Elbow Cay: Hope Town & Tahiti Beach
After riding out a storm in Marsh Harbour, we decided to get a change of scenery for the next wave of storms predicted to come through. We set our sights on Hope Town on Elbow Cay. The protected harbor has a number of mooring balls but they are hard to come by this time of year and especially if storms are moving in. The mooring field is first-come-first-serve and we didn’t want to risk not having a safe spot, so we reserved a slip at the Hope Town Inn & Marina. We timed our 9.2nm trip with the high tide so that we didn’t have to worry so much about the shallows coming into the harbor.
The first part of Hope Town that comes into view is the historic Elbow Reef Lighthouse. This lighthouse, built in 1862, is one of the last operational kerosene-fueled lighthouses in the world burning 1 gallon per night. It’s one of only 3 manual lighthouses left in the work and has to be hand cranked every several hours to maintain the sequence of 5 white flashes every 15 seconds. It was definitely worth climbing up the 101 steps to see the view of Hope Town and the pristine waters that surround it. Here is a link to the digital short that Justin made of our visit: Hope Town Lighthouse
Luckily we were in town for a few days and were able to hit most of the hot spots. Hope Town Inn & Marina has a great restaurant and bar which was very handy as it was just steps from our boat. If we wanted to visit Hope Town itself, we either had to take a free marina ferry to town or hop in our dinghy to one of the 2 free dinghy docks available. We took the dinghy over to Cap’n Jack’s and enjoyed a couple of meals there during our stay. They are open for breakfast and their dinner crowd is always lively, especially during bingo night. We decided to stretch our legs and walked to On Da Beach for their signature drink, The Turtle Racer. We also had dinner at the Firefly Sunset Resort, which I would recommend getting there via bike or dinghy instead of on foot as it was a bit of a walk and off the beaten path.
We really enjoyed just wandering through the narrow streets looking at all the brightly colored houses, walking through the various arts and touristy shops and relaxing on the beach for a friendly game of chess.
When it came time to leave Hope Town, we decided to stay close to Elbow Cay for another night and anchor at Tahiti Beach. It is located on the south end of the island and during low tide, the white sandy beach stretches far into the Sea of Abaco. In good weather, the Thirsty Cuda will also anchor out in the shallows to provide tasty food and beverages.
Unfortunately, we only spent one night at Tahiti Beach as another storm system was heading our way and we needed to get to a more secured location. We were off to a mooring ball in Little Harbour. Skål!
