Favorite Cruising Grounds with NO Cruise Ships

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I am not going to share my best spots with you. If I do, you are going to spoil them for me.

Why not just sail around some more and then you simply discover more spots that fit your vision of paradise.

A tip: If a place is labelled PARADISE in any printed or electronic media ... ;-)
b.

Well thank you Mr. Barnakiel. That was most helpful advice.

BTW, my question was very basic and general in nature. I surly didn't expect anybody to divulge their ultra secret special spot or hidey hole to the unwashed masses on the internet. No sir, no way!.....not asking for your very special cove, anchorage, snorkel/diving location or coral head where all the lobsters are. For example, A simple..."We like the south coast of Jamaica" would've been very nice. ( Thank you Mr. Stumble)

As somebody who travels the world for a living, I'm MORE than happy to share any information that would be useful to whoever asks, right down to my favorite hotel and restaurant. But I guess I'm strange that way....I even share my very special recipes handed down by Mom. No secrets here. :big grin:

[Pelagic]

What makes an Anchorage a special place?

1 People (really nice and unspoiled by massive tourism


2 Deserted islands that generally only offer a fairweather stop.


3 Weather...Seasonal knowledge to identify #2 where transient seasons provides calm weather in front of isolated beaches that are normally unattainable, can be full of dangers and probably needs a beach line to hold and fit between them.

It is easy to stay away from cruise ship destinations as those are guided by commercial convenience and are spoiled.

40 years ago, they were all beautiful

Now what remains is your imagination and skill.

The realization that with GPS many boats will now venture into the "Adventure Areas" without the proper skills to assess and manage the risk, also causes me to pause about publishing details on the Forum.

I will gladly share face to face once I know the person.

Is that selfish or prudent?

[Saleen411]

The realization that with GPS many boats will now venture into the "Adventure Areas" without the proper skills to assess and manage the risk, also causes me to pause about publishing details on the Forum.

I will gladly share face to face once I know the person.

Is that selfish or prudent?

I think that is very wise Sir. Thank you for sharing your beautiful pics.

[Jim Cate]

OK, I'll give in and offer up a couple of favorite uncrowded anchorages, quite unlikely to harbour cruise s hips:

Any of the Belep island group in the northern lagoon of New Caledonia.

Isle Bilabio at the NE corner of Grande Terre, New Caledonia.

Up the Gordon River at or past Sir John Falls, Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania.

Chesterfield Reef, Coral Sea

Eliabeth Cove, Rambi Island, Fiji

No cruise s hips to be seen, few other yotties. Actually, in New Caledonia, if you go north from Noumea, you are not likely to see many other yachts. In a 7 week circumnavigation of Grande Terre we saw two other yachts, once away from the big smoke.

Seek and ye shall find...

Jim

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

No cruise ships in Haiti.

Sadly, there are...a private island where they take their overweight clueless guests.

They do the same in Belize and have seriously degraded a few locations. Good news is that the reef is very spread out and they are easy to avoid as they only currently anchor off Belize City. None in Southern Belize yet...still plenty of remote spots where you may rarely see another cruiser. None at the outer atolls either. If you like remote and unspoiled the atolls are a great option...just a few eco/diving/fishing lodges and otherwise unspoiled.

San Blas Islands of Panama are still quite nice, but you do see the occasional mega yacht and small cruise ship. Never seen either in Eastern San Blas though...only occassionally see other cruisers. There are enough cruisers anchored in a few popular W San Blas locations to be an annoyance though!

Cayos Cochinos, Honduras. Beautiful place. No cruise ships. No mega yachts. Rarely any other cruisers. Easy day sail from the Bay Islands.

Eastern end of Roatan...like a different world than the touristy W end. Very local.

Vivarios, Albuquerque Cays and several other beautiful spots on the Nicaraguan Banks.

Lots of places to avoid them in the Bahamas like Acklins and other remote southern Bahamas locations. Like Belize they are limited to just a few touristy spots and the Bahamas cover a huge area.

Guanaja, Bay Islands, Honduras. Cruise ships tried it there once, but it was a bit too local for their guests.

Swan Island, Honduras...nothing there except a few really lonely military kids who drew the short straw.

Archipeligo around the Bocas del Toro, Panama area...once you get away from Bocas proper there are some beautiful isolated places.

Many places arent so bad if you know the cruise ship schedule and just avoid their haunts on those days.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by captlloyd

I am not sure if you are being serious here or not but I would like to do some volunteer work in Haiti, anyone know much about cruising in Haiti? Security?

I know someone who does voluteer work there. PM me your email address and I will introduce you.

[barnakiel]

OK.

The place I liked best is Mentiroso Bay. Secluded, quiet, no mosquitos (by Caribbean standards). We just drop the hook and have it all to ourselves. What not to like!

Cheers,
b.

[Saleen411]

You guys are AWESOME!

[tomfl]

Official sources say there are something like over 700 hundred islands in the Bahamas and I have never met anyone who claimed they had been to all of them. Not sure I have met anyone who has been to 70, or 1/10 of them. While there are cruise ships that visit the Berrys there are also lots of places in the Berrys where you will not see a boat for months.

Wiki says there are 1,700 islands in the Florida Keys and even guys I know who spent most of their lives in the back country have probably not been to 20% of them. A good example is Content Key which is what I will call a fairly well known"secret" place that I have never seen another boat there except when I went there with a buddy boat.

If the truth be known there are lots of isolated places that are almost never visited by run of the mill cruisers who tend to bunch up at the better known places. If you even sail 10,20,30, or more miles away you will often never see another boat.

[chuckr]

You want new? you want no tourist? you want no boats? you want surprised people when you sailing into a port? THE BLACK SEA!

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Hobie_ind

I just read an article by Jimmy Cornell where he gave his updated estimates of the number of yachts crusing globally for 2015. Unfortunately I can't find it now, but did find his 2011 article...

“... To asses the approximate number of boats that are undertaking a long voyage, I estimate that worldwide there are approximately 8,000 either cruising in a certain area or actually voyaging. About half are in the Atlantic, 1,500 to 2,000 in the Pacific, 1,000 in the Indian Ocean, and 1,000 in the Mediterranean. This estimate is about twenty percent lower than the conclusion I drew in 2000 and 2010 when I reckoned that there were between 10,000 and 12,000 boats roaming the oceans of the world...”

The article is “cached” ➥ The Unabridged Version: Popular Destinations on the World Cruising Circuit - Sail Magazine