From a source:
"Green Turtle Cay Trip Report
by randyncarrie
Date: 2003-07-09
Location: Bahamas
A group trip by seven divers and one bubble watcher to Green Turtle Cay of Abaco provided some great diving and shocking food prices.
We had researched, planned and eagerly discussed our summer diving vacation trip for eight months. Daily countdowns of the days remaining were now a thing of the past as we arose early Sunday morning, the 1st of June, 2003 and climbed into our already packed cars for the 2 and a half hour drive from the Cape Canaveral area to Fort Lauderdale.
We had selected a Bahamian airline, for some reason it's named Air Florida, as our means of transport to and from Great Abaco in the Bahamas. Air Florida operates out of the Executive Jet Center at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport. We pulled up in front of what looked like an office door, unloaded the bags and checked in at the counter inside the office. Our flight was scheduled for 11 AM, but by 10:20 we were all present and the pilot said that if we were set, so was he. We stepped out the back door and walked 100 feet or so to the small, twin-engine prop plane. It seated eight passengers and two crew, but today a ninth passenger sat in the co-pilot's seat. We were airborne at 10:30 AM, a full half hour early and we all marvelled at this new experience - when was the last time you were on a plane that left EARLY? A great check-in experience (no metal detectors, no X-Ray machines, no TSA ****s and virtually no waiting) was followed by a great 65 minute flight at altitudes of less than 10,000 feet and wonderful viewing of the cobalt colored Gulf Stream, Grand Bahama Island and Abaco. Costs for the flight - $187 is the regular price, but since we had a group of eight, we ended up paying $166 per person for the round-trip flight.
Upon arrival at the Treasure Cay airport on Abaco, we zipped through Bahamian customs in less than ten minutes and were soon deposited by a pair of taxis on the wharf for the Green Turtle Ferry. An $8 and twenty minute ride on a clean, dry ferry boat and we were dropped right on the wooden dock for our rental cottages.
We had selected The Treehouses for our stay. These are two octagon shaped bungalows built up on stilts and located in the midst of a copse of cocoanut palms. Each cottage had cental air, two bedrooms, two full baths and a fully equipped kitchen and nice living room area. Sliding glass doors out onto generous sized decks admitted lots of light and provided us with a wonderful view of The Sea of Abaco. Rental rates for these cottages are $1,250 each per week for four people which came out to about $312 per person for the seven day stay. Julie of Island Property Management, was there at the dock to greet us and show us around the cottages. She had also been extremely helpful in stocking some groceries for us the day before our Sunday arrival - on Sunday there are no stores of any description open on Green Turtle Cay.
Green Turtle Cay is all about boats and the ocean - there are no rental cars available and in fact, we saw fewer than a dozen cars the entire trip. After opening a cold Kalik beer, I picked up the microphone of the marine VHF radio that was in the living room of our cottage and called Reef Rental Boats with whom we had reserved a pair of boats for the week. They responded immediately and were sitting in the Bluff House Marina in White Sound waiting for us. We hiked over the hill and down a steep incline to the marina less than a quarter mile from our cottages. There we signed for the two boats. Most of the rental boats I have seen in my lifetime were pretty badly used and showed it, but this time we had a nice surprise in store. The boats were 19 foot Wellcraft center consoles of very recent vintage. They were equipped with a big bimini top, a cooler and 115 horse Johnson outboards that were completely reliable for the entire duration. These boats were fast, comfortable, not excessively thirsty and were just about perfect for four divers with their gear and a cooler full of food and beverages. In Green Turtle Cay, you use a boat for everything - grocery shopping, sightseeing, club hopping, etc.
After a good night's sleep and a communal breakfast we made our way to the marina and took the boats across White Sound to Brendal's Dive Center where we had made tank and weight reservations. Brendal's is the only dive shop on Green Turtle Cay. It is a well stocked dive shop that caters to tourists and seems oriented towards their own dive boaat operations. We arrived at 9:30 AM and had to wait for an hour while they got the divers scheduled for their boat trip first, even though we had arrived before any of them. We eventually got our gear, all of which seemed in reasonable condition and were on our way to our first dive site.
We had brought several maps of the Green Turtle Cay area with us that we had the foresight to download from the Internet. Our first dive was on the No Name Reef inner mooring ball. No Name Cay is less than a half mile south of the southern end of Green Turtle Cay and there are three mooring balls here - two marking the inner, or westernmost, side of the reef and one marking the outer, or eastern, side of the reef. We hit the water and were rewarded with a gorgeous live reef of staghorn, plate and brain corals, every kind of soft coral you can imagine, and a stunning array of fish and critters. These are shallow reefs, with some of the coral tips exposed at low tide and hitting a max depth of about 30 feet. Lobsters were common as were Strawberry and Nassau Groupers, angelfish, triggers, and a wide variety of butterfly fish. After 45 minutes, we had used half of one tank and called the dive due to hunger pains. A relaxed picnic lunch on a deserted white sand beach was followed by our second dive - this one on a reef located at the Green Turtle Cay North mooring ball.
This location was as different from the first dive site as it gets in tropical waters. Instead of a large continuous reef, we were now in the midst of a forest of coral heads. These large formations rise from the white sand at 35 feet to within five or ten feet of the surface. Numerous swim-throughs, overhangs and deep crevices made our 45 minute dive seem like less than ten minutes and we were saddened to leave all the large hogfish and grunts that dwelled here, but empty tanks forced us to the surface.
We also dove on a site called The Cathedral, located 40 minutes (by boat) south of Green Turtle on the northeast edge of Great Guana Cay. This was an enjoyable day long trip to a stunning reef with clear water, loads of lobster and one of the best formations of staghorn coral I have ever seen.
We also made dives on No Name Cay Outer Reef, Pelican Cay Reef and a thoroughly great shallow dive (less than ten feet) on a wrecked barge and dredge located right next to the shore of a protected bay on Munjack Cay. The wreck provided a haven for the juvenile fish of these tropical waters and I shot nearly an hour of digital video of this prolific salt water nursery.
Our seven days were up before we realized it and we found ourselves on the flight back all too soon. Here are some specific observations:
Dining out is just as cheap as buying food and fixing it your self. Milk was almost $8 per gallon, a can of green beans is $1.83, a six pack of beer goes for a flat ten bucks and a six pack of soft drinks is $8. Bread, even the locally baked bread, will set you back $3 and you can't find lettuce, radishes, bell peppers or most other fresh veggies at any price. Surprisingly enough, we could not find any fresh seafood in the local stores. However, we did manage to take enough lobster, spear enough grouper and find enough conch that we ate pretty well. Gas is $3.58 per gallon and there ain't any cheapie places to buy gas since the Bahamian government sets the price for everyone.
The entire trip ended costing about $1,000 per person. That covered the air fare, lodging, boat rental, boat gas, dive tank and weight rental, ferry fees, groceries and even the $15 Bahamian exit fee ( I've always wondered what they do if you don't have that exit fee - refuse to let you leave? Punish me!)
The diving was top-notch with long bottom times and warm (84 degree), clear water. The lodging was good with excellent beds and plenty of hot fresh water. Even the flight was a major enjoyment due to the small aircraft and low altitudes. I highly recommend Green Turtle Cay as a dive destination, but be aware that this not the spot to go for topside entertainment such as casinos, shopping or auto touring."
Best regards.
DocVikingo
