What to do on a visit to Compass Cay
Getting to Compass Cay:
You can get to Compass Cay via a flight to Staniel Cay on Watermakers Air from Fort Lauderdale, Flamingo Air from Nassau, or by chartered plane. When you arrive on Staniel Cay, you can arrange to meet a boat at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, and then take a 20 minute ride to Compass Cay. If you are staying at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, then you can take your whaler up to the island to visit for the day. It's a beautiful boat ride through Pipe Creek, and past the nearby islands, and is a fairly comfortable trip if you stay on the lee of the islands.
Accommodations on Compass Cay:
Compass Cay provides a truly "out there and away from it all" vacation opportunity for those who just want to enjoy the company of each other and enjoy incredible views. There are two and 3 bedroom cottages that are available for rent on the island, and each is located on point of the island that offers wonderful views of the ocean and the island. There are no restaurants (other than enjoying a hamburger at the Compass Cay Marina with Tucker), but you can rent a whaler and go south to Sampson for lunch or dinner if you like, or bring your own food. There is never lack of fresh fish in the local surrounding water and dolphin (Mahi Mahi) are plenty. You can hire a local guide to take you fishing for the day if you like.
What to do on Compass Cay:
Compass Cay is probably most widely noted for it's 'friendly' nurse sharks that lie below the Compass Cay Marina dock. The marina is a haven for hundreds of schooling fish that participate in the daily feeding below the dock. As your boat comes into the entrance to Compass Cay Marina, you may notice a nurse shark or two following behind the boat. Once you are tied up on the dock, you will notice more and more of them schooling around, and then you will notice them losing interest, and perhaps swimming away. This is because they are fed several times a day, and have learned that when boats come in, someone will surely give them a handout. They are docile, and many people visit the island just to snorkel with them and watch them mingle among the Bonefish, Sergeant Majors, French Angelfish, Remora, Snappers and many more tropical fish. Brightly colored corals are also now attaching themselves to the pilings and surrounding rocks which dot the area. The creek across from the marina also serves as a Conch nursery, assuring plenty of conch for the years to come. As you visit the marina, you will notice many signs that line the walls of the office left by fisting yachts and boats. Pieces of driftwood and old seaweathered lumber are colorfully painted with the names of the boats, and short messages and put up for all to see.
Compass Cay has a 3 mile trail that runs the extent of the island and really has the most spectacular, dramatic views we have seen anywhere in our travels. It is very rugged terrain, and we found difficult to traverse but well worth the muscle pain the next day. If you plan on hiking the island make sure you have good shoes with tough soles.
One of our favorite ways to spend time on the island is spending the day at Crescent Beach, which lies on the other side of the island from the marina, and only a 5 minute walk. The beach gets its name from is crescent shape and provides endless views of the ocean blue water. You can walk forever it seems on this beach, and it is a great way to hunt for sea shells and items that have washed in from the open ocean. There is a gazebo on the beach decorated with flotsam from the ocean, and provides a nice place to retreat from the sun. Typically, you will be the only one on the beach unless the cottages are rented.
As you leave the marina and head north to the tip of the island, you can find an inlet that has a creek in it which goes into an area they call "Rachel's Bubble Bath". This is a natural shallow lagoon fed by the ocean water that crashes over the opening during high tide and on windy easterly breezy days. You can stand in the lagoon, and when the water comes over the rocks, it creates a bubbling effect around you, thus the name. The lagoon is surrounded by high rocks which are great to climb and see the views from a high vantage point. You can see an area called the Rocky Dundas on the near horizon from here, which is the boundary to the Land and Sea Park. There is a very shallow, nice beach for picnicking at the entrance to Rachel's Bubble Bath, and if you are lucky, you might find some really nice shells here. Conch shells are everywhere, but best left where they are.
If you enjoy true natural island beauty, and really want to get away from it all, then you won't be disappointed with spending time on Compass Cay.
