Nassau and New Providence Island

Arrived in Rose Island from Bond’s Cay (Berry Islands)

We arrived at Rose Island about mid-afternoon, following the 30 mile run (about four hours) from Bond’s Cay in the Berry Islands, to find it full, with eight sailboats and our two approaching trawlers. We crossed the North West Providence Channel

The following morning, we headed into Nassau, entering the harbor from the East. Missing the myriad of cruise ships docked.

We elected to tie up at then Nassau Harbour Club, where water traffic, wake and noise is substantially less than other marinas to the west. In addition, Peter, the Dock Master, who has been at Harbour Club in excess of 24 years, does his utmost to personally ensure that the needs of every cruiser are satisfied.

Harbour Club is conveniently located across the street from Harbour Bay Plaza, where one will find a Starbucks, a welcome sight to a travelling cruiser. For the price of a cup of coffee, one can have 1 -2 hours of good internet connection. The City Market grocery store is also located here, as is the “Video Stop”, where one can purchase a SIM card for an unlocked phone, which allows your cell phone to work in the Bahamas, costing significantly less for calls back to the US and local calls. Pre-paid cell phone top-up is also readily available at Video Stop.

We enjoyed lunch at the "Poop DEck" restaurant, located at Nassau Yacht Haven. Food and service were good, with a pleasant view.

Nassau is not one of our favorite stops, especially when numerous cruise ships are in harbor. The myriad of duty free shops are not our thing, but downtown Nassau does have some great historical architecture, if one chooses to push through the thousands of cruise ship visitors. We prefer to remain out on East Bay Street, well away from the crowds and focus on re-provisioning and other nautical tasks, before departing for the more remote, and beautiful Exumas chain of islands.