So you’re thinking of visiting the Exumas to do some paddling, sailing or sightseeing. When you look almost anywhere online for information you are finding a lot of information about two things: the swimming pigs and the Exuma Land & Sea Park (ELSP).
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| Big Majors Spot/Swimming Pigs (near the park) |
Because of the overwhelming information on these two subjects a lot of people have the impression that the Staniel Cay/Land & Sea Park area is where all the paddling is done in Exuma. The truth is, the Staniel Cay area is a very small part of the entire Exuma Cays. And the entire Exuma Cays chain offers many hidden secrets and fantastic adventure opportunities just waiting to be explored.
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| Bock Cay area (Southern Cays) |
For the purposes of this post I will be referring to the cays that stretch from Barraterre to Big Famers Cay as The Southern Cays, and the area from Staniel Cay to Warderick Wells as The Park.
First, the stats:
The southern cays cover an area of 25 miles, host about 40 cays, and one Bahamian Settlement - Little Farmers Cay. Of the 40 cays, 21 are private or leased, 10 are developed.
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| Normans Pond Cay (Southern Cays) |
The park covers an area of about 40 miles, host about 35 cays, and one Bahamian Settlement - Staniel Cay. Of the 35 cays, 21 are private or leased and 18 are developed.
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| Big Majors Spot/Swimming Pigs (near the park) |
By rough estimates, the southern cays are 52% private and the park is 60% private.
But what is the most important aspect of a peaceful kayaking vacation? Seclusion. The most frequent thing we hear from people reaching out to us about paddling in the Exumas is “We want to be somewhere isolated. Somewhere where we will not see a lot of people and boats. We want to be on our own.”
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| Brigantine Cays (Southern Cays) |
The development in the cays is what most people are wanting to avoid. You are looking for your own uninhabited cay to call your own, with nobody else around.
The Southern Cays are 25% developed.
The Park is 51% developed.
So why is the Staniel Cay/Park area so popular? We may not be able to fully answer that question, but if I were to guess I would say a large reason would be the massive increase in the Swimming Pigs popularity. Although the pigs have been on Big Majors Spot for over 20 years, it certainly seems that their popularity has skyrocketed in the last few years, probably because of the increase in social media and the influx of easily accessible pictures on the web. In my opinion, coming to The Exumas Cays just to see the pigs would be like going to watch a movie and walking out after the previews and missing the feature presentation. Except to even get into this movie you have to navigate past about 50 anchored boats, dodge jet skis and tour boats, and share the pig beach with a few dozen other people.
Does that sound relaxing and isolated?
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| Compass Cay (edge of park) |
The second reason for the popularity of the Staniel Cay area: The Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park. Now when you hear of a national park that is protected from fishing and development you think of endless deserted beaches, no houses, and coral reefs teeming with fish and wildlife. And usually you would be right.
While the ELSP (Exuma Land & Sea Park) was the first national park in the country and the protection it has provided for the fishing population is to be applauded, it is also the center of much hypocrisy and governemnt greed and is therefore almost 50% privately owned. The paddling area of the park stretches from Cambridge Cay in the South to Warderick Wells mid way up the park.
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| Inside Rocky Dundas (at the very edge of the park) |
Anything farther than that forces the paddler to cross “The Wide Opening” which can be a dangerous paddle, and forces them far far north into the cays where help is even farther away and you are probably closer to Nassau than Exuma. That leaves paddlers with an area consisting of 10 cays to explore: Cambridge Cay, Bell Island, O’briens Cay, Soldier Cay, Pasture Cay, Little Halls Pond, Halls Pond Cay, Osprey Cay, White Bay Cay, and Warderick Wells. Of those 10 cays you can camp on 3, Cambridge, O’Briens, and Warderick. Of the remaining 7 cays, 6 are private and developed and one is inhabited by iguanas and landing is prohibited. White Bay Cay actually has a resort being built on it! The ELSP also requires park fees for camping and campfires are prohibited.
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| Diving near the Sea Aquarium in the park |
Are you are looking for a quiet area to paddle? With such a high percentage of developed islands and lack of camping options, how can that area be the park?
Lets compare the Southern Cays.
The general paddling area for the southern cays is from Rolleville to Normans Pond Cay. This area consists of 21 cays, 12 are campable, 3 are developed. So based on the area you will actually be paddling in the Southern Cays vs. the park, the southern cays are 57% campable vs the park which is only 30%.
The southen cays are also only 14% developed vs 60% in the park. Based on these stats you are far less likely to run into another person while paddling in the southern cays. There is also the issue of price. Transportation to Staniel Cay from Barraterre for two starts at $1000 one way and goes up depending on how far past Staniel you want to go. So if you add on the park fees of $5 per person per night, a two person two single kayak rental goes from $680 in the Southern Cays to $2730 for a paddle in the ELSP.
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| Big Farmers Cay (Southern Cays) |
When it’s all said and done, is a rental that is 4 times more expensive, has a significant increase in traffic and development, and generally a more difficult trip to organize, worth it to see the swimming pigs??
And here’s a little known secret...there are swimming pigs in the southern cays as well!
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| Liter of baby* pigs just across from Rolleville on Great Exuma (Southern Cays) |
*Disclaimer: the baby pigs do not stay this cute and tiny!
Feel free to ask any questions below that you would like to hear answered that you might think others would like to know as well. We're happy to discuss this issue further because it is a hot topic in our inquiries :) We hope this has been helpful to some of you out there!
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