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The
area between North Man-O-War Channel and Scotland Cay has been set aside as the
Fowl Cay Preserve and is protected under the Bahamas National Trust.
The preserve is bordered on the south by North Man-O-War Channel, on the
west by the string of cays and rocks with Fowl Cay to the north and Upper Cay to
the south. The ocean side border to
the east is the breaking barrier reef. The
northern edge is the channel immediately south of Scotland Cay.
In
calm weather, it is possible to anchor on a sandy bottom in 18 feet of water
midway between the cays on the west and the breaking reef.
There is no current inside, and the reefs are spectacular.
If the surf kicks up, these reefs can be deadly, even for the experienced
diver. Particularly during the
winter months, when the seas tend to be worse, I recommend enlisting the
services of an experienced dive master like Dave Gale.
His experience regarding where on the reef to go and his judgment
regarding when to go or not to go is
worth the price you'll pay. Likewise,
Keith Rogers and Wayne Thompson of Dive Abaco in Marsh Harbour run dive trips to
this preserve. Either shop will take you on a nice dive. Dave Gale's principle business is renting small boats at
Island Marine on Parrot Cay. He is
a real conservationist and has been involved in much of the effort to have
certain areas set aside and protected. He
is also the volunteer head of BASRA-Abaco, and in that role has seen just about
everything go wrong that can go wrong.
Keith
and Wayne are more the "diver type".
If diving is your principle reason for living in general and being in
Abaco in particular, you'll really enjoy their stories and the dives they will
take you on. They run a full
service dive shop located at The Conch Inn Marina and will sell you air, rent
underwater cameras, provide SCUBA instruction etc.
If
you can't take the guided trip,
I'll do the best I can here. First
of all you don't have to go out in the ocean to explore Fowl Cay Preserve!
No one ever mentions the beach here, but there were many winter days in
Scotland Cay when we would take the sailboat out to anchor off Fowl Cay, and
dink in for no reason other than the nice secluded beach! Seas permitting, you
can then take your dink around to the ocean side. Be careful to avoid Conch Bar, which is 100 yards southwest
of the small cay. It has only 1
feet over it. There is good snorkeling in the vicinity of the "18" on
our chart. Dave Gale describes a
spot near the center of the reef which he calls "The Towers".
Here there are tall corals which reach from a depth of 50 feet almost to
the surface.
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