Spanish Wells
Spanish Wells is a working fishing community on St George’s Cay at the northern end of Eleuthera, and it supplies a large share of the Bahamian spiny lobster catch. It is prosperous, immaculately kept and entirely unlike anywhere else in the islands.
The lobster fleet
The island’s wealth comes from crawfish, as spiny lobster is called locally, and the fleet works the banks for a season that runs from August to March. The boats are large, modern and well kept, and the harbour is busy in a way that pleasure-boat harbours are not.
The settlement
Tidy painted houses, trimmed verges, golf carts and a notably tight-knit community descended from loyalist settlers. There are good bakeries, a couple of restaurants and a grocery better stocked than most in the Out Islands.
A practical stop
Spanish Wells is a useful place to provision and take on fuel and water before heading south down Eleuthera or west across to the Exumas. Pilots are available for the passage through Devil’s Backbone, the reef-strewn route east towards Harbour Island, and most captains take one.
Anchoring and conditions
There are marina berths and anchorages in the channel, where the tidal current runs strongly. Shelter is good in most conditions.
Send us your dates and party size and we will put together a shortlist of crewed yachts that can take you here.