Heading down the bank side of Bitter Guana. This is the Bahamas Exuma Bank sailing we have been seeking. Easterly tradewinds and total protection from the ocean waves. Its only a couple hour trip down to Oven Rock near the southern end of Bitter Guana, near Farmers Cay.
Here's Oven Rock. I guess it is supposed to remind one of an outdoor pizza oven. You can walk out to the rock from the shore side but there's not much to see except rock and old dead coral. Not much sealife around the rock and dead coral.
The main attraction at Oven Rock is the large cave with an underground brackish water pool that some brave folks actually swim in.
The path to the cave it not hard to find - well marked out by previous cruisers.
Follow the makeshift signs and you'll get there.
There actually is one trail fork that you can miss. The trail also heads over to the Sound side of the island and you have to take the right fork to head up the hill to the cave. Its easy to miss with no blatant "finger" sign pointing the way.
We didn't miss the turn and soon were arriving at the cave entrance.
It actually is a pretty impressive cave. This is the primary chamber but it continues to wrap around a large rocky mound on the left and the water encircles the mound.
As I said, some brave (foolhardy) souls swim in this water but we skipped it. It is actually much darker than the photos show as our Google phone cameras are collecting all the available light. We are only seeing what our small flashlights light up.
The stalactites and stalagmites were also impressive. There is a lot of water from the frequent heavy showers in the Bahamas that seeps down from overhead through the limestone rocks. It has not rained in over 5 days but there were still numerous drips in the cave building up new structures.
One final selfie then off to the shore on the Sound side.
Very similar to the Sound shore up at Iguana Beach, this shore is barren rocks and dead coral (and plastic) with braking waves coming in from the east.
After a day of exploring, time to watch the sunset from the beach.
