April 27, 2004

Rock Sound, Eleuthera    Latitude 24° 50.0N - Longitude 76° 11.70W

Other cruisers I talked to in Georgetown reported that Rock Sound was likely the friendliest of stopovers, welcoming you on the radio as you sailed in.   While not welcomed on the radio, I did feel very welcome and charmed not only by the friendliness, but the happiness of the people there.  It was hard to believe that this is supposed to be one of the largest settlements on Eleuthera, for the town is very small with little going on.

One take-out type of restaurant (Sammy's) is in town and the other (the Northside) is two miles away on the other side of the island.  Due to the distance, the proprietor herself, picked a few of us cruisers up in her van so that we could enjoy dinner overlooking the Atlantic from the Northside's Cliffside restaurant.  I toured the beautiful little hillside cottages that would make an ideal rental for those wanting an isolated and personalized island experience.

Eleuthera has an abundance of blue holes and caves, some of which are inland.  While the Blue Hole Park just about in the middle of town, is not much to see in itself, I enjoyed seeing the children rush there from the nearby school, peeling down to their bathing suits (worn under their clothes), to jump from the rocky walls into the water for a swim.  We also hiked to a series of caves, where plant roots grew directly down out of the rock and seemed suspended in air (see picture) and whose resident bats seemed to take visitors in stride.

The warmth of the people made leaving Rock Sound difficult.  While it is an extremely large, protected harbor (bigger than Georgetown) the lack of activities likely prevents many boats from anchoring here for any length of time.