Bimini - My Favorite Rock in the Bahamas

The island of Bimini is my favorite rock I've found so far in the Bahamas. I tell everyone, Bimini is 50 miles from Florida and so many years removed. Bimini is not a place to go, if you crave bright lights and casinos (they are building a casino on the island as of November 2002, but it has a very long way to go). The things to do on Bimini (at least what I've found after a couple dozen trips) are to explore the small island (the island is a couple of blocks wide by about 7 miles long and is shaped similar to a boomerang), scuba dive, fish and at night to eat great seafood at just about any of the restaurants and then visit the handful of bars and have a drink and be sociable and meet and make new friends.

The beaches of Bimini are some of the prettiest and varied that you will ever see. Some stretch for miles with large sandy beaches and some are rocky coves to explore. The waters are normally gin clear, unless you happen to be there on one of those rare occasions, when a cold (it really isn't cold) front passes through from the States. It can kick the waters up for a day or so, but, then it settles back down to where it is simply gorgeous to behold with various brilliant colors of blue and green. Make sure you take a taxi to the north end of the island and arrange for them to pick you up a few hours later. At the very north end, you will find a long expanse of beach, you can probably claim to your self or walk back towards town on the west side of the island and you will find many secluded rock coves to call your very own. They are absolutely beautiful!

Quick Tips:

A few of my favorite places to eat are C.J.'s for lunch. Make sure to try their fabulous Conch Fries. C.J.'s Deli is absolutely the best place to go for a conch break.

I also enjoy eating dinner at the Blue Water Anchorage. They are up on a hill (well, maybe its closer to a bump than a hill) and you can see both the Atlantic and North Bimini harbor. Order their Fisherman's Platter. It’s around per person and you get lobster, fresh fish of the day, conch, scallops and on and on. Oh, they also serve you up a delicious order of Bahamas bread that is out of this world.

Captain Bob's is a great place to go for breakfast. They serve an excellent conch omelet.

Best Way To Get Around:

As far as I'm concerned, there is only one way to get to Bimini and that is by Chalk's Ocean Airways (started out originally as Chalk's and then Pan Am Air Bridge and then to Chalk's Ocean Airways). The plane is a 17-seat 1942 Grumman seaplane which you can take from Fort Lauderdale to Bimini. I believe half the fun of going to Bimini is flying in the seaplane. The flight only takes about 25 minutes or so and it gives you a great view of the island and its beautifully colored surrounding waters. The take-off from Fort Lauderdale is from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport at Terminal 4. Chalk's Ocean Airways can be reached at 1 800 424 2557.

Rooms were large and clean with two queen beds and a sleeper sofa, too. We went there in the off-season, so much of the resort was closed (dining room and bar). They have a very nice pool to swim in and there is a large marina on site.

Whenever I go to Bimini, it is to get away from hustle and bustle of the real world. If people who do drugs only realized that there is a natural drug and it’s called Bimini, they would not need anything else, but alas Bimini is addictive, too.

I only dive with Bimini Undersea (they have the only dive shop on North Bimini Island). The owners Bill and Nowdla Keefe are true professionals and the dive masters and boat captains they have working for them know the dive spots well (Melanie and Audley were great). They were impressive with their knowledge of the area waters and tried very hard to show us a good time.