Berry Islands

Time Out for the Berries

Time Out! Those two little words take on entirely different meanings depending on your age. If you are 5, well, go to your room. If you are an adult, it means: let's get out of here! Escape from the office. Escape from the everyday grind. Or maybe just time for renewing your romance with that special person, or a guy-time/male bonding session, or a good girly giggling session far away from responsibilities. Whatever it means to you, isn't it time for a little Time Out? Relaxing in the sun for a few days? Sure it is. And there is no place better for a Time Out than the Berry Islands in the Bahamas.

Located about 150 miles east of Miami and 50 miles northeast of Nassau, the Berry Islands are made up of 30 islands and close to 100 small cays. With a land mass totaling only about a dozen square miles, these islands and cays rest on the eastern edge of the Great Bahama Bank, starting with Great Stirrup Cay to the north and extending south to Chub Cay. The largest in the group is Great Harbour Cay; and even it is only about 3,800 acres, smaller than most ranches in Texas. The entire Berry Islands chain is only approximately 30 miles in length, which makes them perfect for a Time Out! of three or four days.

The most beautiful gem in the Berry Islands is Chub Cay, located at the southern end of the chain. This is the perfect venue to start, finish or base your entire charter from. If you choose to meet your yacht here, it is just a short flight over from Ft. Lauderdale. Flying into Chub Cay, you will be treated to the sight of what is in store for you!

Since Chub Cay is located on the very edge of the Bahama Bank, the aqua-hued water the Bahamas is known for surrounds the island. The shallow waters are perfect for flyfishing. Within a stone's throw of Chub Cay, there are many dive sites, ranging in depth and difficulty from beginner to advanced, so every level of diver will find something to their taste. Shallow waters near Mamma Rhoda Rock, just off Chub Cay, abound with Staghorn corals and colorful reef fish. The Canyons is located in 45 feet of water and has a variety of swim-throughs, tunnels and large coral arches. Nearby Eel Garden starts at about 40 feet of water over white sand with hundreds of garden eels, stingrays and parrot fish. A rollover covered with coral heads continues down to about 75 feet. Divers have it all here, including the Chub Cay Wall which starts at 80 feet and drops to 4000 feet, providing a magnificent look into the deep.

The incredible Chub Cay Wall vanishes down into the Tongue of the Ocean. Approximately 100 miles long, The Tongue of the Ocean is the name of the deep oceanic trench that drops from roughly 10 feet along Andros' offshore barrier reef to over 6,000 feet deep at its deepest point.

Thanks to the Tongue of the Ocean, anglers come from all over the world to fish the waters off Chub Cay. Known as the "Billfish Capital of the Bahamas" numerous fishing tournaments are held annually here, with ecology being of the utmost consideration, 100% of the billfish tournaments are catch-and-release. In a recent tournament, "lines in the water" was 8 a.m., by 8:03 a.m., the first hook-up was called in. Results like that make fisherman want to come again and again.

Chub Cay Club is the heart and soul of Chub Cay. This world-class resort features the top marina in the Bahamas. The marina is surrounded and embraced by new Bahamian-style townhomes and the Chub Cay Club clubhouse. Extensive landscaping crowns this jewel-like venue in shades of emerald green. Perhaps the biggest challenge of having your charter yacht docked in the Chub Cay Club marina is tearing yourself away from this heaven-on-earth to visit somewhere else. Where else do you have flats fishing, snorkel, scuba dive, deep sea fishing, white sand beaches (three of them!), plenty of area to try out the Jet ski, or go lie by the pool? Did I mention there is a spa? Ah…

The Chub Cay Club clubhouse has three levels. As a guest of the marina, you can enjoy the lower level, with its restaurant, bar, meeting rooms and living room complete with a fireplace for those chilly winter evenings. After spending time here, you just might want to purchase a villa and become a member…then you have access to the upper levels of the clubhouse with its third floor observation deck.

Great care is being taken in the development of this project. Unlike many developers, the planners of the Chub Cay Club have given great thought to preserving and improving the environment of Chub Cay. Only a small portion of the island is being developed, maintaining vast stretches of mangroves and salt ponds. There will be no golf course (if you want to golf, it is a short 15 minutes helicopter flight to the Nassau golf course), so the fertilizers that keep golf course grass so green won't leach into the surrounding waters, destroying their purity. Yes, the Chub Cay Club is the perfect place to base your charter yacht for your Time Out!

The Berry Islands' main attraction is their seclusion and privacy. Largely uninhabited, you can safely say that the bonefish, billfish and conch are plentiful, but the people are scarce. The most northern of the Berry Islands are Little Stirrup Cay and Great Stirrup Cay, owned by Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, respectively. You can visit both, as the snorkeling is excellent, but you probably won't want to go when the cruise ships are there! A bit further south is Great Harbour Cay, the largest of the Berry Islands and the location of Bullocks Harbour settlement. There is a very acceptable marina there, plus local restaurants and bars. South of Great Harbour, the islands and cays of the Berries are scattered like jade on the turquoise sea as they curve around down to Chub Cay, the crown jewel in this necklace of isles. Many of these islands are privately owned. The winter season entices these individuals, plus secondhome owners and many out-of-town guests to visit. Due to these seasonal residents, the Berry islands can boast having more resident millionaires per unit area than any other place in the world.

When a Time Out! is necessary, an escape to the Berry Islands is the perfect answer.

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