You know those barely planned trips where everything falls into place just right? This was one of those. It went a little like this: wow there’s a great deal on airfare to Great Exuma, where’s Great Exuma? The Bahamas. This small beach house is available for rent, who wants to go? You? You? Pack your bags. Done.

On the way to the airport, from the cab, we facetimed with members of the D&C that were travelling in New Zealand, it all felt very jet-setty, minus the cocaine.

Great Exuma is part of the Bahamas. Fun fact, the name Bahamas could come from the Spanish  baja mar, meaning shallow sea, you can say that next time you’re getting too much attention from the ladies (or hot men) at a party, that should give you some room. You’re welcome. Unless of course the toponymy fetishists are in town, in which case you’re also welcome; and don’t drink too much, you want to remember that threesome when you’re in the old folks home. It’s all about drinkskultur. Fun fact number two, the official name of the country is THE Bahamas, not just Bahamas, the only other country in the world that can claim the same thing is THE Gambia.

Exuma has a population of less than 2 000, and it’s one of the bigger islands of the 700 or so that comprise The Bahamas. It’s also where the D&C got one of its sayings: “sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t”. It comes from a boat captain/house caretaker. We use it to describe the easy come easy go nature of some things on the islands, and the best attitude to have when things aren’t quite working out; a smiling, relaxed acceptation, something I like to call tipsy zen stoicism. We can’t dive today because the fuel boat didn’t show up? No problem. There are no limes this week? No worries. Internet’s not working though it was supposed to come with the house? Meh. It’s all good. I’m a happier person since I started applying this to my everyday life.

We rented a small house maybe 20 minutes walk south of George Town (founded 1793), the capital of the district, and the largest town on Great Exuma. There’s a bit less than a 1000 people living there year round. The house, actually the guest house of a larger property, was petite but perfect. The view on the bay was stunning.

I believe that during the whole week we were on Exuma, we must have walked the road to George Town three times at most, and we had to get there and back every day. People would invariably stop to offer us rides (and not accept money for it either). Not sure if this friendliness is a regular thing or if it had to do with the low season, but it made for little morsels of magic. Who doesn’t love to ride in the back of a pick-up truck or wedged between a smiling family on their way home? People of Great Exuma I salute you. Also, while driving drunk is illegal, driving while drinking is not, some of the drivers did have a beer between their knees, but it was a Bud Light, so water basically yeah?

After our arrival, we were hungry and thirsty but discovery itchy. We took a water taxi across the narrow channel to Stocking Island for a bite and a buzz at the aptly named Chat ‘n Chill.

We found a small narrow island of nIce beaches, and clear water with some unavoidable, if pleasant clichés.

The skies were stormy but never quite tore open, it did lend the outing a gothic Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog feel. Except you know, under the sea of fog.

It was time for the first drink on foreign soil, always a moment of thankfulness.

If you ask most people that drink well about Bahamian drinkskultur they’ll probably mention two cocktails, the Goombay Smash and the Bahama Mama. In terms of ingredients, they are related drinks.

Created on a rainy day during a domino game, the Goombay Smash could be said to be the national drink, but the true recipe is a secret, and you must travel to Abaco island and go to Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar to taste the original. The consensus seems to be that it is a mix of rums, including coconut rum, orange juice and pineapple juice, and then every bartender has their own tweak (apricot brandy?). The one I had on Stocking island did the job nicely, I forgot the dark clouds and their moodiness.

The Bahama Mama’s origins are unknown, if I were a betting man with a time machine, I’d wager that the drink takes its name from the identically titled 1979 Boney M. song . The late 70’s are a plausible inception point for that kind of a sweet drink, or at least for naming it. It’s likely the drink had been around for as long as the ingredients were, but without  a name it’s not a thing, that’s the magic of names for you. In many ways the Mama is similar to the Smash, orange and pineapple juice, some rum(s), and there’s no fixed recipe either. Where the two certainly diverge is in the main variants of the Mama,  I’ve encountered straight rum and juices, but also the addition of grenadine or coffee liqueur. Based on ingredients alone, the Bahama Mama might have been part of the Tiki drinks of the 40’s and 50′, but a quick look through vintage menus didn’t show it.

Do you  have any thoughts or secret knowledge on the matter gentle readers? Please let us know in the comments.

A quick note about food. Two side dishes we encountered everywhere and with everything were coleslaw and mac ‘n cheese. Bahamian style mac is baked tight and holds together a bit like cake, so it’s served more like a tight piece of lasagna than the gooey tasty mass you might be used to, and yes it’s good. There’s some grills by the side of the road that come and go and are worth checking out to taste “real” local food. You’ll stand in line with locals and bathe in the grill’s smoke. A special kind of wood, I can’t remember the name, that grows on the island is used for fuel and it gives a special aroma. If you plan on stopping by do it early, because when there’s no more, there’s no more.

We dove  with Dive Exuma and unlike some other places we’ve seen in our travels these guys were on point with their emergency protocols. Oxygen on the boat and air evac plans for a low flying helicopter to the nearest deco chamber. It may sound duh, but trust me, it’s not a given.

We dove with them about ten times, a small wreck, a small blue hole, lots of stingrays, cool moon jelly fishes and we met some nice divers (hello Ash from Australia), one of which turned us on to Belize. Had a fun encounter with a wild dolphin, the captain stopped the boat so we could jump into the water with it. That guy just wanted to play (and scratch his back on brain corals), very cool.

Of all the dives, the one that stood out for everybody was the shark dive, and it was shark diving done right. No chumming, no guarantees, it’s a dive, not a trip to the zoo. The boat ride was longish, about an hour, but the weather and the waves were perfect and it was easy to drift into a trance like zen state. At the dive site some interesting directives, nobody waits at the surface, go straight to the bottom, keep your arms and hands about you. When it’s time to go up no safety stop (shallow dive, around 35 feet) and no flopping about on the surface. One at a time, you go up and straight onto the boat.

We started on a circular route through the reef, for the first half hour nothing much happened (except a very nice dive that is). C’est la vie, I’ll take that over chumming any day. I was getting resigned to the fact that the dive would be a shark bust. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Then a shark showed up.

Then another.

It started with one shark but soon there were three, then there were five. At least. They were circling us and it was beautiful and scary, I’m pretty sure the circles were getting smaller. Before we knew it, we were all back to back, a clump of divers all facing outwards. It wasn’t planned or anything, there was just a general drift towards perceived safety. Circling the wagons so to speak.

And then they were above as well.

It was majestic and sort of sobering, there was not the slightest doubt these were wild animals and apex predators, and they were getting curious. The DM indicated it was time to go. I still had plenty of air and was far from deco. Nobody argued. We all got back on the boat according to the GTFO protocol as the sharks were circling the vessel and barely breaching the surface. The sight of those fins out of the water…

One hell of a dive.

On the way back there was an odd feeling on the boat, something between elation and silence.

Back on the island it was time for some chillin’ and log book fillin’. Our favourite place to do that, was the Peace and Plenty.

It’s more than a hotel, a restaurant, a bar, or a nice pool, the Peace and Plenty is the historical and the social hub of the island. Talented and pleasant bartenders, a beautiful view, quality drinks and food, you would be extra picky if you wanted more. We would not think twice about spending more time there if we ever make it back to Exuma. You know you’re in the right spot when you meet a bartender called Trouble and she has a twinkle in her eye. The Bahama Mamas were sweet and strong, just how they should be and the local beer, Kalik, was cold.

We really lucked out on this trip. The food, the drinks, the dives, the people, both locals and tourists, all excellent. Exuma should have been included by the Beach Boys in their Kokomo song.