Sampson Cay closing to the public

The Nassau Guardian

This sucks..... The Island Manager (Mike) was telling me that the owner (John) was considering closing it or keeping it a little more low key and limiting the amount of visitors. In the Exumas, it was my favorite place due to the beauty of it, the ships store/grocery store, the protected dockage, and they usually always have fuel. Now there's only Compass which is protected and beautiful but has no restaurant except hot dogs/hamburgers for lunch, and they don't sell fuel. The other alternative is Staniel Cay Yacht Club, which you can't dock at the marina when it's blowing out of the west/NW, they don't sell any groceries, and they frequently run out of fuel. Luckily I've been to Sampson 7 different times in the last year....Last time the owner I worked for rented all of the cottages and houses, for two families that were guests of theirs, and we pretty much had the whole island to ourselves......except for a couple boats in the marina......

So this is on top of Walker's Cay which has been on the market and way overpriced for ages so not likely to be back anytime soon.

Looking at the various islands in the bahamas for someone who wants a personal estate, purchasing one that has been a business and has all utilities as well as docks is the quicker way to go. Now on a purchase the Bahamian government can stop it from being sold for the purpose of removing it from commercial use but if one already owns it, nothing to do. Even on a purchase, it may not be something they would do. They'd love to have investors doing anything that would employ more people. But the reality is there are a lot of islands for sale and they are not moving.

The current owner John Malone has owned it for over a decade. He developed it into what it is back around 2003. I think it's one of the most beautiful islands in the Bahamas.....the view at low tide from the marina is breath taking. Plus it had everything you needed, bbq grills, outside tables, laundry room, restrooms, nice grocery store (for exumas), fuel always, restaurant, paved walkways, and a very protected marina. They also put paths through the natural vegetation, without tearing it all down......

Getting things built down there does take a lot of time......they've been building on overyonder for about 3 years now and it's still not done. The problem is you pretty much have to redo everything every 10 years down there.......

That's why the last time there was a rumored buyer for Walkers Cay it fell through. They just couldn't figure out how to achieve the profit. The commercial buildings I've seen many of them put up and the docks are not designed to survive the conditions long term. Building costs are already substantially more than in the US but if one wants them to survive they really need to spend even more. Also desperately need to look at using alterrnative energy sources.

The problem is that at the costs of building a business there, one may need to target a very select audience of megayachts and super rich where price isn't really an issue. Rent our select island properties that are clearly luxurious and beyond the ordinary and provide exceptional service. Either that or they need to put together a plan that truly creates major job opportunities and, therefore, they can get some government assistance.

Unfortunately, like most tourist destinations, the Bahamas have been negatively impacted by the economy of the last few years. Even something as small as the entry fee makes some people have second thoughts. And if you build a marina you absolutely must be a port of entry.

The subject of building business there is one that I find most interesting. Unfortunately, I don't have the information and haven't done the research to know how to make it viable. I know no one is going to spend $20 million on Walker's Cay and then all the other money that would be required. You have this island being converted to personal because there just isn't the financial incentive and future profits to justify rebuilding it as a business.

As someone who intends a lot of trips over since I live so close, I'm very interested in the continued building and maintenance of services for boaters.

Sampson Cay always broke even and that is all the owner wanted it to do. A few smaller things could've been done to make it turn a profit, but it would've taken away from the island itself as a whole. The closing of it will really negatively impact that area of the Exumas, as half the dockage for the entire area has been eliminated. The only decent grocery store as well as well as their large fuel reserves.

The biggest problem is, if it starts blowing out of the NW really strong. Most of the anchorages are not usable or comfortable and Staniel Cay YC is unusable which leaves only Compass Cay in that area which wouldn't have enough dockage. The only other option is hike 40NM North to Highbourne or 75NM back to Nassau.....

It's when you look at the need to pour more money in that suddenly break even no longer is enough.

As I haven't spent much time in the Bahamas yet, I do have a question for those of you who have. What percentage of the docks are typically filled at the marinas both during their slower periods and their busy times? I was told recently than many of them had a relatively low occupancy rate now. Low being defined by the person telling me as below 70%.

We do hope to spend a week soon just island hopping through and around the Bahamas.

The impression I've gotten is much as you've described with Bimini so popular because of proximity and Nassau simply because of all there is going on there. We know we won't cover it all in a week, just get a bit of exposure. I am remembering our plan from the top of my head at the moment, but I believe it is a day in each of these areas, somewhat in this order of North to South. Lucaya/Grand Bahama, Abaco, Berry Islands, Nassau, Aleuthera, Exumas, Andros, Bimini. We'll actually be out nine days. I'd call this our taste of the Bahamas Tour. Most of the time we'll get out and explore on the water starting early and until afternoon, then explore on land late afternoon and evening. On the other hand if the plans change along the way, we aren't concerned. We've only set day one pretty much in stone. The rest of our plans are quite flexible.

I agree with all of the sentiments above......your trip is way too hectic. Most of those stops are easy to achieve on any trip (Bimini, Port Lucaya), so I'd skip them. I once did a 14 day trip Starting in Treasure Cay in the Abacos. We cruised every other day. We hit Atlantis, then Sampson Cay, then Great Exuma, then Cat Island, then Spanish Wells, then Hope Town then back to Treasure. I would start your trip in Treasure Cay, fly there and meet the boat as it's about a 220nm trip to Treasure and not a whole lot to see between ft. laud and there. (you can make that in a day in a '60 hatteras from Lauderdale) and work your way down in the stops I mention below, or Nassau. Treasure Cay, Abaco's first, then about 60 nm to Harbour Island (get woody (pilot) to take you in) then it's 60nm down to Highbourne, then about 40nm to Compass Cay. Staniel is another 15nm

You really need to spend about 4 days in the Abaco's and 4-5 days in the Exumas, and a few days in Harbour Island. In the Abaco's must stops would be Treasure Cay/Boat Harbour, Green Turtle Cay, Hope Town, and Guana Cay.

In the Exumas- Overnight at Highbourne Cay, snorkel the dc 9 at Norman's Cay. then Compass for overnight, then Staniel- do Rachel's bubblebath at Compass, the marina at high tide for the nurse sharks, Rocky Dunda's at low tide for the caves, then Thunderball cave at low tide, Pigs at Big Majors, see the sandbar behind sampson at low tide, dinner at Fowl Cay 1 night, Staniel Cay for a night, and make sure to do the inside dinghy passage from Compass Cay to Staniel. Breadboy rents nice boats from 17' whalers up to a 27' Contender. The islands south of there can be pretty but they're pretty much deserted.

Harbour Island- the beach, golf cart around to all of the different stores and restaurants. The Rock House for dinner is awesome. The wood fired restaurant at Ramora Bay for dinner is awesome.

The nature of this trip is more like a drive by. Think of it as a Sunday afternoon out driving through the countryside or around neighborhoods. We're not intending to really experience the Bahamas. That starts on our next trip there. Mainly just see from the boat. Just drive by and get a look at the various islands in each chain. Then at night just experience a new marina and what is near it. One of it's purposes too is to build up a lot of time as both my wife and I will get about 30 hours or so. There will be a little bit of swimming and exploring in the dinghy, no snorkeling. We fully know that a week could well be spent each place we're going and future trips will be to go back and spend at least three or four days at each location. We'll spend more time in the boat than anywhere else. More a cruise by than a cruise to. We will actually be making the trip in a 63 foot Riva Vertigo. Our Hatteras 60 is a long time away as we haven't even ordered it yet. Haven't and won't fully decide until after we visit the factory. Right now our boats are the Vertigo and a Riva Rivarama we use mostly for day trips to Miami or Palm Beach. Now we did see Norseman's cute little electric he posted about and one of those is tempting. Oh and we have three dinghy's....don't even ask how one ends up with more dinghy's than boats. Well, trying some jet dinghy's and everyone says how much trouble and that you need a spare. So have two Williams and then the Vertigo came with an Avon Seasport. Just used them mostly so far around the canals in Fort Lauderdale, playing a bit. But so far not had a problem with any of them so time will tell.

We have the same impression of Nassau. We are stopping there mainly for two friends to come back home and another two to join us. Might spend a couple of hours in the Casino but no more.

Sounds like some excellent itineraries for future trips. Well, except the snorkeling part. Not something we've taken up. And flying to meet the boat isn't us. We would much rather go in the boat. Trip from our house to Lucaya is about 95 nm. So we figure we can leave at 7:00 AM and arrive there for entry by noon or even earlier depending on conditions. While we haven't made that many trips yet, our Captains have already corrupted us and we like getting early starts each day. We took a very leisurely trip to Savannah a few weeks ago (and yes we took two weeks). They were amazed that each morning we were actually going to move anywhere, Belle and I were up at 7:00. At home that's not our pattern at all. But we love to undock at 7 or so and typically enjoy the calm. Now I know in the Northeast that's often accompanied by fog but we've not encountered that yet in our limited excursions. We obviously could just stay in bed and let them undock and move us, but we enjoy being a part of it. Plus we need all the practice undocking and docking that we can get and, even more, getting in and out of most of the inlets and areas marinas are in, the navigation.

Why not just do a trip that you'll enjoy rather than a drive-by. By the time the Captain gets in each day, he's going to have his hands full rinsing and chamoising the boat only to leave the next day. All you will see is the marina and restaurant and won't have time for anything else. The best is to travel every otherday and have a full day at each stop to really see something. Another option would be to leave the boat at a marina over there and come back after a week or so and cover more ground, with a break in between.

That is the way we normally travel. We will enjoy this. If we find we aren't, we'll change midstream. We use to take entire days sometimes and just explore the lake, even though we knew it well. Just see the shoreline, look at the homes, see changes. We may take a day off midway or at any other time. But we actually enjoy just looking at all the islands. We did a similar thing in the keys not long ago, especially looking at all the islands listed for sale and those surrounding them. We're just getting the lay of the land plus getting some lessons in navigating these waters. That is a large part of it. Learning about reefs and looking at exposures of docks and anchorages to different winds.

I know this doesn't sound like fun to most of you. We will make our future trips there like you are suggesting. We'll take many trips, spending several days just in one area. But we want to get a feel for how everything lays out, of the distances, of the developed and undeveloped areas. Even looking at the islands for sale our of curiosity. No, we don't intend to buy any. We had fleeting thoughts of that but decided against it. Of course, always subject to change of mind. Frankly, we were amazed how cheap some of them were. We may occasionally anchor and dinghy in to places or even swim to shore. We've studied the areas, visited every part of it virtually, and now just want to take it in from the water. We really want to learn as much as we can about the Bahamas from a navigational standpoint too. Part of this is more training for Belle and myself. Even learning to anchor in some of the areas and more about how to pick a good anchorage.

As to the Captains, with two of them it won't be bad. Plus there will be young people around most of the marinas more than willing to wash the boat down. One thing I'll mention too is that when our current Captains, who are really our Managers/Captains, take us, especially on the Vertigo with it's limited space, we don't have them use the crew cabin, but instead they use a regular cabin. They have really become very close friends. Most of the time they share our guest house with a couple that relocated with us as our Property Managers. They were living on their boat and still spend many days off on it. They always come back with fresh fish too. They have a 74' Viking Sportsfishing Boat.

After this trip we'll sit down and plan vacations to each different area. We already have a plan for working those in. Often when we're cruising more distant areas we'll leave the boat and come home for a month. During that time we will take one or two short trips with friends. In our way of thinking there are at least 100 potential Bahama trips and still not see it all. We'll probably go across 5 or 6 times a year. It's the sort of thing that we can really be sitting at home by the pool and just decide to go to any of those the next day.

As to leaving a boat there, we've thought about it and may sometime, but we can get home by boat if conditions are good in no more time than it would take flying by the time you get to the plane, fly, clear and drive home.