Bahamas Cruising Guide ?

[Limpet]

Can anyone recommend a Cruising Guide to the Bahamas?

How would you compare the Bahamas to the BVI from a crusing standpoint?

[GordMay]

Exuma Guide Cruising Guide ~ by Steve Pavlidis
Yachtsman's Guide to the Bahamas ~ Tropical Island Publishers Inc.
Explorer Chartbooks ~ Lewis Offshore (Monty and Sara Lewis)
- Near Bahamas, including the Abacos
- Exumas
- Far Bahamas

[Sunspot Baby]

We use all of Pablidis guides in Bahamas but many Abacos sailors prefer Steve Dodge.

Bahamas is a little more challenging than BVI but in Lots more places to go. If you hang around Marsh Harbor, it's similar to BVI in that there are lots of destinations with bars and moorings. Further south, it gets more remote. We like both.

Abacos in winter is cool compared to BVI but Exumas and Far Bahams are usually warm.

Follow Gord's recommendation above. Explorer Charts are the only ones to use. Hands down better than any other.

George

[CSY Man]

Follow Gord's recommendation above. Explorer Charts are the only ones to use. Hands down better than any other.

Agree 110%:

The explorer charts have saved my bacon many times.

[Limpet]

Are the Explorer Charts more than just charts? I'm looking for something that is fairly descriptive regarding each of the various islands. Something I can use to plan a trip.

[Sunspot Baby]

The Explorer charts have a little cruising guide information about most islands and/or communities. What is best about them is the chart portion. They are well done, easy to use, and all the things you expect from charts but in additions. There are GPS waypoints listed that have been personally checked by the aothors. Routs from way point to way point shown. There are many tricky areas in the Bahamas where water depth is a real problem. While I never recommend sailing by the GPS alone I know cruisers who have made entrances to harbors trusting the Explorer GPS waypoints alone. Example Elizabeth Harbor at George Town.

Depths are in meters, so if you don’t use metric much, it takes a short while to do the quick calculations on how many meters is your 5 ½ draft keel, or does your fathometer reading of 10 ft. agree with a charted depth of 3 meters. It comes pretty quick and there is a conversion table in the chart book.

You will want both a chart book (Explorer) and a cruising guide (Pavlidis and/or Dodge)

Explorer Charts are also available digitally so you can use them with most navigations programs, i.e. Cpan Voyage and others.

George

[Vasco]

No guide is perfect but Matthew Wilson's guide to the Bahamas is better than the Yachtmans Guide. I have Wilson's and 2 volumes of the Yachtmans Guide, one from 1990 and one from 2002 - they (1990 & 2002) were darn near identical in content, only the format had changed. Wilson's is better for routes. The Yachtmans guide has lots of sketch charts which were handy before the Explorer charts came out. Now with the Explorer Charts the sketch charts don't add anything. Depending on where you're cruising in the Bahamas I would say Pavlidis' guides are about the best, those and Explorer Charts should do you. Watch out though, with everyone following the routes in the Explorer Charts it's like going down a highway! As for trip planning you have to remember the Bahamas covers a huge area. You will not get everywhere even on a six month trip.

[Limpet]

Ok, bought a Guide. Read through it. It seems the Bahamas are generally comprised of flat low lying islands. The pictures that I saw show baren islands with not much to explore or see. I'm going to continue looking through the guide, but I don't think the Bahamas are for me. I might redirect my interest to the south Pacific, say Bora Bora.

[sluissa]

The Bahamas don't make up all of the Carribean. From what I understand there are many different islands made up of many different types spread throughout the carribean. Many Flat low lying areas. Many rocky areas. Quite a few lush foresty islands.

Just because the Bahamas don't have what you're looking for doesn't mean you need to go as far as the South Pacific, although I'm not saying you shouldn't. I'd be hard pressed to say that there is somewhere on the planet that isn't worth visiting, unless the current government situation makes visiting troublesome, which you can hardly blame on the geography. Although I would say that once you have visited one big city of a region, you could probably skip alot of the others.

In my eyes, geography will always be better than archetecture with a few possible exceptions.

[Limpet]

Ya, been to the BVI which is south of the Bahamas. Its much more mountainous. Although there is one island in the BVI known as Anagada which was big but the highest point was something like 27 feet. It seems that most of the Bahamas is very similar to Anagada.

[GordMay]

Geographically, the Bahamas are in the Atlantic Ocean, not the Caribbean.
Although mostly small low islands, there is plenty of good exploring on the islands, and especially around their waters. As already noted, the Caribbean Islands are of mostly higher volcanic origin.
Of course, your location in California might recommend a So-Pac cruise, which is very different from a Caribbean cruise.
The Pacific Ocean requires long-distance voyaging, whereas the Caribbean is island-hopping.

[phorvati]

We got the Crusing guide to Abaco by Steve Dodge, The Exuma Guide by Pavlidis and the three regions on Maptech Paper charts. We draw just over 7 feet and we will proceed cautiously into Abaco via White sand ridge or memory rock and into one of the check-in points either Walker Cay or Spanish Cay.
Does anyone know if west End is still a port of Entry. A frined of mine told me last week that west end was damaged by the huricane and its no longer a port of entry?
Petar

[Sunspot Baby]

Yes, West End is a point of entry and very convenient at that.

There is more to the Bahamas than the shape of the islands. If you need mountains, move to Colorado.

Bahamas have crystal clear waters, convenient cruising, good fishing, and WONDERFUL PEOPLE.

I like the far Bahamas better than the Abacos, but if you like BVI, cruising the Abacos is similar. Lots of locations with bars within an easy day's sail. Lots of moorings.

George
George

[CSY Man]

The pictures that I saw show baren islands with not much to explore or see. I'm going to continue looking through the guide, but I don't think the Bahamas are for me.

Lots to explore and see.
I love the Exuma Islands and could cruise there for years without being bored, even if they look baren...

Most of the time I go to un-inhabitated islands just to get away from people. (Except the cruisers with similar mindset)

The favorite island is Hawksbill Cay. I am sure it don't look like much on the chart or in the pictures, but that one is my paradise.

[Limpet]

CSY_MAN,
I'm all but on my way to Bora Bora. I have not been to the Bahamas, but I have been to Anagada BVI which seems the same to me. As I compare pictures of Bora Bora to that of the Bahamas its not even close. Bora is amazingly cool. Given that the travel time is about the same from my Location, I can't see the Bahamas making sense anymore. I guess my original interest was to try to incorporate a cruise in with the boat show">Miami boat show. But at this point I don't see the Miami show in my future either. Just too much travel time for too little return.
However, I do appreciate the replies.