March 25-26, 2021 Exploring Hoffman Cay

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Yesterday was a supremely lazy day. Books, watching the water roll by,  a snorkle at the southern end of Devils Cay for Brent. 

The anchorages to the north and south of us, all around a mile or so away, have filled up with boats.  We counted 11 anchor lights last night to the north.  Yet we're all alone in our cove. We puzzled on that a while, then Brent realized none of them can get into this cove because their draft is too deep. Our lovely solitude is thanks to Second Star only needing 30" of water to float.  Hooray for shallow draft!

Today we had more ambition. We took the dinghy 1.5 mile north to the cove of Hoffman Cay where there's a trail through the forest to a blue hole.

A short trek up the hillside

At the top we came into a clearing.  I had expected a small, deep body of water, maybe 50 ft across.  I was NOT expecting this

The hole was around 200 meters across, and very deep.  Despite the guidebook claiming it was a great place for a refreshing swim, we could find no path leading to the lower rim, and couldn't spot any obvious safe access point to the water. The guide did say "most people" just jump in from the cliff edge. (How do they get back out? Or do they?)  We decided we were definitely old enough to know better than to try the cliff jump, so we headed back down the hill.

We had beached the dinghy in a beautiful cove, and a sea turtle was poking his head out of the water every now & then. Challenge accepted!  Lois donned snorkel gear and camera to try to get a photo. Didn't see the turtle again,  but had a nice time checking out other reef fish.

Angelfish & Sargent Majors
A triggerfish who wouldn't stay completely in the frame. But check out those "eyelashes"!

A beautiful barracuda, maybe 30" long  keeping an eye on us.
The obligatory starfish shot

It was a very nice morning of fun.

Comments

Travels with Koach and Kat said…
Love the pictures! Makes us want to go back.
So glad you are enjoying your trip!
March 29, 2021 at 3:32 PM
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