Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
North Coast
The
Gerace Research Center
( 242-331-2520;
www.geraceresearchcentre.com
; Gra-
ham's Harbour) primarily hosts scientific conferences and field courses for student groups.
Scientists also run a coral reef monitoring project. Visitors are welcome.
Earthwatch
(
www.earthwatch.org
)
houses volunteers (including volunteer divers) for
its program to preserve San Sal's reef at the Gerace Research Center. Volunteers snorkel
four or five hours daily and make observations about coral health. It has two trips annually
(from $2395).
Check out superb
Bonefish Bay Beach
, via North Victoria Hill, and the tiny
New
World Museum
, displaying Lucayan Indian artifacts.
Graham's Harbour
is good for swimming. A
Columbus Day Homecoming
and party
is traditionally held here on Discovery Day (October 12) along with the annual
Columbus
Bay Regatta
. The
Columbia
, wrecked in 1980, lies off North Point.
Club Arawak, next to the New World Museum, serves the usual fried chicken and fish
dishes and does double duty as the local nightspot.
The northeast shore of the island is lined with lonesome beaches, including the rosy-pink
5-mile-long
East Beach.
In United Estates (locally called 'U-E'), look for the blue house,
Solomon's Hill,
decor-
ated with dozens of plastic buoys. U-E is pinned by the magnificent old
Dixon Hill Light-
house
( 9am-noon & 2-5pm) . From the balcony, there is a fabulous panoramic view of
the entire island.
The weather-worn
Chicago Herald Monument
to Columbus stands at the south end of
East Bay.
South Coast
This area was once the center of cotton and citrus plantations. The most notable ruins are
Farquharson Plantation
(1820s).
Pigeon Creek
is an 8-mile-long ecological treasure (baby sharks swim here) that opens
to the ocean at
Snow Bay
. There's an unmarked
Lucayan Indian archaeological site
at
the northern end of Pigeon Creek.
don't miss breathtakingly beautiful
Snow Bay Beach
where you can be alone with the
gentle lapping of the waves and the cry of sea birds. The road runs inland from the shore
for most of the way, passing a series of smelly salt lakes.
High Cay Land & Sea Park
protects High Cay, Porus Cay and Low Cay, which are
important nesting sites for ospreys, boobies and other sea birds. Endangered iguanas also
cling to Low Cay. The reefs have claimed several ships, notably the
HMS
Hinchinbrook
(sunk in 1913), a wreck that is much favored by scuba divers.
