Sailing from Bimini to Great Harbour Cay, Bahamas.

Sailing from Bimini to Great Harbour Cay, via the Great Bahama Bank is an amazing passage, in the clearest of waters. Let me tell you how we did it.

Fairly early into our Bahamas journey, we were constantly amazed by the color of the water! The Great Bahama Bank crossing gave us some of those photos that are worth thousands of words.

Remember to check out all of our posts about the amazing Bahamas!

Bahamas – No Texting and Tacking

Back in 2021, on the fifth day of entry into the Bahamas, all visitors were required to take a second rapid Covid antigen test. There were a few towns throughout the different islands, where such tests were offered.

One of them was Great Harbour Cay, Berry Islands.

We had also heard of must-see places on the Berries, so we left our beautiful anchorage in Bimini and sailed off!

Sailing across the Great Bahama Bank

Sailing to the Berry islands is a pleasant two-day trip, if you select the Great Bahama Bank and take your time.

Crossing the Bahama Banks is perfectly doable, as long as you watch the dept carefully.

We had to select a very windless stretch of days, unfortunately, because the shallow open waters would have created choppy and uncomfortable passage with stronger wind. We sailed at 2 knots, at times, oh well!

We decided to sail across the Great Bahama Bank, rather than take the longer ocean route, because our new catamaran only draws 4.5ft, loaded with all the provisions and crew aboard. A monohull passage may have required a more careful charting.

What is the Great Bahama Bank?

The amazing Great Bahama Bank is a shallow ocean plateau, a large shoal area around Andros Island. Extending in a wide curve, for around 300 miles. There is also the Little Bahama Bank, which is to the north.

We crossed the Great Bahama Bank in its northern side, above the huge Andros Island.

With only the horizon in sight, and no waves to rock the boat much, our trip was extremely slow and extremely beautiful.

Anchoring in the Great Bahama Bank

We anchored for the night, right in the middle of the Great Bahama Bank.

The passage between Bimini and Great Harbour is too long to make it all during daylight and we hate arriving anywhere new at night, especially with shallow water around.

We kept watch, but not having to worry about moving and keeping watch was a relief and allowed us to rest and enjoy not one, but two days in this amazing blue-green endless pool.

The banks are too shallow to worry about bigger boats passing by, but we did keep our lights on, mostly to prevent smaller boats from not noticing us.

Starting the passage

Our crossing started with the Sunday readings of the Typika reader service, in the cockpit.

I had printed a few copies of it – it is a service read by laymen when neither a priest nor a deacon is present. In our case, neither was a beautiful church to gather in, so our boat became our church.

The Great Bahama Bank can serve many purposes!

Fishing in the Great Bahama Banks

Being such a flat and large area, with few rocks, almost no choral and shallow depth, The Great Bahama Banks is not an ideal fishing grounds.

A highlight of our trip was a large barracuda Uncle Gene caught, which we scared him into throwing back, because of the risk of ciguatera. It may have been ok; I guess we will never know!

Some of the locals in the Berry Islands assured us, “No, no, it’s all good, just a small stomach ache!”

Yet, we opted not to take any chances and potentially ruin our trip. All barracudas subsequently caught (and we caught many!) went straight back into the water.

Making time pass during the passage

To make the trip more enjoyable, since we were not seasick, the kids built forts on the trampolines and cooled off in the blue water, when the winds died out a bit.

At times, we would tie a life vest onto a rope, and let the rope drag behind the boat, as the kids splashed and swam while we barely sailed at 2 knots. If someone lagged behind a bit, they’d grab onto the life vest and pull themselves back towards the boat.

It is the only way to cool off during a passage.

Our kids are fast swimmers and we only jump overboard on calm days, with small waves. If we are in deep water and bigger swells, we take down the sails, just in case.

Even though it is obvious, as a mama, I have to mention it – If you play such games, always, always leave an adult on the boat, capable of starting the engine and turning the boat around to get those in the water, if needed.

Oh, and, naturally, never play such games with the engine on!

Arriving at Great Harbour Cay

There are a couple of options when it comes to staying at Great Harbour Cay, on a boat. Anchoring, or taking a slip at the marina.

Anchoring

This is what we decided to do, as the area right outside the tiny channel leading into Great Harbour Marina is very calm and well protected from almost every direction.

The anchor was solid in the sandy bottom and we never moved, while anchored there.

The actual marina and channel leading to it are easy to navigate. You can tie your dinghy to the docks, just make sure you ask where the best place is to do so. We tied right next to a slip.

Note: Even though there is a large opening, perfectly protected, right after you enter through the channel, anchoring is not allowed there, you must stay outside.

Staying at Great Harbour Marina

Our friends on SV Slacker, were in a slip at the marina. Their rates have not changed much, they are still at $2 per foot, for transient daily stays. Longer stays have discounted rates.

Here is a link to the marina with the current rates published.

There is also a fuel dock, if you need to top off.

There is a tiny convenience store, and the marina property is clean and well-maintained, with a short and very pleasant path along the water.

When night fell, and the Marina office closed, we changed into our public shower flip-flops and took the dinghy to the marina, for hot showers!

Don’t tell them!

Watch our YouTube – adventures in the Bahamas!

For all of the action behind those photos, check out our YouTube Channel and subscribe, it’s very free! We are also pretty funny, including my amateur video skills!

The adventures behind this post are featured in the episode below.

E12 Bahamas – Sailing, Hiking and Getting Lost!

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