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Flamingo Bay, Rum Cay, Southern Bahamas

The chart and following text are from The Southern Bahamas Guide by Stephen J. Pavlidis

Flamingo Bay

Flamingo Bay-¼ nm N of wreck at entrance:
23º 42.45’ N, 74º 56.80’ W

There is a great anchorage at the northwestern tip of Rum Cay in Flamingo Bay that is good in east to almost southwest winds.  If you are tired of the maddening roll at Port Nelson, and you want a great beach for swimming with plenty of shallow and deep reefs offering great snorkeling or diving, this is the spot for you.  The entrance can only be navigated in daylight as you must steer between a lot of small patch reefs that are easily seen and avoided; but don’t fret, there’s plenty of room around and between them. 

Before entering this anchorage make sure your weather forecast does not call for any westerly to northerly winds overnight because you’ll never safely find your way back out in the dark.

Navigational Information
The entrance, as shown on Chart RC-1, is gained by rounding the northern tip of the reef well north of the very visible wreck of an old Haitian freighter.  A waypoint at 23º 42.45’ N, 74º 56.80’ W, will place you approximately ¼ mile north of the conspicuous wreck of a Haitian freighter at the northern end of the reef.  Do not attempt to bring your big boat close to the freighter, use your dinghy for exploring as the shallows extend north of the freighter about 50-100 yards. 

From the waypoint steer well east of the wreck giving it a wide berth as you head in for the beach at Flamingo Bay. There are two narrow, twisting, turning, entrances through the reef south of the wreck but I cannot recommend them as viable passages.  Better to enter the standard way north of the wreck.  Just north and east of the wreck are some huge coral heads lying in 20’-30’ of water but they are not hazards to navigation.  The dangerous heads lie inshore, mostly south of a line from Pee Wee Point to the northwestern tip of Flamingo Bay, but for safety’s sake treat all reefs and heads that you see as hazards to navigation and steer around them.  These heads and patch reefs are easily seen and avoided in good light and you anchor anywhere you choose off the beach in 7’-12’ of water and more in places.  In strong easterly winds you will want to tuck up into the lee of Pee Wee Point.

What You Will Find Ashore
At the northern end of the reef lying northwest of Rum Cay, just north of the wreck, is a dive site known as Pinder’s Pinnacle.  Here a spectacular coral pinnacle rises from the sandy bottom in 75’-110’ of water.  Fish life is prominent as are numerous colorful tube sponges.  An occasional shark may visit the site.

Ashore you will find a resort/marina project that ran out of funding and whose future is uncertain. 

A short distance east of Flamingo Bay, a dinghy ride in settled weather, is Hartford Cave.  Hartford Cave was discovered by Rum Cay residents who would enter the cave to collect bat guano for fertilizer, sometimes finding utensils like plates, cups, and bowls underneath the rich carpet of guano.  These items were found to be Lucayan in origin and the walls of the cave are decorated with ancient Lucayan drawings created by the original residents of Rum Cay.

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