50 miles due east of Miami lies a sleepy one road island that until recently had only been accessible by private plane or private boat. Boasting Ernest Hemingway’s favorite escape, Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth, and Bimini Road which some claim is part of the Lost City of Atlantis. Hurry, before the masses descend. Go.
I found Bimini a bit difficult to research because there’s not a lot of comprehensive sources. Twenty four hours was certainly enough time to see it all, though not enough time to experience it all. Corporate executives and politicians spend a week here for some r&r. And that’s what the allure of Bimini has been, a place to escape the pressures of the external world.
2 DAY ITINERARY
Day 1
Seaplane
Bailey Town & Alice Town
Edith’s Pizza
Cemetery
Gallant Lady Shipwreck
Day 2
Resort World Bimini
Luna Beach
Stewart’s Conch Shack
SS Sapona Shipwreck
DAY 1
Arrive to Bimini by seaplane. Trust me. The seaplane base in Miami offers a quick 25 minute flight to the island. Complimentary parking is provided at the base, where you’ll be warmly greeted and served beverages in the lounge as you relax on the harbor while being checked in. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to having my own private plane. Prepped a few feet away, the pilot will wave you over after your beverage. Get to know your fellow passengers, whose stories are often fascinating. The gentleman next to me has been building an island for a cruise port which requires him to spend weeks at a time on what is currently a sandbank with limited facilities.
After you touch down on the waterway, hop out and the pilot will escort you to a “Customs” room along the boardwalk, where on a make-shift podium the boy stamps your passport.
Check-in to the hotel before heading out to explore Bailey Town and Alice Town. When you exit the hotel, to the left is a shopping plaza that is a 5 minute walk where you can rent a golf cart to get around and grab cold drinks at a mini mart.
Bailey Town and Alice Town are located one after the other along The King’s Highway running down the skinny island of Bimini. There are two notable, and not to be missed, highlights in Bailey Town: Edith’s Pizza and Stuart’s Conch Salad stand. Order the famous lobster pizza from Edith’s and enjoy the views. You can tell you’re pretty remote based on how long it takes the credit card to go through. Literally minutes, good thing you have no where to be.
Nibble on the leftovers as you buzz around the island on the back of the golf cart looking for the Cemetery where the Gallant Lady shipwreck is located.
Follow the only road to where it ends, and you’ve arrived, just a few minutes later. Walk through the Cemetery and the shipwreck is over the hill. Eerily, you’ll need to pass through it stepping into the spongy grass where each footstep sinks 3 inches straight out of a horror movie to get to the “Gallant Lady” Shipwreck.
Most likely you have it to yourself, so enjoy the tranquility. The “Gallant Lady” left Belize City before crashing on on the southern tip of North Bimini during Hurricane Mitch in 1997. In just 15 years the ship has almost been reclaimed by the sea, so the rusty red hues contrasting against the warm turquoise waters won’t be around much longer.
If you arrived by seaplane, the day is wrapping up. Nightlife options are limited to a couple of bars, but go for it. I retired to my room to watch the sunset at the only hotel resort on the island. If you’re not tired yet, the Hilton Resort World Bimini has a hopping casino where you can spend the evening and your money. We met folks playing with us at the table who have vacation & rental properties on the island, which is hard to believe since I didn’t see any properties that didn’t look like they were inhabited by locals.
DAY 2
Rise and shine after a restful night. The fish are the only other living things at the beach this early. Grab a Starbucks coffee in the hotel lobby and head to the resort’s private beach club “Luna Beach”. A general rule of thumb after 20 years of traveling is if you enjoy exclusivity but can’t afford the price tag associated with it, just be an early riser.
The water is chilly at 7am, but warms up quickly.
When you’re ready for lunch, head to Stuart’s Conch Shack and park your ride in the lot out front.
Order the “Conch Salad”. A mixture of chopped tomatoes, green peppers, onions, raw conch plucked from the ocean, and lime juice mixed together is out of this world.
Stuart himself prepares your order in front of you while telling tales of a time long past. “You think this place seems undeveloped now? Imagine what it looked like 30 years ago.” Stuart comes from a long line of locals, and has been serving up the same recipe since the 1970s.
The freshly prepped conch.
It doesn’t get any simpler, fresher, or delicious. Easily one of the top 5 meals in my life, with the same view generations upon generations have experienced.
Stuart’s open air stand on the water’s edge near Porgy Bay Park in Bailey Town offers a variety of conch salads, an absolute must in Bimini if you do, see, and eat nothing else. Enjoy!
I wondered if this is 30 years of discarded shells next to the stand.
After lunch, head back towards the resort and check-in for your SS Sapona Shipwreck snorkel trip from the same parking lot where you rented the golf cart. A snorkel trip to this shipwreck is a highlight of a visit to Bimini.
Unfortunately, when we arrived for check-in we were told the trip is being cancelled based on the observations of the last group that just arrived back. The winds had picked up, making for an unsafe journey. They promptly refunded our money, and were very apologetic about the turn of events. Mother nature ensured a reason for my return.
Now there was time for another snack since the conch salad wasn’t heavy.
This one man show was just our pace.
Serving up conch fritters to die for.
With a view to die for.
I spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the beauty of Bimini from Luna Beach.
No wonder people do this on repeat. Where else can you have a tropical island pretty much to yourself? Go.
