As an outdoorsman, there are certain codes we live by. One of the top ones — if not #1 — is when you find a fishing or hunting spot that is truly incredible, you keep it to yourself. You protect it like you protect your family.
It’s as valuable to you as your great, great grandmother’s family heirloom. It’s your holy grail, so you might even (or probably) lie and deceive people to protect its identity. This spot is so secretive that it enters the GPS witness protection program. You don’t give up its identity at any cost. Well, I’m about to violate all of those rules. Consider this the greatest Christmas present you’ve ever received!
How does one go about pulling the curtain back and exposing the secrets of Oz for world-class fishing on a budget? I’ll start from the beginning.
Sit back, read, and then you can decide what to do with the information.
Miles and miles of beaches just like this…
If it were me, I’d re-read it, and then hop on Google and start trying to verify the information. That’s how I view anything I read in the paper, magazine or on the Internet. I’m a skeptic. I either flat out don’t believe it, or I’ve got to visit Snopes and Google, and then research it until I’m blue in the face!
I’ll save you the trouble. I’m going to breakdown the costs, travel arrangements and how to properly make this trip from A-Z. This will require a passport and a little bit of travel. Did I lose you with that “passport” word? I hope not, because it’s so close, it’s only 50 miles from Florida’s east coast.
If you’re worried about this turning into a multiple-part planning guide snoozefest about a trip you’ll never make, don’t worry. This is one part details, nine parts entertainment. I’m getting excited as I write this just picturing the miles and miles of ivory white sand, uninhabited beaches, gin clear water straight from a postcard, palm trees loaded with coconuts, world class snorkeling (not an exaggeration, Google Blue Holes), snapper and grouper 250 yards from the couch (I’m not kidding), and schools of bonefish that have rarely had human contact.
This is the back porch view.
OK, I’ve stalled long enough. Cue the drumroll. When you make the trip to Pelican Point, Grand Bahama Island, the way we (8 of us typically) make the trip, that’s what you’ll be doing.
It’s taken 10 years of traveling here, without ever disclosing its location, making mistakes, spending too much money, wasting too much time, missing too many fish and flat out experimenting to get to this point.
Sharing the Secret
I want to make this clear, I call Pelican Point “paradise,” but it’s not without its flaws.
There are some primitive elements – not the house we stay in (it’s a modern house with 4 bedrooms, satellite TV, and Wi-Fi), but you are isolated. You travel about an hour outside the city of Freeport through 50 miles of scrawny pine trees, unfinished houses, and very few actual human beings. I love the fact that it’s isolated, my wife on the other hand, not so much. On a scale of 1-10, she gave this trip a 5 (more on that later), I gave it a 99.9. You can’t run to Walmart or Chick-fil-A, if you forget something or get hungry. You get to Pelican Point; you stay at Pelican Point (at least we do…Now).
If you like fresh snapper and trigger fish, you’ve found the right place!
Now, for how it all began. The first time we made the decision to go to Pelican Point, we made it a couple’s trip. There were 4 couples (and one daughter) and we had no idea what we were doing. Ralph Rowand, aka world traveler/human world atlas guy, did the research and booked the house. It was the summer of 2006, and we were going to spend America’s holiday – July 4th – in a different country. Ralph chose this house and location for 3 reasons: it was on the beach (we wanted to walk out the back door onto a beach), the house came with a boat/ truck combo, and he found a cheap ferry from Ft. Lauderdale.
I can’t emphasize this enough; we had NO IDEA what we were doing. This was more of an adventure than a vacation.
Looking at the isolated location we decided to pre- make meals for 4 nights ahead of time. Good plan. Except for the fact that means they must be frozen, which means you need multiple coolers. We also wanted to bring snorkel gear for 9, inshore and offshore fishing gear, spearfishing gear, and the wives packed enough clothes for a 52-week stay.
Grilling on the beach. Paradise found.
This meant each male without a hernia was required to carry close to a sumo wrestler on his shoulders and back. And so our adventure began…
To read the entire story/adventure click here –> Fishing Paradise on a Budget
