Tahiti Beach

Tahiti Beach, at the south end of Elbow Cay by Tilloo Cut, is one of our favorites.  It’s beautiful, yet often deserted.

Goldwin is leaning against the root ball of a casuarina tree which was apparently upended by a storm.  Now its branches are lifting up perpendicular from the old tree trunk.

But what is really amazing about Tahiti Beach is that, at low tide, you can walk out on sand bars – for a long, long ways.

The sand strand I’m on is about 200 yards from shore; it’s underwater at high tide.

Sometimes you find dozens of sand dollars, or bright red/orange/yellow starfish, or skinny needle fish, or conchs.  They can be easy to find in the shallows of low tide.  Or not.

The sand has a pink cast from the pulverized coral, shells and tiny single-celled Foraminifera which form it; wind and sun play with the water, painting the shallows a changing mix of white, blue and green; and ocean rollers cascade in a froth of white over a rocky bar that shields the beach from Tilloo Cut.

It’s a perfect place for a lovely beach day.

Then on your way back to Hopetown, you can stop for a sundowner at “On Da Beach,” overlooking the ocean.

Nice.

And after a beautiful beach day, a rainbow over the harbor.

Here’s Goldwin’s description of our beach trip:

Wednesday we got bikes and rode miles and miles.  I had not expected mountains in these islands.  I discovered mountains; Nancy called them dunes.  I got off and pushed.  At the  beach I lay with my back against a palm while Nancy waded in the shallows as the tide went out.  It went way out, so did she.  I am becoming a sloth.

On our return we stopped at “On Da Beach”.  I could not see Africa even through the bottom of a Kalik at the top of a mountain.  The ride back was fun, especially hitting a sand covered patch, in a curve, after freewheeling down a steep mountain grade.

Twas a good day.  And I felt very healthy after the ride.  I’m glad Nancy voted for the bikes rather than a golf cart.