Conception Island

 When God returns to Earth He will not chose Jerusalem. Rather He will set his throne upon Conception Island, Bahamas. That way He will not be as homesick for Heaven. And if only a few humans come to visit, there are plenty of turtles about; even better.

Conception is a small island about 15 miles NE of Long Island. We motored over from Long Island in a glassy calm. We easily avoided the two large reefs that protect the anchorage and dropped the hook in 13 feet of water in clean sand. The island is part of the Bahamas National Trust and is a national park similar to the Exuma Park. Shelling, hunting, setting fires, and dumping trash is forbidden. Fishing is allowed. It is uninhabited and there are no buildings. It is pristine. There is not even much plastic debris on the eastern beaches and the western beaches are completely clean. This island is the most naturally beautiful place I have ever seen!

However, most amazing reason to visit here is to see the turtles. There is an tidal creek that runs through the interior of the island. Access is only available at high tide, but once over the rocky bar, the creek winds back into the island for over a mile with 1 to 4 feet of water. Dozens, if not hundreds, of sea turtles live in this protected environment. Near the end of the creek there is a deep pool of dark green water about 300 feet long, 50 feet wide and 10 feet deep. It is lined with lime stone and mangroves. We anchored and tried to stay as still as possible. Numerous turtles kept popping up to take a look at the visitors. It was a magical moment. Motoring slowly further upstream in about 3 feet of crystal clear water there were manta rays and small sharks as well as more turtles swimming under the dingy. Jan and I were amazed at how fast the turtles streaked away from the boat. They literally fly through the water moving their flippers like wings. Eventually the tide started to ebb, and we had to return or risk staying for another 12 hours. We floated down the creek carried by the wind and tide.

As the mangroves, yellow-white sand bars, and limes stone slid past with the blue sky over head and wind whistling I felt that I was not even outdoors but rather in some sort of futuristic, super realistic Disney ride. The sensation was that unreal.

On other days we hiked along the beaches. The view from the cliffs over looking the reefs is so mesmerizing that we would often spend 10 to 20 minutes just looking from one spot. From one of the promontories we could look inland to a drying lake, a salt pond. Over about an acre there was a shallow half dried lake orange- red in color. In the middle of the lake was a solitary white egret. The bird was fishing in a dainty manner so different from its Texas cousins. Here the egret did not have to keep one eye open for predators. The difference was apparent even from a distance. By this time the camera battery had died, but what a picture that scene would have made. A favorite overlook of ours is from a large rock that requires a fixed rope to climb. We had a wonderful picnic on top of this rock. Several pictures are from this spot. On a deserted beach Jan found a colony of living cittarium and numerous chitons. The cittarium look like black and white nautilus shells. How amazing to see living “sea shells!”

Snorkeling is said to be wonderful here at Conception Island. We did not have time enough to do any swimming or snorkeling. A front is due in and have to seek shelter elsewhere. Before we left we had a wonderful evening visit with new friends from Mad Cap and Sabbatical. Both are Canadian yachts. Regardless of nationality we all shared a deep regard and respect for the amazing island just off our bows.