Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park

June 22 - 25, 2010

The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, the first land and sea park in the world, covers 176 square miles, begining at Wax Cay Cut in the north and stretching southward some 22 miles to Conch Cut and extending out approximately four nautical miles on either side of the cays.  It is a no-take zone by both land and sea - nothing living or dead can be removed from the park.

The headquarters of the park is located at Warderick Wells Cay, and there are several mooring fields available there as well as other locations within the park.  We chose to take a mooring ball at Warderick Wells.  Here is a view of the beach from the mooring field.  (click on any photo to enlarge)

and a close-up of the whale skeleton on the beach.

They believe the whale died as a result of ingesting some plastic and garbage bags.  How can people be so careless? 

To the right of the beach, the park headquarters, where we register and pay our mooring fees ($20 per day).

There were no water or supplies available in the park... you bring in what you need and you take out your trash. 

While we were on the porch, Katy made some new friends...

The small banana quints loved to eat suger from her hands.

A view of the mooring field from the porch, our boat is in the distance..

The park has a number of excellent snorkeling gardens, one right at the mooring field called the "Ranger's Garden". 

There were also several hiking trails, I took one to the top of "Boo boo Hill", where cruisers had left driftwood momentos of their visit.

The local legend is that a shipload of missionaries once wrecked and eventually perished on the island.  Now, on moonlit nights, a ghostly congregation might be heard singing hymns, followed by voices talking and calling to one another.

In any event, the hill is quite a climb and the view is spectacular from the top.

In the picture above, Island Passage is between my right shoulder and the pile of momentos.  Looking south at the Exuma Sound...

The view north, again at the Exuma Sound side of the cay...

Finally, again a shot of the mooing field and Island Passage from the trail...

 We spent an entire day snorkeling the coral heads surrounding the area, most have mooring balls for the dinghy as well.  Since absolutely no fishing is allowed, the fish life is the most plentiful we have ever seen.  Anywhere.  We saw several lobsters that would easily be 2.5 to 3 feet in body length (not counting the antennae).  Moreover, the fish were not frightened or seemed to be bothered by our presence at all.