By Wendy Wood-Prince
Some villas on Fowl Cay.
An epic adventure was had by 18 of my family members when we headed to the remote island of Fowl Cay, located in the Exuma chain in the Bahamas, to celebrate my sister’s birthday. Birthdays come and birthdays go but sometimes you just have to whoop it up and celebrate the people you love.
Fifteen of the 18 family members that landed in Exuma, in the Bahamas for a birthday celebration.
Getting to Fowl Cay is no simple task, especially for a big group, but being in the group provided excitement, camaraderie and frankly got the party started the moment we left our respective abodes. Arriving from all points, we convened in Fort Lauderdale at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport to board our Watermaker’s Air flight to The Exuma Cays. Watermaker’s Air has a small fleet of Cessna Grand Caravan’s that make regularly scheduled flights to nine different destinations in the out islands.
My daughter outside the entrance to Watermaker’s Air terminal at Florida Executive Airport.
Since these planes only fit nine passengers, we filled two flights and off we flew to Staniel Cay airport. A small airstrip with no landing lights on the charming island of Staniel Cay.
Flying into Staniel Cay airport. The water is an unreal emerald, dotted with mega-yachts anchored in the water.
Once both flights had landed, and we were greeted by Handsome Grant from the exclusive Fowl Cay Resort, we piled three generations of family into their two tenders and headed over to Fowl Cay passing a Harbor full of Mega-Yachts anchored in the emerald blue-green waters.
First a swim!!
Fowl Cay Resort is so loved by the people that have been there that about 80% of their business consists of returning guests. When you arrive at the dock and see Ruby, the golden lab, aka chief guest relations manager, barking in excitement at your arrival, it just seems like home. Nicole, Grant’s wife and co-manager of the resort doles out hugs that literally squeeze the breath out of you, new and returning visitors feel welcomed as if they are home. Most of the staff came to greet us when we arrived and they happily helped us find our respective accommodations.
Arriving at Rachel’s Bubble Bath.
Fowl Cay is a 50 acre private island with six villas that can be individually rented. We rented five of them for our group and tried not to overwhelm the lovely couple traveling with their daughter, who occupied the sixth villa! The villas range in size from one bedroom to three and come fully stocked with food and drink. A boat is available to each villa and staff will pack a cooler with picnic lunches and drinks of your choice for any outing. After we settled in and enjoyed our first dinner at Hill House restaurant, the island’s restaurant and pub, we headed to our villas for the night.
The lagoon side of Rachel’s Bubble Bath.
My parents lagging behind.
We had all agreed to meet the next morning at the dock at the crack of 11am to head out for our day’s excursion. Rachel’s Bubble Bath was our destination for the day. Rachel’s Bubble Bath is an area where the deep, teeming ocean is separated from a shallow lagoon by a small swath of rocky land and when the waves are big, they splash over the rocks and into the shallow lagoon, creating froth and bubbles. It feels like a giant natural Jacuzzi complete with fish and sea urchins! It is a stunning landscape to explore and experience. We explored and snorkeled to our heart’s content.
Perfect picnic spot.
Bahamas Birthday Bash will continue with Part II next month in Classic Chicago.
Get the Worldwide connection through Wendy at Lake Forest Travel Bureau’s lakeforesttravel.com.
