SEEING PINK IN THE BAHAMAS
Finding tranquillity off beaten path
You know a place is small when a piece of deadwood is a top tourist attraction. A number of years ago, an enormous piece of driftwood washed up on the western edge of Harbour Island and anchored itself upright on a shallow sandbar. Almost immediately it became one of the most photographed sites on the island. Locals dubbed it Lone Tree and it stood by itself until somebody decided to plant another dead tree in the sand nearby.
Most people think they should have left well enough alone. One tourist attraction is enough.
Harbour Island is a speck in the Bahama archipelago that has such beautiful pink sand beaches that in 2015 Travel and Leisure Magazine designated it the best Caribbean Island. That’s a difficult accolade for any island to live up to, let alone one that measures less than five kilometres long and one kilometre wide.
The local name for the island is Briland and as I laid in bed on my first morning there, I heard the distinct sound of a rooster crowing at daybreak. There are places in the village where roosters outnumber people and I was in one of them. Since the sight of the sun coming up over the spectacular pink sands is something not to be missed, I couldn’t help feeling just a little bit thankful for the island chickens.
After a sunrise start and a hardy breakfast of lobster eggs Benedict at Valentine’s restaurant, I was ready to explore. You could walk the entire island, but we rented a golf cart to make it easier to get around.
We began our self-directed tour in historic Dunmore Town. Originally laid out in 1791 by the Governor of the Bahamas, Lord Dunmore, the town is one of the oldest communities in the country and was once its capital city. Many of the heritage homes and buildings have been restored and painted in bright colours. A sign on the public library declared it to be the second oldest library in the Bahamas.
The historic architecture in the town is lovely, but its friendly locals and laid-back island vibe are what really captivated me. We stopped at the docks, visited with some fishermen and browsed a small stand with sea shells for sale.
At Lone Tree, we watched as a kite surfer wove his way through the bay.
“This is one of my favourite spots on the island,” said his wife who was reading a book with her feet on the dash of their rented jeep. “There’s just something about this place.”
At Vic-Hum Club, a local bar and nightclub, the friendly bar owner/ manager popped out to say hello and show off the island’s other tourist attraction, a massive coconut he claimed was the world’s largest. At almost 84 centimetres in circumference, the behemoth coconut is proudly displayed on a shelf behind the bar.
“We think it’s about 35 years old,” said Humphrey Percentie Jr. as he placed it in my hands. “You need to tilt your head to read the measuring tape though. We had it for years before we realized we put the measuring tape on upside down.”
I couldn’t help thinking that if I accidentally dropped the coconut, the island’s second major tourist attraction could be permanently damaged. All they’d have left is the driftwood.
Our next stop was a lunch break at Blue Bar restaurant at Pink Sands resort, which overlooks the spectacular pink sand beach for which the island is famous. I enjoyed a lobster quesadilla and a glass of tropical punch before making my way down to inspect the pink sand close up.
In the morning light, the pink sand really glows, but by afternoon the bright light of mid-day gave it a gentle pink tinge. “The sand gets its colour from ground red coral, which is abundant in this area,” explained Tom Parke, general manager of Pink Sands Resort. “It’s
one of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean and is what really defines Harbour Island as a destination.”
I decided to spend the afternoon examining the pink sand closer. Lone Tree and the behemoth coconut are interesting attractions, but the blush-coloured sand and the relaxed island vibe are the only things required to make this one of the best islands in the Caribbean.