Whilst searching online for a true

Whilst searching online for a true quiet island getaway, I happened across Long Island, Bahamas, a small island eighty mls long and only three miles broad, aptly named "Long Island, inches one of the southern most out islands within the Bahamas.

As I began to read about the possible lack of tourism, the beautiful stretched out and secluded beaches on both the Atlantic along with the Caribbean sides of the island, I found myself already beginning to relax and envisioned myself strolling down a remarkably beautiful beach for hours without a care and attention in the world...

Continuing my education, I began to soak up the laid back life style. I felt a major urge to obtain myself to this island and the quicker, the better.

Like a dream come true, as I set out to write this, I am sitting on the porch of a wonderful, romantic complete, The Whistling Duck, located to the south of Clarence Town.

Our small 20 seats or so plane landed at Deadman's Cay Airport (Cay is pronounced "key" in the Bahamas) at the southern end of the island. We were greeted by Nancy, the particular caretaker for the owners or each of our private cottage, who drove us all to The Whistling Duck.

She has been friendly, had a hearty Bahamian laugh, and offered to help us using anything (including a rental car which Party Boat Miami often we took advantage of our second day). She said she was a mobile call away if we had any queries.

On our flight from Nassau to be able to Deadman's Cay, we found ourself already wondering what might be the best thing about what we would end up calling "The Other Long Island"...

It certainly could be the incredible water. There are the most beautiful hues of Caribbean and Ocean blues from clear to light blue to aqua to turquoise in order to deep bluish-purple to varying oceanic shades of green, I have ever found.

Then again it might be the amazingly private beaches with soft sands, fine shell hunting and the constant tranquilizing rhythm of crashing waves. Hold out, it's probably that Long Island provides the most down to earth, friendly people on this planet.

If you have a craving for silent adventure, there are many small roads angling off the single north and southerly main road, Queen's Highway. Each of the small, mainly dirt or fine sand "car paths" must lead to a brand new head shaking "Wow! " check out and experience.

No, actually it includes to be the water sports from snorkeling, plunging, sailing, boating, fishing, to kayaking.

In hindsight, the best thing about The Other Long Island may be one of the sights or even activities that we didn't get to, just like caving or who knows what!

The most appealing aspect could be a combination of some above, or maybe it's simply totally relaxing, being away from all the tension of work and city life.

This kind of island takes your imagination back in its history to what the Bahamas used to be just like. Amenities are few. The food is excellent. Supplies are limited but offered if you find out where and when to travel. Bahamian and U. S. dollars are interchangeable. The people are comfortable, always seem to have a welcoming grin planted on their friendly faces and more than hospitable and helpful.

Typically the Whistling Duck cottage was every little thing it had looked to be on the website and more. Our fowl feather namesake cottage had a perfect covered front porch with a double wicker swing, gas bbq grill and two teak in addition to canvas chairs to sit and soak up the views of the Atlantic and the harbor at Clarence Village.

We quickly discovered this was the best spot to sip morning coffee or tea, read to our hearts content material, or simply relax.

There is another terrace off the bedroom, complete with two sige lounges and an outdoor shower, the one I used all week. Ceiling fans within the living room, kitchen area and the bedroom help to keep the interior comfortable with constant man-made sea breezes.

There is a gazebo at the water's edge where we hung out reading and absorbing the water's sights and sounds and put in time reading throughout the week. Wonderful bath and beach towels really are included. A kayak is available for the small deposit. Laundry facilities are situated at the Flying Fish Marina whenever needed. For an additional fee you could have Nancy clean the cottage each day.

2 bikes were included with the pad and provided exercise and vehicles for our first days' adventure on the island of st. kitts to check out Clarence Town.

We crammed our backpack with supplies from a single of the two small stores together with befriended a small boy, Horace, with the True Value food and sundry retail outlet. Horace seemed truly intrigued by simply my silver and blue Asics running shoes, shown by the awe in the big eyes when he reached into touch them.

We quickly learned that a car was a must if we really wanted to explore the island. Riding eighty a long way on bikes one way to get to typically the northern tip of our quiet island getaway was simply too much.

Incidentally, be sure to take enough cash for instance a of the rental car operators do not acknowledge credit cards. (If you think gas can be expensive in the U. S., look into the $6. 10 per gallon in the Bahamas, and this is in 2008! ).

The tourist map of L.i. is like a cartoon and makes this look like all the roads on the island really are paved. If you have an adventuresome heart, don't be surprised when taking among the numerous off-shooting roads from Queen's Freeway to suddenly find yourself on a small, rocky, car-width path that appears like it is going nowhere.

Rest assured that slow going and patience will probably pay off with breathtaking rewards as being the startling, beautiful ocean views provide stimulating visual overload, especially to the Caribbean side of the island.

Throughout our first week of July check out, there was a constant breeze. The various chicken species were gaily singing every day. We fairly quickly found out why the cottage was named The Whistling Duck! There is indeed such a flying feather friend on the island!

The hummingbirds were busy flitting from floral to flower during the day. My better half unknowingly imitated a flower a single afternoon while wearing a bright red top and had to gently wave to get a hummingbird to leave her only.

The humidity was very high and sweatily noticeable. The combination of being in the shade and the breeze was good and the best place to be unless we were in the water. Working out around the front deck each morning got us drenched within minutes. The ocean view definitely kept me inspired!

On day two, Nancy dropped off the particular rental car we had arranged the day before and we set out on our first traveling adventure. Using the tourist map, all of us headed south to Hard Good buy, one of some thirty plus townships up and down the island.

We entertained ourselves by pretending to figure out how Hard Great deal got its name and came up with several possibilities. Turning east on a little gravel road, we headed in the direction of the Caribbean side of the tropical isle and ended up by the abandoned sodium fields of the Diamond Crystal Salt Company.

In the days before a fridge, salt was used to preserve meats plus fish for ships setting out to marine and had been a huge business. Most of us thought we were lost when we curved a curve in the road together with simultaneously gasped at the incredible, spectacular spectrum of light blue Caribbean seas. This may have been the most beautiful vision of ocean water either one of us has ever seen!

Following the sand in addition to gravel road, we returned to Queen's Highway (a fairly small, two lane blacktop road which runs almost the entire north-south length of the island) and headed north. Typically, the drive is not very thrilling. There are occasional ocean views on a person side or the other. Taking just about any side road will likely lead to lovely ocean views, a deserted beach front, and a new adventure.

Wanting to check out the Stella Maris Resort, built in the particular 1960's, we found ourselves sitting on a hill in the middle of the hotel where we could see the deep nearly purple-blue waters of the Atlantic seeking one way and the stellar, azure orange rainbow waters of the Caribbean by just turning our heads 180 degrees, which was quite astonishing.

The Stella Maris Resort is large and is the only place on the island with rugby courts. We noticed several on sale signs in the front of a few of this homes located within the resort, and located ourselves wishfully wondering... Sigh.

Lunching at the resort overlooking the beach, many of us found the food and service had been okay but could use some top quality improvement. We did not get to see exactly what are apparently some of the best plantation ruins on the island of st. kitts, which are located on the resort property.

There were hoped to make it all the way to the upper tip of the island to see one of the other two resorts, Cape Santa Karen and the Christopher Columbus Monument, but decided we were running out of time. You will make sure we see both on our up coming visit.

Wonderfully, the remainder of the week we had no plans whatsoever and each morning hours casually decided what we would carry out for the next few hours. No stress, simply no phones, no technology, no visitors, no rushing around. Simply the frequent caressing breezes and soothing appears to be of the Atlantic waves to relax people, stimulate our senses and relieve our souls.

We enjoyed having long walks on Lochabar Beachfront. We quickly realized that getting to outdoor from the gazebo was much easier at low tide, which had to be lower than high tide by at least 3 to 4 feet.

We found numerous smaller conch shells and two significant conchs with the most beautiful deep blue on the inside, sand dollars, and lots of smaller shells throughout the week.

Walking to an appropriate for about thirty minutes on Lochabar Shore, we rounded the bend together with encountered a huge blue hole. Azure holes immediately plummet from the nearby shallow sandy waters to rather extreme depths.

One of our hottest adventures was to see the deepest glowing blue hole in the world. Dean's Blue Ditch is located at Long Island and goes toward a depth of around 660 feet! We were told that the second largest known underwater cavern on the planet is at the bottom of Dean's Violet Hole.

We had a wonderful picnic here one afternoon, just the two of all of us. I was rather nervous contemplating scuba diving out into Dean's Blue Tooth cavity and I decided it must have been the extreme unknown of what lies in typically the depths below. Locals dive from your low cliffs on the backside of your hole and swim in its lakes and rivers all the time.

My better and much prettier half, had no issues skating out into the middle of Dean's Blue Hole... and loves presenting me trouble about being a chicken to this day!

The third morning, I known as Nancy to find out where to get fresh fish, thinking there had to be plenty in the particular Bahamas. She mentioned Nick the fisherman and gave us his or her number. I left a message and he called us back a few hours eventually.

Nick the fisherman said he had grouper and red snapper he previously caught the day before. It turned out Nick, his wife and six kids lived at the end of our sandy, small road. It took five minutes to go walking up the hill to his property where we were met by a pleasing version of man's best friend, which ran up to us wagging his / her tail excitedly and definitely got each of our petting attention.

There was a fair level of miscellaneous underwater sonar equipment in addition to three fishing boats in the yard. It had been evident this family spent lots of time by, in, on or underneath the water.

Nick greeted us graciously and invited us in.

There has been attention-grabbing shark jaws mounted on typically the wall in order from small and safe looking, to, "no way you wish to encounter one of these in the water, inch holy sh_ _! large jawed, teeth filled specimens.

Nick provided a little about how they ended up about Long Island. We learned he was by Nassau. Nick and his wife Fiona have four boys and a couple of girls.

Twenty-three years ago he created the idea to create a native Bahamian diary, which the entire family now plays a role in. It is sold throughout the Bahamas. Typically the artwork is original and each month has native Bahamian tidbits which include history and recipes for such things as soups and conch dishes.

We bought two copies at one of the local stores to bring back home with us. Most of us plan to take advantage of some of the local dishes and use them for our next fabulous club dinner in the mode of an Bahamian theme dinner!

Nick began talking about a few of the ship-wrecks he had researched and showed us several items of curiosity such as one hundred year old antique gin bottles, four hundred year old olive jars, and more.

One of the wrecks he described was a ship called the Southhampton, which usually prompted me to share that my godson was attending Southhampton University in southern England to get his / her masters in Marine Archaeology.

Five days later on our way to the airport to leave the island I noticed Nick's royal blue pick-up truck approaching toward us. His wife has been leaning out the window waving her forearms and trying to flag us along.

We pulled over and Nick leaped up to our car. He stated "I have something for your god-son, " and pulled out a small light pipe. He explained he had reclaimed the pipe from a ship that had purportedly been set ablaze by Blackbeard the Pirate. Nick thought my godson, Tim, want. No doubt, Tim will love it!

You will find never before experienced this level of friendliness, excitement, exuberance and generosity on a vacation. What an island! Probably we should keep it a secret. Ugh, this is a story to share as an example for how the world used to be, in some cases still is, and definitely the way it should be!

The Outer Advantage Grill, located by the Flying Fish Marina in Clarence Town, ended up being one of our favorite spots. It is suitable the water and is a wonderful place to expertise a simple, local flavor for lunch or dinner or to have a drink and dreamily watch the boats, water wildlife and other creatures.

We had lunch at The Outer Edge Grill several times, enjoying each visit immensely. After one bite we concluded their conch fritters were most likely going to be the very best on the island. Cracked conch and grilled grouper made for savory meals.

Everybody at The Outer Edge was pretty friendly. We enjoyed talking having Hermie and particularly with Stanlika. After my mentioning all the toast food on the island, Stan suggested in order to special order anywhere to have our food grilled, which was a great bit of trivia for the rest of our trip.

It was fun looking forward to the boats coming in and out of the small marina during the week. There initially were a few fishing boats and some rather significant, luxurious vessels as well. Some of the titles were Les Belles, Carcharia, Tropical island Hope, Liquid Gold, Island Fantasy, and Endless Adventure. Home plug-ins included Miami, Coral Gables, and Nassau among others.

Rowdy Boys with the Winter Haven Resort in Clarence Town is by the water on the other side within the small peninsula by the marina. The foodstuff was very good and the family that owned it was extremely friendly.

We met the grandmother Chloe and her husband, a granddaughter Justine who waited on us and one of the sons. One afternoon we offered to buy Chloe a drink. Your sweetheart chose a concoction called SkyJuice, composed of gin and very sweet coconut milk. She soon began sharing many of her family history. She also shared of which her son Ben had used the owners of the yacht Les Belles (see above paragraph) deep-sea fishing. Ben had learned that were there no plans and were just planning their laid back adventure everyday. What a wonderful way to travel the sea!

Chloe and her husband got owned and operated a pineapple and banana farm, which had been destroyed by a hurricane a few years earlier. She had tears in your ex eyes as she shared a number of the hardships her family had experienced. Their three boys had asserted somewhat loudly through their newer years and had been given the nickname of your 'Rowdy Boys. "

Rowdy Males Construction now builds throughout the Bahamas and had finished The Winter Haven Hotel and Rowdy Boys Bar and Restaurant just over a year ago for their mom and dad and family to run. We look toward visiting Rowdy Boys and this family members again.

The Forest Restaurant will be three miles south of The Whistling Duck. We had a wonderful dinner regarding cracked lobster, cracked conch, peas and rice and mashed taters here one night. The entrepreneurs, Dudley and Patty, were fantastic.

One afternoon we called towards special order grilled grouper and chicken sandwiches, which were awesome moreover. When we stopped by to pick up each of our picnic lunch, Dudley waited about us. I shared that my very own stomach had been off all early morning. He insisted on making me a club soda and blackberry eau-de-vie to fix me up. They were due to club soda, so he employed ginger ale. I told Dudley I did not want any alcohol with no success as he insisted I drink it straight down. I did so reluctantly and even was pleasantly surprised at the taste. 30 mins later my stomach felt good. Nothing like a good ol' local Bahamian medicinal beverage to fix you up!

We stopped in a few of the tiny roadside stores to buy water as well as a handful of food items during the week. In all places we went the people were truly friendly. We had nothing but extraordinarily wonderful "encounters" with Long Island folk the whole week.

The Oasis Bakery outside of Clarence Town has wonderful home-baked breads, including whole wheat and multi-grain, cookies and decadent local puddings. You can order sandwiches for drinks delivery (the island term for "to go") or eat outside at the bakery. We observed it was frequent for small establishments to have a small bar onsite, and the Oasis was not a exception.

Our favorite afternoon ended up being an impromptu stop at Max's Conch Fridge in Deadman's Cay. You can't skip Max's as there are international flags waving on each side of the road as well as junk cars, one of which has been apply painted with "Max's Conch Bar" on both sides.

We sauntered in for a tropical drink and break. We placed an order for that white wine and a tropical punch with Liz. Liz and her husband Gary own Max's. Your sweetheart seemed truly happy to see people and to meet us.

Sitting together with sipping our thirst quenching cocktails we watched ingredients being cut for what turned out to be fresh, homemade conch salad, by none other than Gary, who have wielded a machete sized, razor-sharp knife as deftly and immediately as anyone I have ever seen.

We all knew we just had to have a number of this fresh island delicacy and even placed two orders. Kathy acquired never had conch salad ahead of. She loved it just as much as I had and it was the best I had ever tasted.

One of us asked just how Max's had come to be. Liz advised us Gary had often used a new spear gun when he had been a fisherman. When he missed his target he would retrieve his spear, commonly swimming right by sharks. The fellow diving mates thought he was crazy and nicknamed him "Mad Max" after Mel Gibson's video. Therefore, Max's Conch Bar, given its name the crazy fisherman!

People regularly came and went while we consumed our delectable lunch. We all figured Max's must be one of the spots for socializing, food and drink. The decor is about as native as it will get. The round, wooden shack has numerous posters of various Kalik as well as other island beer girls showing off their very own healthy, curvaceous bodies. Shells, coral, bright colors, and checker boards with bottle caps as activity pieces are scattered about in island designer fashion. The bar is even a rare internet hot spot and there is no charge for signing on.

During each of our last afternoon we stopped to consider the Long Island Library and Art gallery. We enjoyed browsing through the various cds depicting and explaining various facets of the history, culture and traditions from the island through the years. There are examples of a few of the local craftsmanship, historical news articles for the Bahamas, and even some home made condiments for sale near the exit. It had been certainly worth the $3. 00 fee for the educational and enjoyment experience.

We decided we had to come back to Max's for dinner our last night in Long Island. This was without a doubt our best food on the island. Grilled conch and marinated mutton were Liz's suggestions and they also were incredible. In the Bahamas, beef is either sheep or goat.

Mutton this night was goat, which was a first for me and it was mout-watering. Gary whipped up some mango daiquiris, made with a secret blend of 5 rums and fresh mango, which are absolutely the best daiquiris I have ever before tasted. The four of us had a wonderful time getting to know each other just a little. We talked about all sorts of topics from Bahamas to the U. S., to be able to drinks, to food, to friends and family, and even shared a few personal entertaining stories about our prior existence. We were sad to say good night, nonetheless it was almost 11 p. m.

Despite the fact that our visit was only for seven days, there are seemingly endless stories we're able to share from our week on "The Other Long Island, " truly a wonderful quiet island getaway.

Though the island is laid back and peaceful, you will find many things to do. Four activities all of us did not get to do were scuba diving, deep-sea fishing, snorkeling on one in the coral reefs, and touring one of the numerous island caves. These are already on our "to do" list for our subsequent trip to the island.

During our very brief visit, we took walks in several beaches, including Lochabar Seashore, Galloway Beach, the beach by Dean's Blue Hole, and a few whose names we do not know.

Incredibly, we saw a total of two people and a puppy while walking on these beaches. These were the softest sand and most scenic stretches of beach, complete with various types of rock formations, I have ever found.

Feeling the plush sand within our feet and between the toes, the colors of the water, seeing sea turtles, shell hunting, the scenery up and down the coast, plus the miracle of no people, manufactured our beach experience one that could not have been more relaxing, soothing plus invigorating.

If stretches of secluded, quiet beaches are one of your prerequisites, the beaches of Long Island help it become one of the best romantic islands I can probably imagine.

If you require shopping, higher end amenities, constant service, plus living in the lap of deluxe, you probably want to look for a Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton type hotel. These are not to be found on the hushed island getaway of Long Island.

In case you prefer quiet adventure travel together with dream of feeling like you have gone back in its history, don't care about updated or high-tech infrastructure, love beautiful desolate shorelines, want to interact with real, friendly and unassuming people, and simply want to take it easy more than you ever thought attainable, you will want to check out Long Island in the Bahamas.

Quiet and secluded are appropriate descriptive terms for Long Island, Bahamas. Keep this in mind if you're considering a family getaway.

I have never felt so totally relaxed and filled with such inner peace as I did while on Long Island. This sentiment was echoed by simply my lovely soul mate. Kathy and am can't wait to go back to "The Some other Long Island, " an incredibly wonderful plus beautiful quiet island getaway.

Observe: If you're looking for a secluded and affectionate quiet island, start planning your journey to Long Island now! (See down below to Book Empowered Travel! ).

(The code for Deadman's Cay airport on the southern tip of Long Island, Bahamas is LGI. Typically the code for Stella Maris air port on the northern tip of the Long Island, Bahamas is MYLS).