Thank you Steve. That is a useful site with a wealth of information.
Four of us stayed at Treasure Cay Hotel Resort and Marina. Our rooms were $110/night if booked on the internet and $140 if booked by phone or at the hotel. Rooms came with a small refrigerator, coffee maker, clean sheets, hot water, and a clean floor until our first return from the beach. We did find out there were hose faucets every other slip on the dock and a swimming pool to help get the worst of the sand off. Our phone did not work (who cared), and our AC did not have a thermostat. Our friends had a window shaker with a thermostat so the rooms are a little different. The rooms also had TV & cable (most of the time). The resort is a $21 ride for four folks from the airport.
Food is exorbitant in the restaurants so we bought food at the local grocery store which is fortunately located in the hotel compound. There is a liquor store there too. Locals and tourists alike buy there. We then used the hotel grills down by the marina to cook and did not take our evening meals in restaurants. We also found out how to make soup in a coffee pot.
Between the four of us, we found out that T-Mobile, MetroPC, and Sprint do not have service in the Bahamas. There is a free phone for pilot use at the Marsh Harbor airport. You can file your flight plan (Mine got lost in the system), call US Customs, or get a route briefing with the phones preset numbers and fuel up there. Marsh harbor is a 10 t0 15 minute flight from Treasure Cay or a $36 (round trip) taxi ride for each person going. Both Treasure Cay and Marsh Harbor are uncontrolled airports.
There is a luncheon counter and bar at the beach but it closes at 5 pm. Food is good. The hotel will loan you beach towels but if you do not turn them in by 5 pm, you will be charged a $10 fee.
The beach was the highlight of the trip. I wish I had spent less time there during the heat of the day and more time at night at the beach. The stars at night are not washed out by light pollution and are incredible. We could see so clearly by the light of a half moon that we could count our toes on a 5 foot deep bottom, clearly against the clear white sand. The beach has fish that are tamed to hand feeding. Take a little bread or left over French fries from your lunch to feed them for a real treat. Just be sure to keep any uncovered male or female nipples out of the water when feeding fish. I did not OUCH! Thank goodness, those particular fish did not have teeth.
The locals are genuinely friendly and respond well if you engage them. Boat rental during my trip was complicated by a bill fish tournament going on. The only available boat was $200 and required a $125 guide be hired to accompany it. There are ferries from Treasure Cay to other islands such as Green Turtle Cay. I have been told one can rent a 19 Boston Whaler at Dons on Green Turtle Cay for under $75. Everyone recommended we go to a bar called Nippers on a neighboring island but we did not have time. You may want to check it out.
THERE IS NO AVGAS AT TREASURE CAY. I do not care what the internet says. Marsh Harbor does have avgas. This softens the sting that Treasure Cay does not.
I heartily recommend the trip to Treasure Cay. Ask for the $110 room that fronts the Marina.
Rich W
Four of us stayed at Treasure Cay Hotel Resort and Marina. Our rooms were $110/night if booked on the internet and $140 if booked by phone or at the hotel. Rooms came with a small refrigerator, coffee maker, clean sheets, hot water, and a clean floor until our first return from the beach. We did find out there were hose faucets every other slip on the dock and a swimming pool to help get the worst of the sand off. Our phone did not work (who cared), and our AC did not have a thermostat. Our friends had a window shaker with a thermostat so the rooms are a little different. The rooms also had TV & cable (most of the time). The resort is a $21 ride for four folks from the airport.
Food is exorbitant in the restaurants so we bought food at the local grocery store which is fortunately located in the hotel compound. There is a liquor store there too. Locals and tourists alike buy there. We then used the hotel grills down by the marina to cook and did not take our evening meals in restaurants. We also found out how to make soup in a coffee pot.
Between the four of us, we found out that T-Mobile, MetroPC, and Sprint do not have service in the Bahamas. There is a free phone for pilot use at the Marsh Harbor airport. You can file your flight plan (Mine got lost in the system), call US Customs, or get a route briefing with the phones preset numbers and fuel up there. Marsh harbor is a 10 t0 15 minute flight from Treasure Cay or a $36 (round trip) taxi ride for each person going. Both Treasure Cay and Marsh Harbor are uncontrolled airports.
There is a luncheon counter and bar at the beach but it closes at 5 pm. Food is good. The hotel will loan you beach towels but if you do not turn them in by 5 pm, you will be charged a $10 fee.
The beach was the highlight of the trip. I wish I had spent less time there during the heat of the day and more time at night at the beach. The stars at night are not washed out by light pollution and are incredible. We could see so clearly by the light of a half moon that we could count our toes on a 5 foot deep bottom, clearly against the clear white sand. The beach has fish that are tamed to hand feeding. Take a little bread or left over French fries from your lunch to feed them for a real treat. Just be sure to keep any uncovered male or female nipples out of the water when feeding fish. I did not OUCH! Thank goodness, those particular fish did not have teeth.
The locals are genuinely friendly and respond well if you engage them. Boat rental during my trip was complicated by a bill fish tournament going on. The only available boat was $200 and required a $125 guide be hired to accompany it. There are ferries from Treasure Cay to other islands such as Green Turtle Cay. I have been told one can rent a 19 Boston Whaler at Dons on Green Turtle Cay for under $75. Everyone recommended we go to a bar called Nippers on a neighboring island but we did not have time. You may want to check it out.
THERE IS NO AVGAS AT TREASURE CAY. I do not care what the internet says. Marsh Harbor does have avgas. This softens the sting that Treasure Cay does not.
I heartily recommend the trip to Treasure Cay. Ask for the $110 room that fronts the Marina.
Rich W
