expect from a couple of stingrays? Have you ever fed a stingray in the wild? Jumped in the water with dolphins cavorting around a boat? Petted a big grouper 40 feet underwater? Or eaten just-caught lobster on a spectacular beach? A lot of people think all there is to the Bahamas is Nassau and Paradise Island, casinos, crowded outdoor markets selling tacky souvenirs or the gargantuan Atlantis resort with its famous waterslides and aquarium. But there's an entirely different Bahamas -- more than 700 outer islands (just 30 of them inhabited) and 2,500 cays surrounded by impossibly clear water (visibility up to 200 feet) and the third longest barrier reef in the world. Five percent of the world's coral can be found here along with a wide variety of tropical fish of all sizes and colors -- yellow goatfish, blue parrotfish, green moray, striped sergeant major, sea turtles and more. I've come to tiny (just four miles long) Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos -- islands with just 500 residents and accessible only by boat -- to finish my scuba course with Brendal Stevens, (www.brendal.com) University of Florida-trained engineer turned dive master, who has certified more than 7,000 divers over the past 30 years and is a legend in these parts for his teaching and environmental work. And, in the process, I've discovered a place just 175 miles east of Palm Beach (you can hop an hour-long flight to the Abacos Islands from Fort Lauderdale or Miami) that's just ideal for water-loving, adventurous families. Stevens teaches diving to a growing number of families -- in some cases three generations. (Kids can learn to dive and get junior certification at age 10. For information on dive courses that you can start at home and finish at a resort, check www.padi.com or www.ssiusa.com) "I can show people something they'll never forget," he says. The best part, according to Sheila Barnette, mom of three from Jacksonville, Florida, who has vacationed in these outer islands for years and whose sons have learned to dive here, "When the kids are here, we don't do Internet. Their cell phones don't work. We're on the water as much as we can. It's all very natural and down to earth." Just as important, there's no crime to speak of. You'll probably make some new friends too. "Green Turtle offers you community spirit," says ceramicist Karen McIntosh who has lived here since she was a teen. The kids will quickly figure out where to go for a pickup basketball game in the island's one small town, New Plymouth, or where the band-of-the-moment is playing. (Check out the Bahamas' People-to-People program that invites you to meet local families by visiting www.bahamas.com. Click on the "What to Do Section".) This is the kind of place where putting on a colored shirt for dinner is getting dressed up, where you don't need any shoes but flip-flops, but you will need bug spray and sunscreen. You won't see a beach butler serving drinks but you will have a gloriously empty beach to toss a football with your son or teach your 6-year-old daughter to snorkel. There are no organized kids' programs, no giant waterslides, but you won't miss them. We're staying at the 40-room Green Turtle Club (www.greenturtleclub.com), getting around on a golf cart, scarfing down conch fritters (every place we go has its own recipe) and Caribbean lobster for dinner, all washed down with the hotel's signature Tipsy Turtle rum punch. One family is here from Texas for a wedding. The bride's sister, Lori Janek of Dallas, says her two young kids especially love those golf carts. According to the locals, each outer island has a distinct personality -- Eleuthra (check out the pink sand beaches, the Exumas (fantastic sailing), Andros (known for its bone fishing) or Cat Island (where many think Christopher Columbus first landed in the New World). Much of "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," was filmed here. "It's much more laidback and less glitzy than other places in the Caribbean," observes Julia Biggs, who is from England and is sailing around the islands on a catamaran with her family and friends. (You can charter a boat for multi-day trips from www.moorings.com.) Families often opt for rental houses rather than hotels. (Check www.go-abacos.com/ for rental houses and also www.grandisleresort.com for deluxe digs on Great Exuma.) For villas near Atlantis, try www.atlantisfamilyfun.com or link to any of the outer islands from www.bahamas.com). "This place is still untouched and unspoiled, a comfort zone away from home," offers Debbie Symonette, a bartender at the Green Turtle Club for 25 years. She now welcomes back guests she first knew as children who are returning with their kids. Even the mosquitoes can't dampen my enthusiasm. While we're practicing our diving skills, we see lionfish and a black tip shark, tarpon and arrow crab that climb up our arms; Brendal's "pet" groupers, Calypso and Junkanoo, seem disappointed that we don't have any food for them. My only disappointment -- we didn't see any wild dolphins. Next trip, Stevens says, as we turn back toward Green Turtle Cay. And next time I meet up with Junkanoo the Grouper and Harvey the stingray, I'll make sure to have plenty of snacks. For more on Eileen Ogintz's diving adventure in the Bahamas, read her blog at www.takingthekids.com. |
