Preacher's Cave

In 1648 a party of English Puritans sailing from Bermuda to found a colony wrecked on the Devil's Backbone reef off northern Eleuthera and came ashore near this cave, which they used as shelter and as a meeting house, cutting a pulpit-like block from the rock. The Eleutheran Adventurers gave the island its name. The cave is a large collapsed chamber with light coming through the roof, and excavation has found both colonial and earlier Lucayan burials in the floor.

What you actually see

• The chamber - a large collapsed cave with daylight through the fallen roof.
• The rock pulpit - the cut block the settlers are said to have used for services.
• The excavated floor - burials from both the settler period and earlier Lucayan use.
• The setting - low coppice and a beach a short walk north.

When to go

November to April is the dry season and the most comfortable. The cave is open ground and needs no arrangement. Mornings give the best light through the roof opening.

Honest expectations

There is limited interpretation on site and the story is told mostly by guides and by a sign. The track in from the highway is rough. The floor is uneven and there is no lighting.

Nearby

The northern Eleuthera beaches are close, and Gregory Town is south along the island.