Bahamas - Exumas: Thunderball Grotto and “Swimming” Pigs

Day 279

April 15, 2016

NM Today: 57

NM Total: 4264

Clark listened to his 6:30 Chris Parker report. I stayed in bed until about 7:15. When I came out of my stateroom expecting to sit down for breakfast, Clark greeted me with we’re leaving here now and heading to Staniel Cay to go snorkeling at the cave. I knew Clark had toyed with that idea, but I thought he had decided to do the snorkeling on Saturday – not today.

Clark is predictable in many ways, but when it comes to the boat, I expect the unexpected. Within five minutes of my making an appearance on deck, we were underway and on our way to Staniel Cay. We stopped at Thunderball Grotto first. This cave has been made famous because it was used in the filming of two James Bond movies including Thunderball. It was also used in the filming of Splash; however, Splash Grotto sounds nowhere near as interesting as Thunderball Grotto.

Although I felt somewhat nauseous from nerves, I was determined that I was going to go into the cave with Clark. Part of me wanted to see it; the other part worried about Clark going in alone. Given the crowd at the cave, I need not have worried over him being alone in there.

We arrived at 9:30 with a low tide today of 10:00 a.m. Perfect! At low tide the cave is accessible by swimming in. At high tide the entrance to the cave is underwater and can only be accessed by diving. As I approached the cave with Clark I have to admit I was afraid. Others snorkeling there mentioned that lion fish could be found at the edge of the cave. They warned against touching them as they are poisonous. Of course that added to my uncertainty and anxiety with the whole expedition.

Clark bounded off with camera in hand to take pictures, but I called him back to stay with me until I got into the cave. Once inside I could relax and enjoy the numerous fish swimming all around me. Sadly not too many of Clark’s pictures came out in the cave as it was mostly dark in there. A few did come out okay however.

Thunderball Grotto

Entrance to Cave

Looking up while in Cave

Exit from Cave

Exit as seen from Outside of Cave

Person Snorkeling Coming Out of Cave

Evelyn Snorkeling with Fish

Fish in Thunderball Grotto

After we exited the cave, we swam around to the entrance and went back in for a second look around. We came out this second time the same way we went in. For low tide, the current was swift at the entrance to the cave. I had trouble navigating the exit as a large rock formation hung down in the middle of the “doorway”. As I swam around it, I got too close to the wall of the cave and banged my elbow on the rocks. I left with three small puncture wounds in my elbow as a keepsake of my snorkeling adventure.

Close up of Cave Entrance

Several Folks Heading to Cave Entrance

When we returned to our dinghy, Clark was able to move the dinghy to a place where I could stand and step into the dinghy nice as you please. Our cave tour completed, we quick tied the dinghy back onto Sea Moss to be towed behind us as we made our next two stops. First, we went to the Staniel Cay dock for fresh water. We filled up, paid our $20 @ $.40 per gallon, and were back on our way again. This time to go see the “swimming” pigs.

Big Pig Walking Through the Waters by the Cay

"Swimming" Pigs at Big Majors Anchorage

After checking out the “swimming” pigs, we pulled the dinghy up on the swim platform as we usually do when underway and headed for Allen’s Cay for tonight’s anchorage. Five hours after we left the pigs on shore we arrived at Allen’s Cay for one night’s stay. We were here not so long ago but with all we have seen and done, it feels much longer. This is the anchorage with the endangered Exuma Lizards.

On our way to Allen’s Cay anchorage we noticed the sky sported odd colors in the clouds. For a while they appeared pink (unusual for mid-day) and then later Clark noted the sky looked green which he thought might be a reflection of the water. He tried to take pictures of both oddities but they could only be seen well with polarized sunglasses.  He even tried putting polarized sunglasses on the camera, but still could not capture the effect properly.

He did get a good picture though showing the colors of the water including the green that he could not capture in the sky.

Colors of Water, e.g. Green

We arrived at Allen’s Cay seven and a half hours after leaving Blackpoint. Since we had seen the Exuma Lizards last time here, we did not drop the dinghy and go in for a closer look though I could see them on the shore as when we were here a few days ago. When we depart Allen's Cay tomorrow, we leave the Exumas and head to a different section of the Bahamas  – the Eleutheras.