Pau Pau Bay is only about three nautical miles to the north of Ten Bays and it was a very easy sail and very enjoyable. After anchoring we went snorkeling on the nearest cay which is called Sheep Cay. The water is very deep right up to the rocks and the visibility was not all that great. Andre saw a nurse shark that was sleeping under a ledge but I didn’t see it. There were some other decent sized fish but Andre decided to just take a nice sized crab for dinner.
We slowly drifted with the dinghy around the island to the small beach and noticed that the island had much more birds than any of the other islands we were at. We saw a few turtles swimming around and then snorkeled back to the boat while towing the dingy behind us. The following day the wind started blowing from the west which made the anchorage very uncomfortable, so we decided to move on to Governor’s Harbor which is only about four nautical miles further. Again, it was a delightful sail all the way there.
With the weather being a bit unstable, it was nice to take refuge in the very quiet harbor for a few days. It is a very quaint little town with many restaurants, looks like a fresh coat of paint on many buildings, and a very busy harbor with large mailboats coming and going about every second day.
It was such a pleasure sitting out on the boat in the evenings in a lovely breeze, have our dinner and wine with beautiful music in the background floating across the water from different directions. The amazing thing was that the music never overlapped. It seemed as though one restaurant offers free live music from six to eight pm and then the other restaurant offers their live music for the later crowd from eight to ten pm. The genres were different so we enjoyed the best of both worlds and by ten pm everything went dead quiet.
The laundry facility is about a half mile’s walk up the hill and then turning right to find it a hundred or so yards further. The laundry prices were fair and the machines are new and clean. We later found a shorter route that goes directly next to the grocery store through an empty lot to the street where the laundromat could be found.
The grocery store is just opposite the police station which is almost on the bay, so that is very convenient to get to by dinghy. The variety of food and cleaning materials is good and the prices nothing out of the ordinary for the Bahamas. The liquor store is on Cupid’s Cay behind the Government buildings.
Customs and immigration’s office is right on the harbor by Cupid’s Cay, so that is very convenient if you want to check in or out or get an extension for your immigration period or your cruising permit.
As you walk up the hill towards the Atlantic ocean, it is evident that a lot of rich people have settled in Governor’s harbor. The houses are big, well kept and even the yards are well manicured – most of the older houses are built in a colonial style.
On the Atlantic side is the most beautiful pink beach, turquoise water and the beach is at least a mile long.
There are ruins of a Club Med development right on the beach, but in the meantime the entire hill is being developed with fancy new homes and most of the infrastructure is already being worked on. Of course I find it very sad because I’m not even sure that we’ll be able to visit this gorgeous beach again on our next visit. Most of these developments close off as much as possible of the public access to the beaches.
On the northern side towards Stinky Beach the rocks have many blow holes and it is always fun to watch when the water is forced through the holes into the air. Some of them make a whistling noise and then a misty stream of water spouts out before the huge fountain is blown out of the rocks.
The Haynes library in town was established in 1897 and is probably the best kept library I’ve seen on all the islands. The same librarian has been working there for more than twenty years and she obviously takes great pride in her work. The top floor has a media center with computers and internet so that the community don’t fall behind on the latest technology.
On Friday’s the little restaurant between the library and the beautiful church on the bay have a fish fry and the cooking starts early in the afternoon. They have chicken and pork in addition to the fish and the community starts lining up well before opening time at six pm. The whole event with DJ’s, games and live music was over at about nine pm, which could be an indication that either the food was finished or the sprinkle of rain put a damper on the mood.
All in all a worthwhile stop for a few days. We didn’t get out to snorkel, but at east swam in the Atlantic ocean.