Checking into the Bahamas

After raising our quarantine flag and settling in, it was time to check in with customs and get our clearance to the Bahamas.  As stated from Howard, the Berry Islands Club would take care of all this.  What this meant was that they would give you a 3 mile ride to the airport in a yard mule (four-wheel drive golf cart).  What followed was there are no paved roads on this island other than the airport runway.  So, that was a 3 mile bouncy ride, some of it on a dirt road and the rest of the way on the airport runway with the driver constantly looking back to be sure no planes were landing .  We laughed in disbelief, but knew it was all part of the experience.  Checking in at Customs was easy and the officers were great.  After receiving our clearance and our passports stamped for 120 days, we were good to go.  The gentleman who gave us the ride asked if we would like to see some of the island and we, of course, said “yes,” not knowing until later this tour would cost us $65.00.  He drove us to the Chub Cay Marina, which is still under construction.  There are very nice houses with a great marina, but this comes at a great price.  To dock the boat there would cost us $3.50 per foot, $122.50 per night, which is not in our sailing budget.  After seeing the marina, we stopped at the local store, picked up some munchies while thinking it was nice to pick up the tab for the driver’s munchies as well.  Not knowing this would cost us later, we rang up the items, which came to $33.00 for chips, a couple of candy bars and sodas…OUCH!  We finished the tour, headed back and spent the evening relaxing.  One very interesting part we noticed on the tour was there were conch shells strewn alongside the dirt road and the road was standing in water.  We spoke with Customs and were told during annual high tides, the water covers this part of the island and that we had just missed this season.  What makes it interesting is it would completely isolate the Berry Island Club from the rest of the island.  After a rest back on the boat, we decided to go to the small restaurant for dinner.  They require a couple hours notice if you plan to dine there so they can determine if they actually have the ingredients to prepare what you want and to have time to prepare your meal.  We opted for fish tacos, but they were not tacos as you would think.  They were Bahamian style tacos: a pan seared tortilla topped with fried fish chunks and pico de gallo.  Oddly enough, this was served with fries.  This was downed with a few Bahamian beers.  Other than the price being over the top, which is typical for the Bahamas, the Berry Island Club is a pretty cool place to hang out.
 

The Berry Islands Club

 

The Berry Islands Club Bar

 

 

 Crystal clear water