Bita Bay GTC May 2007 Trip Report

[toledopirate]

Hello, a bit overdue, but here is our trip report from when our family visited Bita Bay House at Green Turtle Cay this past May. We arrived on Sunday May 12 in the late afternoon. This first pic is sunrise in front of Bita Bay House on 5/13. It was calm on this day. The other photos are from the following day when it was really windy.

[toledopirate]

Some more pictures from Bita Bay on 5/14.

[toledopirate]

Some more early morning pictures from 5/18. My girls are having breakfast, french toast and diet Coke (!) The coconut tree in the front of the house takes quite a beating from the wind, but still looks good. We tried to get out into the water snorkeling today since it was calmer.

[BahamaAngie]

The house looks like it is set up to be real comfy. Is there like a reef that forms a wall in the water? Hope you have more.

[toledopirate]

Pics from 5/20 of the surf and the house at Bita Bay. It was another windy day and overcast. Coconut tree taking another beating.

[South Pause]

Love the pix! Did the girls have french toast made with Bahama Bread? That is absolutely the best, especially if you can get your hands on the coconut bahama bread.

[toledopirate]

I don't know who this fella is, but he did spend quite a bit of time making good use of the wind on this day.

[toledopirate]

More pics of the windsurfer in action.

[toledopirate]

Here are the girls when we stopped by Brendal's and the Green Turtle Club marina. The little one with attitude is sporting a hat we picked up last year on Guana. I loved the callistemon citrinus the bottlebrush tree at the marina.

[HALF-A-HAMIAN]

Great pics, thanks for sharing!

[toledopirate]

Later that day, the girls finally down to the beach. My husband showed them how to shake out the seaweed and find little yellow crabs and some little fish with little feet. The girls had great fun doing this and generally hanging out and goofing around with each other.

[toledopirate]

More pictures from out front of Bita Bay. I was testing the telescoping feature on my Canon camera and you can just see the house on the island that is out front of Bita Bay.

[toledopirate]

Pictures of us down at New Plymouth at Green Turtle Cay. We would go into town daily to pick up fresh bread and rolls. We shopped all the grocery stores in town, but Sid's was a favorite.

[toledopirate]

The highlight of our trip to Green Turtle Cay was the snorkeling trip with Brendal's Dive Center. It really poured that day, but the trip went ahead as planned. We did some great snorkeling and stopped at an island in the sea of Abaco for lunch.

[toledopirate]

Cheer up! The stingray is coming by for a visit.

[toledopirate]

The girls got a chance to feed the ray by sticking chopped bait between their toes while the ray would swim over to them and suck up the bait as he passed by. It was really a sight to see. This is was an experience that we would have never had snorkeling on our own. As a bonus, Julia even got to drive the boat back to the dock with some guidance from another guest. What a treat!

[toledopirate]

Of course, all good things must come to an end. What a great trip! We hope to return to Bita Bay at Green Turtle Cay soon.

[Jerry S]

Report Suzanne, thanks for posting here Is the hubby enjoying his Abaco license plate?

[Abacobrad]

You mentioned the Palm Tree out front, we named him FLOYD since he was the only thing left on the beach after Hurricane Floyd! Unfortunately he got hit by lightning a month or so ago and did not make it. I cut his top off and we're going to turn him into a lighthouse! Loved seeing your pictures.

Brad

[Patti Puzo]

Nice job TP! Bita Bay looks charming, and so laid-back.
Your pictures are wonderful.

Hey Brad, I thought maybe you were going to stand on top of the palm stub with a flashlight and circle slowly!!! lol!

[BahamaAngie]

In Hawaii, they do carvings on the dead palm trees after they remove the palms, kind of like a totem pole. Real neat looking.

[Abacobrad]

AND rude appendage ideas, but never had the time to do the creative thing. Planning a labor day trip and welcome all ideas for honoring Floyd with a decorative theme. A Totem pole is a great idea Angie!

Brad

Originally Posted by BahamaAngie

In Hawaii, they do carvings on the dead palm trees after they remove the palms, kind of like a totem pole. Real neat looking.

[BahamaAngie]

Brad, I think your house looks great. But I was just wondering....from the pictures it looks like there has been beach erosion and the steps must have had the waves under them. Are you concerned about the house being so close to where that erosion area is. One of neighbors had that problem and he had to bulkhead his property which also gave him more of it. We have natural beaches in our backyards but the way the current goes 2 of the houses would get hit the most. What a great place. I am assuming that is a reef out there and when it is calm it must be real nice. I believe I have seen some pictures of it with the calm water.

[Abacobrad]

Actually Angie- I had to dig out the steps they were completley sanded over. We took a huge wash from the first storm of the year (the A storm) and it dumped another foot of sand- so our elevation went from 3' above sea level to 4'! Over the years we've seen serious erosion only to be followed by a big dump of sand. Actually a lot of my favorite lobster holes filled in too!

Brad

[JJ]

Brad, we noticed when we were there in June that the little reef right oof the beach in front of your house looked more silted up. Wasn't sure if it was just due to the conditions that day or from a storm.

[Abacobrad]

Here's a shot of a super low tide last week, this little reef is great for snorkeling and holds lots of tropicals. It too is sanding in a good bit over the past year. JJ- you are right about the other small reef- it has filled in a lot and almost taken the 'hot tub'!

Brad

[BahamaAngie]

Brad that looks like a real safe area for little kids to wade between beach and reef (and us grandmas too)!

[toledopirate]

BahamaAngie, the beach here is just marvelous. We snorkeled in front every day we could. The beach is also great for wading and swimming and fishing for all ages.