Andros site 01

The following are options for “land-based” day/half-day trips (listed in the “Sites and Sights” guide). These options include settlements, natural areas, and inland blue holes (similar to freshwater lakes). Items labeled with an “*” will be included in the itinerary, others are options.

1) Red Bays* (settlement) - Subjects: History and Culture, Botany, Medicinal Chemistry - Points of Interest: • Henry Wallace, a Rasta woodcarver, makes wood carvings from mahogany, horse flesh and cedar. • Almost everyone in Red Bays does some kind of straw weaving. • There are a wide variety of fruit trees and vegetables, as well as people knowledgeable in bush medicine. • Otis Marshall sells his sponges and artwork. He also talks about how the sponging works on Andros. • Visit the Sponge Dock on the west side of the island. This is one of the only places to see some of the west side of the island by land.

2) Morgan’s Bluff and Cave; Regatta Beach* - Subjects: History and Culture, Geology - Points of Interest: • This 65’ bluff is the highest point on Andros. A short walk up to the cliff face takes the group to a beautiful view of the ocean and reef. • The legend goes that notorious pirate Captain Henry Morgan buried his treasure in the cave below Morgan’s Bluff. This cave is easily-accessible and fun to walk and crawl through. • Regatta beach is a great spot for shelling, lunch, and watching the boats in and out of the largest port on Andros.

  3) Nicholl’s Town (settlement)* - Subjects: Coral, Fish, Geology, History and Culture - Points of Interest: • Coconut Grove is one of the best snorkeling sites on a calm day, and a great place for lunch. This fringing reef area is accessible from the shore. The beach is a good walk and has excellent shelling. • The Nicholl’s Town beach has a fossilized reef from the Pleistocene Epoch, which is great place for an in‐the‐field geology talk. • Sly Fox is a great place to stop for take‐away or a cold drink at Nicholls Town beach. • Conch Sound Blue Hole is an oceanic blue hole only 50 feet offshore. See huge spadefish and a shipwreck. (Allow 1 more hour for this snorkel.)

4) Owen’s Town (settlement) - Subjects: Birding, Herpetology, History and Culture - Points of Interest: • The site of the once‐prosperous lumber mill and worker housing of the Owens‐Illinois Lumber Company. Owen’s Town was abandoned in 1974 when the lumbering ceased. Now the ruins are home to birds, reptiles, and plants who are quickly reclaiming the site.

5) Blanket Sound/ Big Pond (settlement)* - Subject: Culture - Points of Interest: • Mt. Hope Baptist Church holds service Sundays at 11:00 a.m. (Blanket Sound) • Highway Pentecostal Church holds service Sundays at 11:00 a.m. (Big Pond) • A walk across sand flats leads you through a mangrove forest to the former Blanket Sound School and old Forfar campsite. Great for birding and shelling. • Merlie’s Straw Shop sells meals, ice cream cones, candies and souvenirs. • Across the street from Merlie’s is Annie’s store, where straw work and other crafts are sold.

6) Fresh Creek (settlement)* - Subjects: History and Culture - Points of Interest: • Just south of Fresh Creek is the Androsia Batik Factory and store. Established in the late 1960’s, its fabrics are now distributed worldwide. Take a tour to see the process of fabric decorating, batik some clothes, or go shopping at their factory store. • Lighthouse Club and Marina is a good place to snorkel the creek, see passing boat traffic, and see some relics of Andros’ pirate history.

7) Uncle Charlie’s Blue Hole* - Subjects: Geology - Point of Interest: • This easily-accessible blue hole (a circular, freshwater lake) is only 1/4 mile off the main road, 10 minutes past the San Andros Airport. It’s a good freshwater rinse and a lovely place to swim.

8) Captain Bill’s Blue Hole* - Subjects: Geology, Birds, Botany - Point of Interest: • The largest blue hole on the island, Captain Bill’s is 440ft across. There is an exhilarating 15’ jump into the water and a pavilion for relaxing. • As part of Blue Hole National Park, Captain Bill’s is well kept by the Bahamas National Trust so there are plenty of nature trails and birding.

9) Cousteau’s Blue Hole - Subjects: Geology - Points of Interest: • Back along the logging roads is one of the deepest blue holes on the island. The algae mats and rock formations make for an eerie snorkel. Jacques Cousteau is reported to have lost a video camera in the depths of this hole (~350 feet deep).

10) Rainbow Blue Hole - Subjects: Botany, Geology - Points of Interest: • The hike back passes through coppice and scrubland and ends at a beautiful inland blue hole. Little is known about it, including the depth, which is estimated to be 150 feet. Mosquito fish will come nibble on your toes and there are caverns to explore with a mask and snorkel.

11) Hub Cap Blue Hole - Subjects: Geology - Points of Interest: • This hole is of interest to those studying blue holes or the life in and around blue holes. It is more than halfway filled in and supports a large population of mosquito fish and pupfish. It has two neighboring holes, which are completely filled in. (Depth uncertain)

12) Atala Coppice* - Subjects: Botany - Points of Interest: • This site is named for the endangered Atala Hairstreak butterfly that makes its home in the area. The short hike through this pocket of coppices seems like tropical rainforest with its bromeliads and orchids, banana holes, and freshwater ponds.

13) Maidenhair Coppice - Subjects: Botany, Geology - Points of Interest: • Maidenhair was once a cultivated area and has since grown into a beautiful place for a leisurely hike. Named for the maidenhair ferns that grow there, the trail is a loop that winds its way through an incredible diversity of plants and banana holes, as well as, a small freshwater pond.

14) Money Point* - Subjects: Invertebrates - Point of Interest: • A road through a mangrove swamp takes you to our favorite tide pooling area at low tide. The students can flip over rocks to find an array of invertebrates including sea stars, snails, shrimp, lobsters, and crabs. • This is a perfect place for an in‐the‐field invertebrate talk.

15) Somerset Beach 1 - Subjects: Invertebrates, Fish, Coral - Point of Interest: • This beautiful white sand beach stretches for several miles. Not only is it one of our favorite lunch spots, there is a red mangrove swamp, tidal flats, and a driftwood forest. Excellent shelling, birding, and snorkel the hard‐to‐find offshore blue hole.

16) Stafford Creek* - Subjects: Fish, Botany - Points of Interest: • Start at the Stafford Creek Bridge and snorkel the mangroves all the way back to Forfar. At night, you can see tarpon and sharks swim under the bridge. • Check out Archie’s Blue Hole, a small blue hole just north of the creek and east of the road (18 feet deep).

The following are options for “sea-based” day/half-day trips (listed in the “Sites and Sights” guide). These options all include boat travel with most including snorkeling from the boat or from the island/cay. Items labeled with an “*” will be included in the itinerary, others are options.

1) Pigeon Cay* • Pigeon Cay has a nice grass bed to practice with snorkeling gear and then move on to a fringing reef that circles the island. Pigeon is home to many species of invertebrates, corals, and schools of fish. • Between May and July, least terns nest on the east side of Pigeon and in the freshwater pond in the center of the islands are herons, rails, and other waders. • The geology walk around Pigeon is a Forfar classic as the geology of the cay is a microcosm of Andros. • Many of the processes that happen on a geologic timescale happen much more quickly on Pigeon so these processes become more understandable to students.

2) Calabash Cay* • Like Pigeon Cay, Calabash is a microcosm of Andros. There is excellent shelling, snorkeling in the mangroves and along the intertidal area, and birding over the island. People used to live on Calabash, and while the flora has taken over, the old stonewall dividing their properties still stands.

3) Dave’s Patch Reef* • A patch reef in the front of Calabash Cay with huge populations of fish and soft corals.

4) Blue Hole Cay Blue Hole • This is popular site for local spear fishermen because of its schools of snapper and hogfish, and in the winter the surrounding sea grass beds are filled with spotted sea hares. This is a shallow snorkel with an easily disturbed bottom. It can also be accessed via foot from Forfar at low tide.

5) Rat Cay Blue Hole* • This is a favorite oceanic blue hole with really incredible fish and corals. The hole is surrounded by finger coral that grow up to the low tide line providing shelter for invertebrates like lettuce leaf nudibranchs and lobster. • This site requires a bit of snorkeling skill to keep from damaging the site.

6) Turtle Reef* • Another site on the barrier, Turtle has massive coral heads and while most are alive, there are relics of huge coral mounds that have been recolonized by algae and soft corals.

7) Three Sisters* • A patch reef in the lagoon with a huge population of fish and soft corals

8) Saddleback Cay* • Saddleback has several different ecosystems including grass beds, mangroves, sand flats, and rocky intertidal areas. There is wading for sand dollars on the west side and snorkeling on the east. • A typical lunch stop for north boat days, but an entire afternoon could be spent here too. 9) North Pass • One of the passes through the barrier reef, North Pass has an amazing array of corals and a lot of fish, shark and ray traffic.

10) Staniard Reef • As part of the barrier reef, this site has a high diversity of coral, many of them quite old, and even a rare hybrid species, fused‐staghorn coral. This is also one of the coral collection sites for our coral propagation project.

11) Staniard Wreck • A rum‐runner that crashed into the barrier drifted into the lagoon just off the coast from Staniard Creek is a home to schools of juvenile fish and is being colonized by corals and algae. Swim around the wheelhouse, engine block, and other debris to see first‐hand how reefs are formed.

12) Tongue of the Ocean* • A short way past the barrier the ocean depth drops from 30’ to as deep as 6000’ (~ 1 mile). It is fascinating to drop conch shells into the depths and see how long you can watch them fall; given the water clarity it is usually for quite some time.

13) South Pass • This is an outer reef snorkel with a variety of environments and high diversity. May have slightly higher wave action than some of the more protected inner‐reef snorkels. Like North Pass, there is plenty of fish traffic.