April 28 Two Natural Wonders on Eleuthra: Queen’s Baths and the Glass Window

 After motoring 20 miles northeast from Finley Cay as there was too little wind to sail, we arrived at the northeast portion of Eleuthra around lunch time. We revisited the two natural wonders timing our visits to correspond with the optimal tidal phases for each. The Queen’s Baths are best experienced at low tide. Our anchorage was in an optimal location as we merely had to walk 30 yards from the shore towards and across the Queen’s Highway, then another 30 yards to the east to her baths and the open Atlantic.  The baths are depressions in the coastal rock worn smooth by the constant wave and swell action from the Atlantic Ocean. There were about five pools at various setbacks from the ocean ranging in depth from one to five feet deep. Small fish, crabs, and sea urchins were common in the pools so we had to be a bit careful, but once in the deepest pool, it was just a matter of time before the next large swell would splash up and over the rocks, bringing with it gallons of fresh ocean water and lots of bubbles to add to our bath.  In addition, a little further along where the ocean met the rocky shore, it was mesmerizing simply watching cascades of water rising 20 feet into the air with the larger swells, and added to this was a thunderous sound. The experience was akin to watching a fireworks display.

The other natural wonder- The Glass Window- was a five minute dinghy ride from our anchorage. Unlike the baths, this natural wonder however is best viewed and experienced  from the calm waters to the west. Here Eleuthra is nearly bisected into a north and southern island as the elevation is only a few feet above sea level. This low point of the island in fact has a bridge spanning this depression and at high tide, the Atlantic surge coming from the east dramatically crashes upon the eastern shore sending cascades of water over the rocks to the calm waters of the west shore of Eleuthra. From our vantage point in our dinghy on the western shore of Eleuthra, we sat with great anticipation for each dramatic ocean surge, again much like the joy in waiting for and watching a fireworks display.

Seas breaking over into the pools of the Queen's Baths

The Glass Window