Georgetown, Great Exuma, Bahamas

Georgetown is the largest settlement on the Exumas with about 1,000 inhabitants supplemented by yacht owners and diving companies. The town takes about 15 minutes to walk around and the most interesting features are St Andrews Episcopalian church and the Victoria Pond, which is connected to the ocean by a narrow channel.

There are some internationally famous beaches on Great Exuma, such as Cocoplum Beach, but it’s worth exploring other parts of the Exumas too. I journeyed down to the southern end of Great Exuma via the settlements of Rolle Town, Ferry, and Forbes Hill.

Rolle Town commands a great view over the shallow sea towards Man of War Cay. The colours of the sea are various varieties of light blue that are gorgeous to look at. When the tide is out, visitors can walk across to Man of War Cay, which is uninhabited. There are many beaches, which didn’t appear to have a soul on them. Ferry is just after a bridge and was the home of the ferryman in former times. Ferry has a small baptist church, about twice the size of an average garden shed. Forbes Hill is a lovely hamlet with multi-coloured homes with picket fences and palm trees all around. There is also a cannon in a field pointing vaguely in the direction of the sea. Forbes was a Loyalist who fled America after the War of Independence when the wrong side won.

When I come back to the Exumas I will bring a kayak with me and explore the hundreds of cays in the sea to the north west of Great Exuma. Now that sounds like fun.