Cherokee Sound

Cherokee Sound sits on a shallow bay in southern Abaco, settled by Loyalists in the late eighteenth century and never much more than a few hundred people. Its landmark is the wooden dock running out across the flats, built long because the water is shallow for a great distance and usually described as the longest wooden dock in the country. The village made its living from boat-building, sponging and later from crawfishing, and it stays quiet.

History

Cherokee Sound is one of the oldest settlements in the Bahamas, founded in the 1790s by a group of Loyalists from the Carolinas who reached the islands by way of Florida. By 1965 it had its own airport, listed by the Federal Aviation Administration under the code CQZ (Wikipedia, Cherokee Sound).

What's there

• The long dock - a timber pier running far out over the shallow flats.
• The settlement - small wooden houses and a church around the bay.
• The flats - shallow water stretching out from the shore, worked for bonefish.
• The bay - a sheltered sound with mangrove edges.

When to go

November to April is the dry season. The village is quiet in any season. Hurricane Dorian in 2019 damaged the southern Abacos, though less severely than the north.

Things to know

There is very little for visitors: no restaurants, no shops to speak of, no accommodation in the village itself. The dock is the sight and it takes fifteen minutes. The road down from Marsh Harbour is long.

Nearby

Marsh Harbour is north, and Hole-in-the-Wall is at the southern tip of Abaco.