A Guide Post in Eleuthera, Bahamas

Although Eleuthera, one of the family islands of the Bahamas, doesn’t have a very large population (11,165 according to the 2000 census), it’s a fairly large island. It stretches out, North to South, for almost 110 miles. So, obviously, if you plan to do some exploring during your vacation, car rental will be crucial.

The Fabulous Beaches of Eleuthera

With more than 200 miles of coastline, needless to say, Eleuthera has a lot of beaches. You’re going to need a car of some sort to be able to visit most of these beaches.

For instance, let’s assume that you’re in the Governor’s Harbour area and you’d like to go to Lighthouse Beach (one of the best beaches on the island). It’s located at the southern-most point in Eleuthera. The drive would be more than 45 miles. And, it’s a trip that you won’t mind taking.

Many fabulous beaches are strewn across the length of Eleuthera’s coast. And there are so many of them that you simply don’t want to miss. With the help of the popular guide book, The Elusive Beaches of Eleuthera, you’ll be able to schedule your day trips.

Ben Bay is a secluded tropical cove located at the northern end of the island. Starting from Governor’s Harbour, it is also a 45 mile drive. However, it’s the opposite direction from Lighthouse Beach.

Other Places to See in Eleuthera

There are, naturally, other places to see while you’re exploring the numerous beaches.

Preacher’s Cave is just a short jaunt from Ben Bay.

The Ocean Hole in Rock Sound is a good place to stop while driving south to Lighthouse Beach. It’s a great place to stop for a picnic lunch and feed some of the large fish that inhabit the Ocean Hole.

Distances in Eleuthera

Because of the length of Eleuthera, a long and skinny out-island in the Bahamas chain of islands, the distances between settlements can be significant.

Traveling between settlements can be very difficult without access to a vehicle. It’s not unusual to see hitchhikers along the side of the road as you travel the Queen’s Highway.

Trying to use taxis to get around Eleuthera, for any significant distances, could get pretty pricey. If you just want to get from the airport to your hotel, then a cab is the way to go. Although, if you want to explore this amazing island, you need to book a rental car for at last a few days.

From Governor’s Harbour Airport to Pineapple Fields, a resort in the settlement of Governor’s Harbour, the distance is only about eight miles If you don’t plan to explore outside of the community, then taking a taxi to and from the airport is a good idea.

However, if you’d like to see Pink Sand Beach on Harbour Island, the water taxi dock is about 35 miles from Governor’s Harbour. That would be a pretty hefty cab fare.

You need to accept that things are pretty far apart in Eleuthera. Places that you want to visit can be many miles apart.

You’ll have to decide whether or not you’ll need a car during your vacation. If you want to just chill out at your hotel or vacation rental, you might not require a vehicle. There’s absolutely no doubt that you’ll need one if you plan to do any exploring at all.

Eleuthera Rental Car

Renting a car in Eleuthera

is a bit different. You won’t find any national chains here. Most likely you will be renting from and dealing directly with the owner of the car you rent.

Some of these renters have formal rental agreements, some don’t. Some will start you off with a full tank of gas and others won’t.

Rental prices will vary with the type of vehicle you want as well as with the rental period. For instance, you can get a much better daily rate if you rent for an entire week or more than you can if you only want a car for a day or two.

It’s hard not to want to explore such a beautiful place. Don’t miss out when you visit.

Ben Bay, Eleuthera, Bahamas

Eleuthera, an out-island in the Bahamas, is situated about sixty miles east of Nassau. While this beautiful island, one of many in the Bahamas chain, is barely two miles wide (and that’s at its widest point), it stretches for almost 110 miles, North to South. That blesses this island with more than 200 miles of shoreline. And much of that shoreline is sandy beaches. However, finding all the beaches of Eleuthera can be quite a challenge.

A small number of beaches can only be visited by boat. Many beaches lay at the end of a rocky dirt road. There are, of course, a few beaches that can be seen and reached from the Queen’s Highway and a handful that are easily reached from a hotel or restaurant.

The most widely known, and perhaps the most photographed, beach in Eleuthera is Pink Sand Beach on Harbour Island. That fabulous beach is somewhat crowded with expansive estates, a few upscale resorts and some private homes. When you arrive at the Harbour Island water taxi dock, all you need to do is walk to the other side of the island and you’re at the beach. There are several sandy paths down to the beach.

On Eleuthera itself you’ll find many beaches just as beautiful as Pink Sand Beach, however, you’ll likely find you’re the only ones on the beach! Even some of the better known beaches will only have a few people, if any, on them. Lighthouse Beach, at the very southern tip of Eleuthera is one of those beaches. It just seems to go on forever. Right from in the ocean, you can walk around the southernmost tip of Eleuthera!

And, Princess Cay is just a stone’s throw from Lighthouse Beach. Princess Cay may ring a few bells with some people, and not surprisingly. It’s a standard port of call for many cruises run by Princess Cruise Lines. You’ll find a small gathering of local merchants near the gates to Princess Cay. It’s worth the visit to check out some local crafts.

Be sure to visit Cape Eleuthera as well while you’re at the southern end of Eleuthera. It’s on the other part of the “whale tail” that forms the southern end of this amazing island. Cape Eleuthera Resort has created two fabulous beaches that shouldn’t be missed. Along the way, stop at Cape Eleuthera Institute, a environmental research facility that welcomes visitors. Also plan to make a stop at the Island School. It’s right next door to Cape Eleuthera Institute. It offers a semester of unique experiences for adventurous students.

Some of the beaches that can been seen from the Queen’s Highway (the main road running North and South) are: Tarpum Bay Beach, Alabaster Beach, James Cistern Beach, Rainbow Bay beach and a couple of beaches in Current. Beaches that are easily accessible from the main road include Savannah Sound Beach and French Leave Beach (aka Club Med Beach).

However, the majority of the beaches, most of them deserted and spectacular, are much more difficult to find without specific directions. Surfers Beach, Ben Bay, Jacks Bay and more are some of these hidden, yet fabulous, beaches. Luckily there is a terrific guide book that gives directions to almost all of the beaches. The book is appropriately named The Elusive Beaches of Eleuthera. It not only supplies easy-to-follow directions, it also gives GPS co-ordinates and assessments for each beach.

Surfers Beach, Eleuthera, Bahamas

For a vacation that’s anything but ordinary, think about visiting the island of Eleuthera. However, it’s not for everyone. If you like a hopping nightlife and busy casinos, then Eleuthera isn’t for you. However, if what you’re seeking is a slower pace in an amazingly beautiful tropical location, then this is it.

Where is Eleuthera Located
Eleuthera, one of over 700 Bahamian islands, is located about 60 miles east of Nassau. When you look at a map of the Bahamas, it’s a long, thin island with a “whale tail” at the southern end. The island is over 100 miles long but only 2 miles wide at its widest point. Most of the island is much narrower than that, with the narrowest point at the Glass Window Bridge.

How To Get To Eleuthera

Eleuthera is home to THREE international airports – North Eleuthera (ELH), Governor’s Harbour (GHB) and Rock Sound (RSD).

When departing from Florida there are a number of options for flying to Eleuthera. American Eagle (American Airlines) offers flights from Miami to North Eleuthera. Continental Airlines operates regularly scheduled flights from Fort Lauderdale airport to either North Eleuthera or Governor’s Harbour. A small, private airline – TwinAir/Calypso – leaves from Fort Lauderdale and visits all three Eleuthera airports.

BahamasAir also flies to Eleuthera, but from Florida, you’ll need to make connections through Nassau.

Flying from Nassau provides other choices. BahamasAir offers service to all three airports on Eleuthera. SouthernAir also provides service from Nassau to all three of Eleuthera’s airports. Another option is to take the high-speed ferry from Nassau to Eleuthera. They offer routes to Spanish Wells, Harbour Island and Governor’s Harbour.

Be sure to check the schedules for each of these options.

Eleuthera Hotels and More

There aren’t any large resorts on Eleuthera and that’s just fine with most people who visit. The most expensive resorts are on Harbour Island where many of the rich-and-famous also have homes.

There are also a few upscale resorts on the main island of Eleuthera. These include The Cove, Pineapple Fields and Cape Eleuthera Resort. However, the majority of hotels on Eleuthera are low-key, laid-back and comfortable. That includes such places as Surfers Manor, Rainbow Inn, Duck Inn and Unique Village, to name a few.

There’s also the option of vacation rentals in Eleuthera and there is a wide variety to choose from. Many of these can be found by simple internet searches. It’s fairly easy to find something that’s just right.

The Beaches of Eleuthera

Eleuthera is home to more than 50 incredible beaches, however a good number of them are difficult to find. If you’re only visiting for a short time you might not find the best ones.

However, there is a great book available that can help guide you to pretty much every beach on the island. This book even tells you, by way of a rating system, which are the best ones. That will certainly help you decide the ones you simply mustn’t miss. Appropriately named “The Elusive Beaches of Eleuthera” it’s a valuable resource that you don’t want to be without.

What’s the Best Time to Visit Eleuthera

While you can visit Eleuthera any time of the year, you’ll find the best weather during the winter months – November to April. The season for tropical storms and hurricanes is from June to November. That doesn’t mean Eleuthera will get them, but summers are also hotter and more humid. You’ll get more thunderstorms in the summer, too. Personally, I love thunderstorms and the ones in Eleuthera can be pretty impressive.

This is just a quick review of everything that Eleuthera has to offer. It’s a little off the beaten path but well worth the effort.

You might think the only kind of cruise you can go on is the Ocean dwelling kind, but river cruises exist too!. Although Ocean and Ricer cruises are similar in many respects, I think they are also very different types of holiday, the river cruise is equivalent to a sight seeing tour while the ocean variety is more like a package holiday. For me, ocean cruises are very much vessel-centric, by this I mean the main appeal of the cruise is the ship itself and its facilities, people will decide what cruise to go on not just because of the destinations they visit but also the culture of the ship.

For example older people will look for ships that cater to their age group with accessible facilities, not too many stairs and activities like ballroom dancing and croquet. If this is want you want from a holiday then you may be better off going to Butlins or somewhere similar. I’d congest that if you do this you may as well go and stay in a holiday camp as the different destinations won’t play a big part in your holiday. This is why River cruises like Nile cruises 2011Represent a great alternative, they are very focused on the destinations and stop offs ensuring that you get to see many different places and come home with some interesting stories.

Popular River cruises include Luxury Rhine cruisesThese are far more fulfilling than roaming a vast ocean and stopping at the occasional anonymous tropical beach here and there because you get to experience some true culture. For example if you cruise down the River Rhine you can stop off at little quaint villages and towns and take in the culture. This is simply not the case on an ocean cruise because the places you visit, while beautiful and picturesque, do not provide a rich cultural experience

How do you describe yourself? Are you adventurous? Are you capable of finding new ways especially in making a vacation more exciting? Or are you the conventional tourist who would go with conventional ways of enjoying your vacation? Would you like to be a local or be a tourist to the core in a foreign country? Take a holiday in Paris and consider the best yet the cheapest Paris accommodation.

If you have the audaciousness especially when in a new locale or if you want to stir things up for a more exhilarating time and you want to immerse in the local surroundings, then find yourself cheap accommodations Paris provides.  Apartments for rent abound in the city and if you have the time to scout and look around, landlords are more than willing to rent their places out.  While looking for a suitable place, you have opportunities to explore the city and discover not just great places to stay but tourists spots, too.  Of course you would not want to miss out visiting galleries, cafes, shops-places you’ve wanted to see, besides it is your vacation after all.  You can try and check out classifieds however a heads up, many people are looking for places as well so dwellings for rent are available on a first-come-first-serve basis.  And meeting owners need confidence on the French language otherwise they’d be wary and impatient and may as well lease the place to someone else.  So bring along an acquaintance or a friend if you are not well versed with French dealings.

However, even with your gutsy attitude but if you do not want to waste more of your time scouting around yet still want accommodations in Paris apartments, then go online and do a quick search.  Websites are available for agency-run apartments or for network of apartment owners who have their properties for lease.

Now, once you have found a place to rent, try to visit it every day to get a better feel of what living in that particular neighborhood would be. Check out the property and its surroundings prior to closing the deal with the property owner. These are but a few things to consider in searching for a Paris accommodation that is suited for you.

The next thing that you should do after getting the apartment you are after is to let your enterprising way make the most of your holiday. With Paris accommodation dealt with, you can now roam around in the city as a local and feel your home away.

So you are going on vacation and you want to consider your best bud – Fido – alongside with you. Touring having a pet could be very scary for dog owners. Not only do they be concerned about how their pet will act, but they also worry about the safety of their dog. If you are looking for tips on flying together with your pets than you have come to the proper location. Throughout this article we will discuss everything you need to know about touring together with your pet to ensure that both you and your dog can arrive at your destination happily and safely!

When touring with your pet you will find a number of actions that you simply can take beforehand to assure that nothing will go wrong together with your pet on the method to your location. Obviously, if you’re bringing an animal alongside with you, you will want to ensure that they are placed in a secure kennel. For your pets comfort, make certain the kennel gives them ample room to move around so that they’re not confined to lay in 1 spot for hours on end. It’s also a good idea to line the bottom of the kennel having a thick padding to ensure that your dog isn’t laying on a difficult surface the entire flight. Also, bring alongside some chew toys or bones so that your dog has some way of entertaining themselves if they cannot sleep aboard the flight.

If you are bringing a dog along with you, it may be a good idea to location a muzzle on them before sending them on their personal. Even if you own the friendliest canine known to man, this is really a great idea simply because, when it comes to pets, even the friendliest can become defensive if positioned in an uncomfortable situation. A muzzle also comes in handy to maintain your dog’s barking to a minimum.

In traveling situations, it’s not uncommon for canines to experience separation anxiety from their owners. There are several steps you are able to consider to help your dog stay calm throughout flight. The initial, and most important, thing to keep in mind when traveling with your dog is that canines can sense your emotions. If you’re upset about leaving your canine, your dog will also be upset that you are leaving them. When you depart from your dog make certain you remain calm so that your dog knows every thing is alright. Also, to maintain your pet pleased throughout flight, make certain that they’re nicely fed and nicely exercised. In the event you can, allow your dog to run and play as significantly as you possibly can before you should send them off. A nicely exercised canine is more likely to be tired and to sleep during the flight.

On top of ensuring that your pet is pleased, you’ll want to consider extra precautions to ensure that your dog reaches the same destination as you. As you might know, it’s not unheard of for airlines to loose luggage. Taking additional precautions with your pet is always a good concept as, unlike luggage, they are irreplaceable! When the plane ticket is connected to your dogs kennel, double check that it’s firmly attached and clearly labelled with the right location. Make certain that there’s no way the label could be read incorrectly.

Many individuals nowadays are bringing their pets along with them when they travel. If you wish to bring your pet alongside with you, make sure that they have a comfortable kennel, are well fed and exercised before the flight, and that all labels are clear and firmly attached towards the dog kennel. If you take all precautions, you and your canine will probably be reunited safely and happily at your location!

Read more about Chicago weekend breaks and learn more about finding the best Chicago hotel packages…

We Did It!

When we began this adventure we set ourselves a challenge. To complete this trip on an average of $100/day or less.

As you can see from the recap of our final totals, we not only met that challenge, we exceeded it.

We traveled for a total of 197 days on an average of $86.51/day. Not bad!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

First we’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to all the friends and family we stayed with along the way. We could not have achieved our goal without your generous hospitality.

We have mentioned all of you in each appropriate blog post but we would like to thank you all once again. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Putting Things in Perspective

When we mention the mileage, the number of days, places visited, etc. sometimes things just become a blur and the true magnitude is not particularly clear. So, here we’re going to recap things and try to bring some perspective.

Mileage

The total miles traveled, including road, train, sea and air, was 35,999.3. Too bad we couldn’t have added just 0.7 of a mile more. That would have pushed us to an even 36,000 miles.

But, to put this mileage in perspective, the circumference of the earth, at the equator, is 24,901.55 miles.

That means we could have traveled around the globe almost one and a half times. Wow!

Days Traveled

I don’t think we actually calculated the number of days we were going to be traveling when we started this adventure.

Oh sure, we knew the day we were going to start. We also knew the day we were going to fly back home. Both were booked before we set out. But we didn’t actually take the time to calculate just how long the time in between those dates was.

Total number of days traveled = 197.

If you apply an average of 30 days to a month, then we traveled for a total of 6.6 months, more than half a year. Again – wow!

Cruises and More Included in the Trip

It seems amazing even to us what we were able to pack into this trip. Here’s a quick recap.

Cruises

Our trip included three cruises:

• a two week Alaska cruise
• a six day Greek Islands cruise
• a two week TransAtlantic cruise

That’s a total of 34 days – more than a month – spent on cruise ships.

Narrowboats in the UK

We were able to spend an entire week on a narrowboat on the Trent/Mersey canal system in the UK.

Orlando and Disney

We spent two weeks in Orlando at two different timeshare resorts and spent time at more than one Disney theme park.

Landmarks Visited

Along the way we were fortunate to visit many landmarks both in North America and Europe.

Here’s a few:
United States

• Carlsbad Caverns
• Monument Valley
• Grand Canyon

Canada

• Victoria, British Columbia (a must-see)
• Hell’s Gate, British Columbia
• Columbia Ice Fields, Alberta
• Banff and Jasper, Alberta
• Lake Louise, Alberta
• Terry Fox Monument, Thunder Bay, Ontario
• Reversing Falls, New Brunswick
• St. Andrews-By-The-Sea, New Brunswick
• Confederation Bridge, between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island
• Birthplace of Canadian Confederation, Charlottetown, PEI
• Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

England

• Buckingham Palace
• Tower Bridge
• Tower of London
• British Parliament Buildings
• Big Ben
• British Museum
• Stratford-Upon-Avon, birthplace of Shakespeare

Spain

• La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
• Dénia Castle, Dénia

Portugal

• Madeira, the home of Madeira wine

Greece

• Santorini

Croatia

• the old walled city of Dubrovnik

Italy

• St. Mark’s Square, Venice
• the ruins of Pompeii
• the ruins of Paestum
• the Amalfi Coast

And, I’m sure there are things we are forgetting. It’s time for us to go back and re-read all the posts we have made along the way and to review all the photos and videos we have as well.

This was the trip of a lifetime for us. We will continue to travel, of course, but it is unlikely that we will ever again take such an extensive trip. It was a great adventure but a very long time to be away from home.

We will continue to have, we hope, many, many more adventures. But, perhaps shorter ones this time.

Thank you to everyone who has followed along with us and to those who have made comments as well. It was a pleasure to share this adventure with you.

Current Location: Heading Home to Eleuthera, Bahamas

Combining Days

We have decided to combine our last few days into one post because we are really now just marking time until we head home to Eleuthera.

We will not be including our flight back to Eleuthera in our costs as we began our trip in Fort Lauderdale on May 11th and we will end it in Fort Lauderdale on November 23rd.

We will be including all the costs right up to our flight home, including the cost to get to the airport.

Each day’s expenses are itemized below and, of course, in the grids above that we have been including in each post.

Day 193, Friday, November 19, 2010

Accommodation: $31.47 (Camping)

Day 194, Saturday, November 20, 2010

Accommodations: $31.47 (Camping)
Food: $17.20 (Groceries)
Total: $48.67

We are trying to keep our grocery buying down to a minimum as we don’t want anything fresh left over on the day we leave.

Day 195, Sunday, November 21, 2010

Accommodations: $31.47 (Camping)

Day 196, Monday, November 22, 2010

Accommodations: $31.47 (Camping)

Day 197, Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Transportation: $18.00 consisting of:
Cab to TriRail – $15.00
TriRail to Airport $3.00

Mileage: 19.8

The Adventure Ends

It’s hard to believe that today is the last day of our almost seven month long adventure. And yet, it’s going to be good to get home.

One hundred and ninety-seven days is a long time to be traveling and living out of a suitcase or, in our case, backpacks.

We have had a terrific time and certainly enjoyed the journey. We will now enjoy the familiarity of our home in Eleuthera.

It will good to see old friends again and reconnect. Our very dear friends, V and B, will be picking us up at the airport when we arrive back in Eleuthera. It will be wonderful to see them again.

Recap Tomorrow

Stay tuned for the recap of our adventure in our post tomorrow.

Current Location: Davie, Florida

Today’s Total Expenses: $89.21

Transportation: $52.00 (gas)
Accommodation: $31.47 (camping)
Food: $5.74 (lunch)

Miles Traveled Today:
Road Miles: 249.4 (Land O’Lakes to Davie, Florida)

Checking Out

When we checked out this morning there was no charge for ground fees added to our account, thank goodness. As per yesterday’s post we were a bit concerned that they were going to try to charge us $100/day ground fees, but they didn’t.

However, there was an error on our bill. We were being charged for a bar bill that we didn’t incur. We explained that to them and they said they’d check with the food services manager. However, that person wasn’t available.

We made it quite clear that that wasn’t our charge but they didn’t seem that convinced. I was actually starting to get a little annoyed. They looked up the bill and it was for the types of drinks that Geoff and I never have. We insisted the charge be removed.

They seemed reluctant, but couldn’t find a manager to sign off so we made a note on the bill. They said they wouldn’t charge our card until the matter was resolved (not really sure what they meant by that – it wasn’t our charge, plain and simple).

Note: March 4, 2011 – Believe it or not, Caliente only JUST charged our card (on Feb. 28, 2011) for our Nov. 11-18 stay AND they charged the FULL amount. We were not happy.

I called and left several messages with the accounting department and never got a call back. I gave up leaving messages and talked to someone on the front desk. They assured me that they’d immediately credit our card for the disputed amount but it might take 48-72 hours for the credit to show up.

The credit did show up on our card on March 4th, so they were good to their word.

Back to Davie, Florida

We then hit the road for the drive back to Davie, Florida where we’ll stay until our flight back to Eleuthera on November 23rd.

It was a pleasant day for a drive and, again, we took the less-traveled route as we were in no particular hurry.

Current Location: Caliente Resort, Land O’Lakes, Florida

Today’s Total Expenses: $28.14

Accommodation: $28.14 (timeshare)

Miles Traveled Today:
Zero

Touring Caliente

As to be expected, whenever you exchange your timeshare into another resort you are always offered a tour of the resort and there is always a bribe of some sort as well.

Caliente was no different. They offered us a tour and an explanation of their system. Apparently they are not, technically, a timeshare even though they are associated with RCI, which is how we were able to exchange into Caliente.

They have a points system that they wanted to explain to us. The bribe was a free lunch and a $50 credit to our account.

The young lady that gave us the tour was very knowledgeable and very friendly. Their system works by pre-purchasing a certain amount of points that can be exchanged for all kinds of things – accommodations, dinners at the restaurants and more. Naturally, the more points you want the more it costs, but as the amount you pay goes up the cost per point goes down to make the higher amounts start to look like a good deal. But, when you use up your points, they’re gone! And, as long as you still have some points, you need to pay a maintenance fee each year just like you do with timeshare, but your timeshare doesn’t expire as long as you’re paying the annual fee.

I’m afraid it didn’t seem like such a good deal to us.

One thing we did learn while talking with our tour guide was that Caliente has a pretty hefty daily ground fees.

Caliente Ground Fees

In the course of our conversation with our tour guide we found out that the normal Caliente ground fees are $100/couple/day. Yikes! That seems awfully high to us.

Then we began to wonder if we were going to be charged the daily ground fees when we checked out. That would make this exchange way more expensive if that’s the case.

Well, we check out tomorrow, so I guess we’ll find out for sure then. RCI is supposed to advise you of any additional fees that you are expected to pay that aren’t covered by your exchange and nothing was mentioned about daily ground fees when we booked this exchange.

No point in speculating, we’ll find out when we check out tomorrow and if they want an additional $100 per day for our stay we will certainly challenge that kind of charge.