Bimini is a quirky island of the Bahamas. On one hand, it is quite remote, sparsely populated and a sleepy little island. On the other hand, it is a tourist stop, a weekend hangout for those from Florida and an island desperately wrestling with the idea of growth and commercialism. We enjoyed our time on North and South Bimini and it was our introduction to the Bahamas.

We spent a few days on the islands waiting for our next weather window. South Bimini is dotted with vacation cottages, the Thirsty Turtle, the small airport and a general store. If you wanted to see people, food shop or do banking, you have to go to North Bimini. Taking the small ferry from South Bimini across the 150-yard channel to North Bimini became a daily ritual. This is where “growing commercialism” meets small island flavor. The streets are relatively quiet with the passing of golf carts, bikes, small cars and locals walking about. Thursday’s are busy days….it’s when the supply boat arrives and all the stores and small food stores hustle down to the Government Dock to get their pallets that have arrived. It doesn’t take long for products to go from the docks, to the shelves and off to the people. We tried to get lettuce on Saturday and it was already gone and sold out!

On the north end of the island in Bailey Town is a large Hotel/Casino, as well as the building of a Cruise Ship Dock. From the water, you can see the monstrous hotel, that simply looks out of place among all the smaller low lying houses. But, the hotel/casino serves all those who come from Florida or arrive by cruise ship as a mecca for entertainment. Ironically, we had the pleasure of conversing with a cruise ship since we were in the way of where it wanted to anchor. While the dock is still being built, the single cruise ship anchors outside of the channel to North Bimini. Of course, when we arrived at 6:30am, we had to wait several hours for a high tide. Over the VHF radio, we were hailed by the Grand Bahama Celebration and politely asked to move out of the way so that they could have their spot. I didn’t argue!

The marina we were in on South Bimini serves as a condo resort as well as a marina. When we arrived, we were 1 of 6 boats that were docked in the 40+ slips. It was a ghost town! We hardly saw any people and wondered why? According to the marina workers, it was part hurricane Matthew and part being the “off season” for Bimini. The developer who owns the Resort also owns a large grocery store in Nassau. Since the store in Nassau had damage, he basically left the resort to fend for themselves. They had closed the condo part and the condo owners have vowed to take it over and run it. This is the crux of commercialism in the islands….if it’s not that important, it is very easy for it to fall into disrepair or have projects fall incomplete. But, I still wondered about this whole, “off season” notion. Apparently, the island comes alive in late January through the end of July. Spring Break, Floridians from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Europeans on Holiday…they all flock to Bimini and the island doesn’t sleep for months.

The lasting impression we have of Bimini is one of friendliness. Every person we talked with on the island was friendly and helpful, they were genuine and always eager to hold a conversation with you. As we walked back to the marina for the last time, the only noise we could hear was the whispering of the wind through the pines. You would have thought we had sailed to some far off Pacific island and yet we were less than a 100 miles from Miami….where to next?