Eleuthera

Eleuthera runs about a hundred and eighty kilometres north to south and is often barely a kilometre and a half across, which means the Atlantic breaks on cliffs along one side while the bank side stays flat and pale on the other, sometimes within sight of each other. It was settled in 1648 by the Eleutheran Adventurers, a group of English religious dissenters who gave the island its name from the Greek for freedom, and it later grew pineapples for export. The settlements are small and strung along a single road: Governor's Harbour with its colonial buildings, Gregory Town, Tarpum Bay, and Rock Sound with its ocean hole in the middle of the village.

History

Taínos or Arawaks were probably the first people here, and a Lucayan wooden ritual seat, a duho, found on the island in the 19th century is now in the British Museum; the island was known as Cigateo, perhaps from the Taíno cigua, sea snail. Puritan colonists from Bermuda, the Eleutherian Adventurers under Captain William Sayle, arrived in 1648 and named it from the Greek eleutheros, free, but hardship left only a few of them, and their hope of founding the first European democracy in the Western Hemisphere came to nothing. The island prospered on farming from 1950 to 1980, exporting pineapples, became a tourist destination after independence in 1973, and was badly damaged by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 (Wikipedia, Eleuthera).

What's there

• The two shores - Atlantic surf and calm bank side within a kilometre.
• Governor's Harbour - colonial buildings and a Friday night fish fry.
• The Ocean Hole at Rock Sound - a deep blue hole in the middle of a village.
• Preacher's Cave - where the 1648 settlers sheltered after a wreck.

When to go

December to May is the dry season. Surf on the Atlantic side is biggest from November to March, which is when Surfer's Beach at Gregory Town works. The Pineapple Festival is at the start of June. Ferries from Nassau run several times a week.

Practical notes

Everything is spread along one road and a car is essential; distances are long and fuel stations few. Atlantic-side beaches have strong undertow and no lifeguards. Accommodation is mostly small guesthouses and rental homes rather than resorts, and it books out in winter. Hurricane damage from 2019 is still visible in the north.

Nearby

Harbour Island is a short ferry from the northern tip; Spanish Wells is nearby.

Key facts