Shroud Cay turned out to be a fabulous time, thanks to a tip from Bob G, the diver of SV Infinity. First of all, we got one of the last remaining mooring balls. Allen loves them. “No pressure,” he says. “No anchor alarms.”
Secondly, we dinghied through a fabulous mangrove park with many winding paths to follow. While we saw a wahoo fish, a big one, we did not see any turtles or stingrays (yet).
The mangroves, however, were fascinating, and we got up real close to see their exposed roots. After about a few miles, we came to an ending where we could hear the ocean waves over the hillside.
Another dinghy was there, so we tied up to a mangrove root and went to the beach over the sandy hillside where we met new friends—Judy and Doug. Judy and I contributed to the huge trash pile of stuff ocean waves had
escorted to the beach.
Doug took the opportunity to run along the beach.
Later we both got into our respective dinghies and on the way back went to what looked like a royal turquoise pristine pond which connected to another part of the mangrove park area. We met up with another dinghy that had spotted turtles and rays using their “lookie bucket.” Now we started to see turtles and rays with our own eyes. We had been looking for them ever since we got to the Bahamas. Too late to get a camera shot, but both Allen and I have the best visual memory of a huge loggerhead turtle surfacing twice and giving us a great view of his spotted legs and huge back shell!!!
Allen and Norma, dressed for the sun, and new friends Judy and Doug
The best part about the park was going to the area called the Washing Machine—where the current creates a cycling current around and around—takes you out and brings you back. See the Photo at the beginning of this post. Many other dinghies were there and lots of people in the bubbling waters. We joined them and enjoyed the current waves taking us out and pulling us back. We swam, snorkeled and had the best time ever! While snorkling in the back current, we drifted along a limestone wall with huge purple sea urchins and dozens of other species of sea life and fishes. About a thousand tiny minnows were in a dense school and they were not frightened of us at all as we slowly drifted past them. What a special place!