The Bahamas I Remembered, and the One I Returned To
Wind howled off of the Caribbean Sea, as my wife and I stood on the white sand in Nassau, Bahamas. The turquoise water rose into a wave, crumbled and then exploded onto shore. The familiar saltwater sizzle entered the air, as the water skimmed our feet. In the distance, Paradise Island and, more specifically, Atlantis loomed in the late afternoon haze. The sun warmed my cheeks, arms and legs. The last time I stood in the Bahamas, I was alone.
When I graduated University a decade earlier for English Literature and Professional Writing, my dream was to be a travel writer. The only problem was I had no one to travel with. I tried to rally a group of my friends to go on a grad trip to Costa Rica, but none of them were interested. As a young 23-year-old hopeful travel writer, my adventure career seemed like it was over before I even started. My dad, however, had another idea: why not travel somewhere solo?
I’d never travelled anywhere alone before and, to be honest, the whole concept kind of terrified me. After searching and searching for “safe” solo travel destinations, I landed on Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas. While other spots, like Costa Rica, seemed more exotic, Bahamas offered a short flight from my home near Toronto, delivered great weather during April, and housed mega resorts, like Atlantis, where I could wander around, drink beers and swim in the ocean without ever having to leave the safety of the property. But, no matter how safe the trip seemed, the idea of travelling by myself still petrified me. With a bit of convincing from my dad, however, I bought a travel package, packed my luggage and headed out into the “wild.”
After taking in the aquariums, endless shops and restaurants, and tourist-packed pools around the resort during my first 24-hours at Atlantis, I followed the advice of a local Bahamian and got off the resort as much as I could to see the real Bahamas. During the rest of my four-day trip, I snorkelled off the side of a catamaran, embarked on a full-day powerboat journey to the islands of Exuma, and even saw my first shark in the wild. When I returned from that trip, I knew I needed to not only explore more of the world’s wild places, but also write about my travels, too.
A few months ago, after dealing with the stress of trying to sell our condo in a terrible condo market, my wife and I decided we needed a vacation. With this trip, we only wanted three things: a short flight, warm weather and, most importantly, saltwater. After researching a number of islands throughout the Caribbean, I landed on a familiar place. Could the place that launched my love of travel, adventure and wild places also serve as the perfect spot for a relaxing, beachside vacation with my wife? Now seemed like the perfect time to find out.
With a bit more travel experience under my belt this time, we opted out of the all-inclusive, tourist-driven resorts of Paradise Island and instead found a small, boutique-style resort on Nassau called Sandyport Beach Resort. The resort features pink, yellow and turquoise stucco buildings, a tennis court, a beach bar and a private beach on the Caribbean Sea. A marine protected lagoon weaves its way from the sea through the resort, offers a second beach on the lagoon’s calm waters, and provides a home for a vast variety of marine life, including eagle rays, manatees, sea turtles and sharks.
On the morning of our flight, we had coffee and breakfast at the airport, picked up a few snacks from the Relay, and boarded our two-and-a-half-hour flight to Nassau. After travelling to places like Bora Bora, New Zealand and Thailand over the past decade, the short trip to the Bahamas that I had stressed about years earlier seemed pretty chill and short. As soon as we exited the plane, humidity wrapped around our arms. Pictures of the Bahamas’ tropical waters and white sand beaches beckoned throughout the airport. Memories flooded my mind. My chest warmed.
When we arrived in Nassau, we took a ten minute cab from the airport to Sandyport Beach Resort, ate pizza right along the sea at Blue Sail Bar & Grill, and then headed straight to the beach. The Bahamas turquoise water illuminated beneath the mid-afternoon sun. Salty, humid air drifted across our bodies, as the trade winds blew through. My wife and I set up our towels on the sand, lathered on sunscreen, and then sprinted into the saltwater. My muscles relaxed, as I lay on my back, floated beneath the sun and drifted across the shoreline. A grin formed on my saltwater-covered cheeks.
On our second evening, we walked around the pastel orange, blue and yellow stucco buildings on the streets beside Sandyport Beach Resort. A few other tourists walked along the almost-empty sidewalks. As we approached the road that lined the lagoon, a few restaurants appeared. Toward the end of the road, a small, blue shack stood on stilts above the lagoon’s turquoise water. A wooden patio jutted from the shack’s side. Docked powerboats bobbed up and down in the water beside the restaurant. A small, white, oval sign that read “Spritz Restaurant & Bar” hung from the wall. We approached the hostess, asked for a table and headed inside.
The hostess led us to a table beside an open window along the back wall. As we walked across the restaurant’s wooden panel floors, I noticed the lagoon’s turquoise waters beneath us. Wooden beams clung to the vaulted roof above us. Wooden ceiling fans whirled the humid, salty air. A bar, filled with locals and tourist, rested against the wall to our right. Thick brown ropes with warm, orange lightbulbs dangled above the dark wooden bar top, dark and light blue tiles created a mosaic along the base of the bar, and shelves filled with liquor bottles covered the wall behind it.
As my wife and I sat at our table, I peered over the edge of the open window frame beside us. A salty breeze skimmed my cheeks. Below us, the lagoon’s turquoise water glistened. A moment later, two sea turtles drifted to the surface. My eyes gaped. My wife and I watched the sea turtles swim in circles for several minutes, and then disappear beneath the surface. A few minutes later, they returned.
When my Sands Beer and my wife’s red wine came, a large, dark fish glided toward the turtles. As the fish came closer and closer, I realized it was a large nurse shark. I leaned further over the window’s edge, watching the shark weave and cut through the water. The turtles shifted out of the way, as the shark passed. I beamed, and then gazed toward my wife. She smiled, as she watched the marine life below. Orange illuminated the sky, as the sun drifted closer to the horizon. The palm trees across the lagoon swayed.
The next morning, my wife and I rose early, ate breakfast on Sandyport Beach Resort’s tree and pond-lined patio by ourselves, and then played tennis beneath the Palm Trees. For the rest of the day, we sat on the beach, swam in the saltwater, and enjoyed cocktails by the lagoon. I also did something that I never usually get to do on more adventure-packed trips - I read.
After returning to Spritz again that evening and watching the sea turtles, we headed to Bon Vivants, Bahamas first true cocktail bar. We both ordered Negronis, drinking them on their tree-filled patio. A few locals and tourists gathered. Chatter mixed with the sounds of the tree leaves rustling in the warm, evening breeze. We relaxed into our chairs, as the strings lights glistened above us.
As I stood on the beach the next morning, the Bahamas’ vast turquoise waters glistened in front of me. Paradise Island and Atlantis loomed in the morning haze. Somewhere out there, the islands of Exuma beckoned. I grinned, as the sizzle of saltwater waves collided with the whir of the trade winds. My wife stood beside me on the sand. My chest warmed. The Bahamas still sparked that initial drive it gave me to explore the wild, but it also now made me appreciate the slower, more chill vibes that the islands provide. And, before we even returned home from our trip, it left me with one more thing - a desire to return again and again.