Where to Hangout in Abaco for a Week?

[solecollector]

I have to pick up some people in Treasure Cay and we are going to spend some time in the Abacos - and then they are jetting out for 8 days leaving me in Abaco by myself... where should I stay for this week? I assume I won't be able to move the boat by myself during this time - so somewhere that will stay interesting for 8 days.

Requirements:

Love a good bar - from Key Largo so kind of divey bars....
Need WiFi for work.
Wouldn't mind getting into a little trouble here and there.

Not a bad problem to have for sure - !

[chrisjs]

I would stay in Hope Town. Not big, but big enough for a week.

[skipmac]

The largest settlement in the area so the most going on, most options for eating/drinking, etc is Marsh Harbor.

[dennisjay]

I'd go to Green Turtle. Get a mooring in Black Sound and you can dinghy into Pineapples, my favorite beach bar in the Abacos.

[micksbuddy]

I'd probly do either Hopetown or Great Guana(Nippers!), but then I boat single handed, and the Sea of Abaco is a great place to hang out with short, protected runs from one place to the next.

[chrisjs]

Provided you have a planing dinghy, you can pretty much cover the whole area froma single location. If you like the bar, pig roast and bikini scene, the Nippers is the place. Hope Town is nicer but quieter. Marsh Harbor is bigger. More supplies and shopping. We hung out for several days anchored off of Man-o-War Cay and were easily able to get to all 3 locations by dinghy.

[Amapola]

Our favorite is Man-O-War but there's not much trouble you can get into there since it is dry. MOW along with Hope Town give the best protection. Marsh Harbour & Great Guana offer more in the way of entertainment.

[tomfl]

So far I have seen no response about WIFI availability in any of these areas. I have seen other posts that WIFI in Marsh Harbor is $US35 a week, but I don't believe everything I read on the internet.

So can anyone confirm the WIFI status for Abaco and the Bahamas in general.

[onestepcsy37]

we just got back last week from two months in the abacos.

for wifi, you can't beat treasure cay. don't take a slip, just anchor out in the mooring area, about 200 yards from the marina. wifi is strong and FREE. we made skype calls home every day as well as doing lots of browsing. there's a pool right next to the dinghy dock and right next to the bar. the bar gets a small crowd at night during the week, except on thursday (pizza night) when it seems that everyone in the neighborhood turns out. they also have entertainment but it can get pretty loud. also busier on weekends. i think for your purposes treasure cay may be the best choice.

of course you can anchor in marsh harbor. if you anchor near union jack dock you'll be near the oii (out island internet) antenna. oii is a fee-for-service internet provider. i paid $35 for a week of internet access. signal was pretty good but not as good as the free signal at treasure cay. oii has antennas all over the abacos so you've got a good chance of getting a signal from at least one of them. if you take a dock, i know that mangoes marina is inexpensive and has free wifi. marsh harbor has the biggest choice of night life (snappa's comes to mind) and some good restaraunts. don't miss junovia's restaraunt on don mackay boulevard. the best real bahamian food in the abacos, as most locals will attest to.

the admiral loves hopetown. we spent two weeks there on a mooring ball. we were right off the hopetown marina and inn which kindly gave us free internet access for three days at a time, then we had to ask again, but they never refused us. they also have a beautiful pool with in-pool dining, and we ate lunch there often. nice town and island to explore as well. mooring balls are $20 a day.

i can't recommend great guana (settlement harbor) to you unless you want to stay at orchid bay marina, which is a bit upscale. they have free wifi for customers but no others. while it's true that nippers and grabbers are there - and grabbers has free wifi - it's just not convenient if you're working from your boat.

man of war is, of course, a dry island. 'nuff said.

that's about all i can think of at the moment. ask if you have any questions and i'll try to help.

[onestepcsy37]

just thought of two other wifi sources.

bahamas wimax is a wifi provider much like oii (out island internet). they also have antennae at multiple locations around the abacos. i don't know which has more or better antennae and cannot offer any reason to choose one over the other.

batelco (bahamas telephone company) has greatly improved over the past year now that they have been taken over by british telecom. they have an office in marsh harbor and in treasure cay. they also provide internet service but i haven't heard anything to recommend them over the private providers, and i think they're more expensive.

[nautical62]

Well, if you can't move the boat on your own, I assume this means going someplace where crew can get to and from the airport.

You could stay at the Treasure Cay Marina, though that would not be my personal choice. There's a ferry from Treasure Cay to Green Turtle Cay.

It's a fairly expensive taxi ride from Treasure Cay to Marsh Harbour.

You can anchor in Marsh Harbour or pick up a slip there. Man-O-War and Hope Town have regular ferry service to Marsh Harbour. Man-O-War is a dry town with few restaurants, so it would not be my choice of a place to spend a week.