Marsh Harbour Suggestions?

[passedoutwookie]

I'll be heading down to Marsh Harbour in July for some diving with Brian in the Crystal Caves. We are super excited to get to experience them! We are planning to spend three days with him and then have a few extra days to fill with whatever fun stuff we can get into. I did my first discover scuba dive in 1998(ish) with Brendal on Green Turtle. We are considering taking the ferry over there for a day and possibly doing some open water diving and exploring while we are there, but don't have anything other than that in mind.

Does anyone have any general suggestions on things to do while we are in the area? Must try restaurants, must dive sites, parks, drives, landmarks, etc are all greatly appreciated!

 

[SpeedyJ]

The ferry to Green Turtle leaves from Treasure Cay, about an hour north of Marsh Harbour. If you want to spend time on GTC, I would check into accommodations there, it's probably going to be a nicer few days than being in MH, though I don't know for sure as I've never spent more than a night in Marsh Harbour.

If you stay in MH and you're a boater, renting a boat is a great way to explore the Cays, each with some unique offerings. If not, most of the other ferries leave from the Marsh Harbour area, and can get you over to Elbow Cay, Man-O-War Cay, or Guana Cay for the day. Elbow and Guana are the more tourist friendly cays with shops and restaurants, where as Man-O-War is a quieter pace. Unless you're a confident boater with ocean experience in an outboard boat, I wouldn't recommend taking a rental boat from Marsh Harbour up to Green Turtle though as running inside of Whale Cay can require navigating shifting shoals while heading outside puts you on the Atlantic.

If renting a car, Great Abaco has a national park all the way down south with some rugged hiking for the adventurous, and if you're a birder a native population of parrots which actually nest underground. Heading south you can hit up Nancy's restaurant in Sandy Point, and look out on Castaway Cay, the Disney Cruise island, while drinking a cold beer and eating one of a very limited number of menu options knowing they'll all be stellar, though I've questioned the compliance with fishing regulations. One of my favorite things to do is paddle board in the mangroves around Wilson City and Snake Cay, I *think* there is still someone doing tours post covid/Dorian, but don't know for sure as I just run down in the boat with my boards.

When in Abaco, be sure to buy the locally produced chicken, Abaco Big Bird - it's fantastic, organic fed, hormone and steroid free, and the people who own the farm properly work their butts off to compete against the imported crap we call chicken in the USA. They also make homemade ice cream, produce some fruits, and do takeaway food. And never skip out on stopping for conch salad along the roadside.

 

[Kendall Raine]

The ferry to Green Turtle leaves from Treasure Cay, about an hour north of Marsh Harbour. If you want to spend time on GTC, I would check into accommodations there, it's probably going to be a nicer few days than being in MH,

I did the same in 2021. Dove with Bryan and then went to GTC. The Crystal Caves were mind blowing and it was great diving with Bryan. I went back in 2022 to dive with him will do so again.

GTC is much nicer than Marsh and would recommend it. However, we dove with Brendal (had a very negative experience) and would not recommend him to anyone. He was the only open water option then, but it's possible other operators have returned.

 

[passedoutwookie]

Thanks everyone for the info! It seems like Brendal is the only game in town for diving. I have reached out to them to see about the feasibility of catching the ferry over in the morning, diving with them, then catching the ferry back (or if they could pick me up in MH or Treasure Cay). I did reach out to Dive Guana also and they were $1200 a day to dive with them...

I've also made some inquiries about boat rental. I'm leaning towards doing this for two days and just snorkeling (won't have anyone to stay on the boat if we dive). In hindsight, I probably should have just booked my stay in MH for the days we dive with Brian and then moved over to GTC but we will make the best of it!

Thanks again for the input!

 

[ofg-1]

There are mooring balls at Foul Cay park, some in pretty shallow water, some a bit deeper. If you get a boat, you can tie up to them. Foul Cay is just North of MOW.

There were some reef balls just off the east shore of MH. Not sure if the hurricane took them away, but they were fun.

 

[SpeedyJ]

There are mooring balls at Foul Cay park, some in pretty shallow water, some a bit deeper. If you get a boat, you can tie up to them. Foul Cay is just North of MOW.

Just because it always gives me a chuckle, I have to point out that it's Fowl Cay not Foul Cay.

There were some reef balls just off the east shore of MH. Not sure if the hurricane took them away, but they were fun.

I think you're describing Mermaids Reef, which has a few small coral heads and some reef balls. Its also accessible from shore via Johnnycake Ln to the North East of the Marsh Harbour Marina / Jib Room Restaurant.

To the south there were mooring balls at Sandy Cay / Pelican Cays Land and Sea Park. These were the best in the Abacos for snorkeling with <20' depths and a bunch of beautiful coral - don't know the current state as Michael of DiveTime moved on after the storm. Unsure if anyone has taken up the maintenance.