A Yachtsman’s Paradise With All of the Trappings
Sandals’ New Top-of-the-Line Resort Caters to the High-End Lifestyle in Secluded Caribbean Sanctuary Where Pirates Once Held Sway
By Kai Beasley
Unparalleled luxury awaits discerning and knowledgeable travelers who visit the new Sandals Emerald Bay, Great Exuma, Bahamas, in a setting so pristine and unspoiled that you feel as though you are half a world away.
Sandals Emerald Bay is set along a one-mile stretch of white sand beach. Previously operated as the award-wining Four Seasons Resort Great Exuma at Emerald Bay, it debuted as a Sandals property on February 4, 2010, becoming the newest of 14 Luxury Included® Sandals Resorts located in Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia and The Bahamas.
It is the first Sandals resort with a marina, a Norman-designed golf course and professionally trained butlers in all of its rooms. The marina stands out as a testament to recreational boating in the Exumas, which have been a yachtsman’s paradise for more than a century.
Many boaters call the Exumas home for several months of the year. They come from the United States, Canada and Europe to drop anchor during the winter months.
The collection of about 365 cays and islands stretching over 120 miles are located in the middle of The Island Of The Bahamas, yet they remain mostly undisturbed. They form a necklace of hideaways, natural harbors and secluded beaches along the Tropic of Cancer with rich and very colorful history.
The Perfect Backdrop
Hog Cay, just south of Little Exuma, which is connected to Great Exuma by a bridge, was featured in the second and third “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, starring Johnny Depp. Portions of the James Bond thriller James Bond thriller “Thunderball” were filmed at Staniel Cay, some 40 miles north of Great Exuma.
Stretching 37 miles from the northern tip to the southern tip, Great Exuma is the largest of the islands and George Town, the nation’s capital, is located there.
George Town is home to The Family Island Regatta, The New Year’s Day Cruising Regatta and the National Out Island Regatta. Each has it’s own charm and local footprint. For example, the Family Island Regatta began in April of 1954, when about 70 Bahamian schooners, dinghies and sloops assembled in Elizabeth Harbour for a three-day racing event. Sailors in 1954 competed with the same boats they used to earn their livelihoods.
By the second year, they were building faster racing boats to increase their chances of winning the prize money. That same spirit endures today and the regatta draws the best racing boats from virtually every island in the Bahamas. The Marina at Sandals Emerald Bay, a few miles north of Elizabeth Harbour, serves as the perfect backdrop for these and many other events, Stewart said.
“The marina is a perfect location for boating enthusiasts to drop their anchor during the local competitions,” said Stewart. “The facility is open to the public, who are encouraged to come ashore and enjoy our luxurious amenities at the marina, such as the welcome clubhouse which features a full-service restaurant including al fresco dining on a wraparound terrace and a pool.”
The fully protected 17-acre marina offers 150 slips and is equipped to accommodate and service yachts up to 240 feet in length. It features a system of floating docks, which is essential to the security of moored crafts during weather conditions when water levels can rise and fall dramatically.
The channel leading into the marina is constructed to break the waves that often occur from daily traffic and weather conditions. Additionally, a system was put in place to ensure that the marina is a fully flushing facility that uses a combination of systems to aerate and pump the marine waters.
For those sailing to The Bahamas from the Unites States and other countries, the marina offers a convenient customs and immigration point of entry. Access to utilities, such as electricity, water, cable TV, wi-fi and telephone are available to all boats, along with the advantage of 3-phase power (30/50/100 amp), essential for servicing large yachts. An upgrade to 480 volts is expected to be completed soon.
The full-service, high-speed fueling dock offers both diesel and gasoline. Experienced maintenance crews are available at all times for assistance and service bays are available.
Guests who choose to stay on their boats can take advantage of the marina’s shop, with a full array of provisions; showers, restrooms and changing facilities; complimentary laundry with four large capacity washers and dryers; available dry cleaning service; concierge services; and a large crew lounge with free wi-fi, and a private dining room and dedicated pool.
Big Break Coming
Recreational boaters who are also golf enthusiasts can test their skills at Sandals Emerald Reef Golf Club, the par 72, 7,200-yard championship course that was designed by Greg Norman. The PGA Hall of Fame great is also the new lifestyle spokesman for the resort.
The golf course, which opened for play in 2004, features six seaside holes and the first 10 holes wind through a mix of seaside dunes and mangrove preserves. Eleven of the 18 holes play along a rocky peninsula, giving players unparalleled views of the Caribbean Sea as they walk through native vegetation such as silver buttonwood, sand fly bush and cabbage palms.
Sandals Emerald Reef will play host to the 13th season of the Golf Channel’s popular Big Break series in June. For this series, 11 women will compete for a sponsor’s exemption to a 2010 LPGA Tour event and a Ladies European Tour event. Norman is scheduled to make a guest appearance on the show.
Resort guests in search of a relaxing experience can visit the Red Lane® Spa, a 16,000-square-foot facility known for its use of botanical and indigenous ingredients. The spa includes 17 indoor treatment rooms, six outdoor sanctuaries, hot and cold plunge pools, Eucalyptus steam baths and saunas, fully stocked vanity areas and a full-service beauty salon.
One of the most poplar amenities at the resort is the new half-acre freshwater pool with a fire-pit seating area, Jacuzzi and pool bar. Flanking the pool are misting columns and cabanas equipped with wireless Internet access. Butlers scan the area, offering guests Evian spritzers, fresh towels with cucumber slices and sorbet.
“The area of the pool closest to the lobby where the Jacuzzi is located is heated and they encourage couples to come at night,” said Jennifer Doncsecz, President of VIP Vacations in Hamburg, PA, just north of Philadelphia. “They have a buffet with champagne and chocolate, and the sky is beautiful. The stars just glow.”
The Exumas are the historic home of the Lucayan Indians, who lived there and throughout the Bahamas for centuries before Columbus discovered the islands in 1492. The Lucayans were wholly enslaved by the Spanish to work in Central and South America in the 1500s, leaving Exuma and the rest of the Bahamas virtually uninhabited until the arrival of the British to Eleuthera around 1648.
In the intervening period, the Exumas served as a hideout and stash for pirates. Elizabeth Harbour was said to be a favorite destination of Captain Kidd.
Salt Mines to Celebrity Havens
When British Loyalists from colonial America – the “plantation aristocracy” from Virginia and North and South Carolina – began arriving in the 1780s to escape the political turmoil of the Revolutionary War, Exuma was the main salt producing island and the primary customers were to colonies on the North American coast. Many of the Loyalists who settled in Exuma had been farmers in the southern U.S. colonies. They planted cotton and brought slaves in to work the fields.
When George Town was founded in 1793, the island was prospering. But the thin layer of topsoil was declining from years of over planting and the weakened plants were becoming increasingly susceptible to insects. By the time of the abolishment of slavery and the Emancipation Act in 1834, Exuma was in decline. Most of the Loyalist farmers had left the island and the decimated land gradually became the property of the abandoned slaves, who farmed he land and fished for more than a century.
While the Exumas were built on salt mines, cotton plantations and piracy, tourism plays a leading role today. They are now known for their pristine beaches, the regattas, fishing, diving and the kind of anonymity that allows it to be a haven for celebrities who own their own islands.
“I have traveled everywhere – the South Pacific, Hawaii, the Mediterranean – and I didn’t realize in that part of the Bahamas lied this paradise,” says Doncsecz, of VIP Vacations.
“The water here is just gorgeous and the beach Sandals is on is one of the most beautiful stretches of beach I have ever seen. I think this resort is destined to be the best one in the Sandals portfolio.”
