Jumping from island to island just isn’t in the cards for us this trip. Weather and work make moving difficult these days, but being “stuck” isn’t much of a hardship in Great Harbour Cay.

The history of this island is interesting. For every island paradise that went from unknown to exotic vacation destination, there must be one like this that started with big ideas, questionable characters, and unrealized dreams. I read as much of the book of the island’s history as I could from www.greatharbourcaymarina.com/history, and it made our island exploration more interesting.

We explored the ruins of the once-beautiful clubhouse—the pool is full, the bar is nearby with tables at the ready for guests. We could imagine guests in the large dining area waiting for their Bahamian luncheons after playing 18 holes on the golf course.

We walked on some of the golf course before returning to the road toward the beach. People must get lost here, because there was a sign on the road pointing walkers to the beach access for marina guests. That’s us.

And what a beach it is! Miles and miles of soft sand and rolling waves and only a handful of people. At this point in our trip, we’ve seen a lot of water. Like, a LOT. But we’re still mesmerized by the sound of waves crashing on the shore and the colors of the water and sky. Even a lousy photographer (that would be me!) can’t take a bad picture with scenes like these.

When we were ready to leave the beach, we needed to find the road that runs parallel to the beach. This should not be rocket science, but we struggled to find it. We found on spot that might have been a public place to walk, but we weren’t sure. Then we spotted a sign for the Soul Fly Lodge. The owners happened to be down by the beach and allowed us weirdos to walk through their beautiful lodge to get to the road. They said they just took over the place in August. They are open to the public on Friday and Saturday, and require reservations. They were so nice. What a cool place for a young couple to run!

Normal people would probably explore one section of the island at a time, but, well, we’re us. We were getting hungry, and the sun was about 40 minutes from setting. We decided to go to the west side of the island to watch the sunset. We headed over to Bullock’s Harbour and to Cooliemae’s. The “closed” sign was in the window, but there were people sitting outside the building watching the sun go down. We decided we were going to just watch the sunset and leave, but the people there assured us the place was open. However, they said the restaurant usually only serves people who call ahead. So, we went inside and asked if we could be served. The server went back into the kitchen and asked. A minute later, she came back and said we could order. I asked for a menu, and the server said they didn’t have one. So she told us what they had. A customer came in while we were ordering and suggested the smothered fish. Owen ordered that, and I ordered the shrimp. We sat outside and waited for our food. We learned that the restaurant does not serve alcohol, but they will provide glasses if you bring your own. A group of locals had done just that, and they enjoyed bottles of wine together as the sun made its way toward the horizon.

By the time dinner was over, the sun was long gone and the stars were out in all their glory. There were very few street lights, so we used Owen’s phone to guide our way. Two cars stopped to offer us a ride, which was nice.

On Saturday, we rented a golf cart one day ($75 + gas for 24 hours) to explore the island. We did so in zig-zag fashion. If we were to do it all over again, this is how we would do it:

Drive to the northernmost tip of the island. There is a turnaround there. As you follow that turnaround, just before you do the actual turn, there is a little place on the left to pull over and an obvious path to the left. Park there and walk the short path to the water. There you will have a great view of any cruise ship in port. This area is rocky and has lots of sea grass. At low tide, you can walk farther up and down the coast.

Back on the golf cart, go back the way you came. The other side of the turnaround, for some reason, is not very clear. It’s passable, but just easier to go back the way you just came through. Follow the road back toward town. You’ll pass a driveway with a chain across it. There is a sign that says “No trespassing.” The next left after that driveway is a dirt path that leads to the Sugar Bush Resort ruins. Take the golf cart down the drive. Go admire the gorgeous water, and walk to the left along the beach so you can see just how far this resort went. Then when you go back around the front of the resort, you’ll have a better idea of where to go. Go back to the front of the resort, you can peek in that first building you see and poke around. But keep going left past the orange flower bushes and the giant grill to go into a bigger area. We went down the stairs (it felt like we were on an episode of Scooby Doo), and then up the interior stairs to some of the main rooms. Watch out for nails. This is not the day for your Teva sandals (says the girl who wore Teva sandals). This place was really cool. We could imagine how nice it must have looked at one time long ago.

Next up, get back on your golf cart and continue back toward town. At the beach access point that’s on the map the marina gave you but there is no signage, turn left on to a dirt path. Those are the caves on the island. We spent a little time there watching the tall waves crashing onto the shore there. It was so windy that day!

Surely, you’re hungry by now, right? Get back on the golf cart and continue south. Past the road to the clubhouse and marina, past the beach access point and directly across the street from the airport entrance, you’ll find The New Beach Club. I’m not sure what time it opens, but it closes at 4. They have breakfast and lunch items. Owen had the spicy burger, I had the fish sandwich. Both were yummy! We learned that after they close at 4, other people are welcome to use the space. That day, they had a sign that said “No grill today.” We thought something was broken, but the server said that because it’s windy they don’t want others who use the space at night to use the grills. There are clean restrooms at this restaurant.

Get back on your golf cart and turn left out of the parking lot. Take the road alllll the way until it ends. Yes, it will turn to gravel, and yes, it will get bumpy. Go right up to the end and find yourself at Shark Beach. At high tide, you will find a lovely beach to sit at or walk on. At low tide, you will find a large sandy area on which to walk. If you try, you could probably become a sand dollar millionaire. Or at least a sand dollar dozensaire. There were quite a few. It’s too shallow to swim here, but we liked how quiet it was at this beach. The rest of the beach that stretches the entire east side of the island is also great beach and is more swimmable.

Get back on your cart and drive back toward the marina. Turn on to the road that goes past the clubhouse toward the marina. Instead of turning into the marina lot, continue driving to the “beach access” sign on the left. Take that road up to the Top of the Rock. Watch the sun set over the water. If that’s too crowded, walk a little way to the right and you’ll find some stairs to go down closer to the water. That’s a nice sunset spot, too.

To end the day, head to Soul Fly Lodge and Carriearl Roost for dinner (reservations required for the “Chef’s Special.” Otherwise, drinks and heavy appetizers are available. Open when we were there on Friday and Saturday nights from 7-9 PM).

Even with all that fun, we missed a LOT. It was really windy for our stay, so we missed the things to do on the island that involved the water. We tried to dinghy over to Shark Creek to take a shortcut to the other side of the island. That has to be done at the highest of high tide, and it was too shallow when we went. We did manage to see a giant sea turtle and a big ray. Some of our neighbor boats took their dinghies over to the plane wreck to snorkel. There are several places to go by dinghy that we couldn’t do because the calm days were weekdays when Owen was working. We would have loved to do those things, and we probably missed 50% of the things to do on the island because of the wind. This reason alone makes Great Harbour Cay worth another visit!