6-18-19 Little Gaulding Cay & Hoffman's blue hole

We left Alder Cay at 8:30 in order to arrive near Hoffman Cay prior to high tide. If our first anchorage didn't work or was too crowded, that would give us enough time to get around to the back side of Hoffman Cay while the tide was high. At low tide, the passage carries 3 feet of water. At high tide, it has 6 feet. Samba draws 4 1/2 feet so you see our dilemma.

As it turns out, our first anchorage was great. No one was around and the water was flat - yeahhhh! Right after anchoring, we had this visitor welcome us - kewl!

We checked the anchor, dropped the dinghy & headed out to our first adventure of the morning. We had heard of a little island nearby with a cave so of course we wanted to check it out!

As we rounded the corner of it, we discovered a pretty little beach that led up to the little cave.

On the way in, we noticed a group of coconut palms with some reasonably ripe coconuts soooo, Kevin armed himself with rocks & a rope & finally snagged one we could open.

Success at last!

Then, it was back to the boat to see if we could access the juice & jelly.

Jim cut some "spoons" from the husk to use to scrape the jelly out. Then he whacked off the top & poured out a cup of very sweet coconut water.

Everyone loved it.

Then came the jelly which is actually the precursor of the coconut meat. It, too, was quite sweet and nourishing.








Kevin decided he reallllly liked it!

After lunch, we took the dinghy over to neighboring Hoffman Cay in search of the legendary blue hole that sits in the middle of the jungle. The first challenge was finding the trail.

Located in the middle of the island, the blue hole was around 590 feet deep and 600 feet wide with crystal clear, salty water. There was a large, 20 foot high overhang that made the prospect of diving doable - sorta.

 Cliff diving anyone?


First Jim & Kim.

Then Carol & Kim.

After a little coaxing, Carol took the plunge, too!

After the big jumps, we all hopped in & swam for a bit in the very warm and very salty pool. It truly was a wonderful experience!

On the way back, we found a number of land crabs. Some were pretty large.

 On the way back to the dinghy we decided to check out a different trail. It lead to another beautiful, secluded beach. Wow, what a place!

 Back at the boat, as the sun started to set, we thought it would be a good time to introduce Kim & Kevin to the fine art of blowing the conch horn. Needless to say, it was pretty funny.  😏

Then it was out to the bow to enjoy the last vestiges of color.

What a wonderful day this was!