USVI-On-Line

LysaC wrote:Has anyone visited the out-islands of the Bahamas?

I've been looking at a few of them and they all have different personalities! I really liked the look of Andros and Cat Island too.

Last May my girlfriend and I traveled to Abaco for the first time and stayed a week at Abaco Inn on Elbow Cay. We rented a boat for a week and kept it at the dock at Abaco Inn.

We had the adventure of our lives as we headed out each day to visit the other nearby cays - each one with their own distinct personalities. Beautiful deserted beaches on tiny deserted islands were easy to find and enjoy. The snorkeling was at least on par, and even better in some cases, than any I've ever done in the US or British Virgin Islands.

In short, I can't wait to go back.

We compare St. John beaches to everywhere we go and here's our notes so far:

Ambergris Caye, Belize- beach was just not up to St. John standards. Golden (not white) sand, lots of seaweed and we even found a hypodermic needle washed ashore. We keep thinking that we went to a different San Pedro than what Madonna sang about. We just hated the place .

Grand Cayman- beautiful beach but with no shade. The water is crystal clear, sand is very fine. Definitely comes in second place. The island was very flat so you don't see much of anything else.

Nassau- eh, good enough but not great. I would go back but only to Paradise Island.

Grand Bahama- it was okay but we're not going back there

Virgin Gorda- would love to go back there

Turks and Caicos- we stayed at Beaches resort and loved it. The beach was nice but I'd put the beach at 3rd place.

We're going on a cruise in a few weeks and we'll be checking out Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten and Antigua. Will try to post my impressions on those places.