Planning a Trip

Getting There -- Fly to Treasure Cay Airport, where a taxi will take you to the ferry dock for departures to Green Turtle Cay (New Plymouth). Once at the dock, you may have to wait a while for the ferry. The crossing takes about 15 to 20 minutes, and the boat will take you to the Green Turtle Club, if you're staying there, or otherwise to New Plymouth. This land-and-sea transfer costs US$16 per person round-trip.

Getting Around -- Though you can walk to many parts of Green Turtle Cay, the most common mode of transportation is by water. Some accommodations provide water transport to town or to weekly hotel parties. Many vacationers rent boats, but if you'd rather not, you have other choices for getting around. Most of the island is accessible on foot, and the virtually car-free streets of New Plymouth, the quiet 18th-century village by the sea, are prime walking territory. On Green Turtle Cay, golf carts stand in for rental cars. D & P Rentals, at Green Turtle Club (tel. 242/365-4655), rents theirs for US$45 for 8 hours or US$55 for 24 hours. You can also get all over the island by bicycle, and pedaling is especially scenic in historic New Plymouth.

Fast Facts -- The local branch of First Caribbean International Bank (tel. 242/365-4144), which has an ATM, is open only Tuesday and Thursday from 10am to 2pm. You enter Green Turtle Cay's post office (tel. 242/365-4242), also the site of a public telephone, through a pink door on Parliament Street. Its hours are Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm.

If you need medical attention, visit the government clinic (tel. 242/365-4028), which is run by a nurse. There's no crime in New Plymouth, so the little stone jail here makes visitors chuckle. No one can remember when, if ever, it held a prisoner.

Special Events -- One event that draws visitors in droves is the Green Turtle Club Fishing Tournament, held in May. In 1984, the winner hooked a 226kg (498-lb.) blue marlin; it was so heavy that the competing participants from other boats generously climbed aboard the winning craft to help reel the fish in. For more information, contact one of the Bahamian tourist offices or the Green Turtle Club (tel. 866/528-0539 or 242/365-4271; www.greenturtleclub.com), which more or less becomes the tournament's official headquarters each year.