7th to 10th June, 2021
Spent a couple of days anchored across the bay from the yacht club. Good view of the local fishing boats from where we were anchored – it’s a sheltered and expansive anchorage with good holding. We could have moved in much closer, but there was nothing to swim to and we were only a short dinghy ride from the dock we were advised to use at Pier 1 restaurant, so all was well.
Most of the beaches in the area are just for hotel guests, although there’s one towards the top of the bay that we would have visited if we’d stayed for longer. Though, at the time, many public beaches were closed due to COVID, despite the private hotel beaches being open.
Went for a long walk to visit the newly opened park and get to know the city a bit. It’s a bustling, lively, entertaining city- a bit much for the kids, actually, who were used to the more sedate pace of Turks and Caicos. The park (the only one we have encountered where they use a metal detector, and do a body and bag search, before entry!) looked good, but the grass was off limits, the playground was closed and so was the ‘water’, which was a shame as the beach looked like fun – within swimming distance of a little coral, and plenty of space to play. We ate at Pier 1 afterwards – good food, and reasonable prices considering the location.
The second time the kids and Charlotte visited the park while I was working. They were allowed on some of the grass. Just some. And they ran around A LOT.
Grocery shopping is a pain – a long walk along busy roads to the nearest reasonably stocked supermarkets, and no particularly close by fruit markets either. But it’s worth noting that there’s a chandlery close to the dinghy dock with a fairly varied stock (including fishing gear… guess why we went).
With our new rod, on our first try, Arthur caught a small barracuda. And a jack. We spent quite a while fishing both off the boat and in the dinghy. That’s the recipe to a happy Arthur.
