Exuma
A bracelet gone somewhere between the boat and the sand
Several Exuma beaches are a boat ride away, so the dock you left from belongs in the story too.
Jewelry lost on an Exuma beach or in the shallows can be searched for once you can tie it to one stop of your day. That is what decides it, and after hopping between cays by boat, the stops are easy to run together.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewelry recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Exuma with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the beach or the cay, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Exuma is a chain of islands rather than one. Great Exuma has George Town, a small bridge joins it to Little Exuma, and the cays carry on to the north, some of them reachable only by boat.
Write the day down as a list of stops
Do this before the day starts to blur. Write down every stop in order with a rough time beside it, from the dock you left from to the dock you came back to. Shake out towels and bags, check the boat if you still can, and save a pin on your phone's map for each stop you can place. Last, find a photo where the bracelet, ring or watch shows on you.
Stocking Island lies across Elizabeth Harbour from George Town, a short boat ride from the Government Dock, and with a boat of your own you can stop at the Moriah Harbour sandbar on the way. Jolly Hall, Three Sisters and Coco Plum are beaches on Great Exuma itself, and Tropic of Cancer Beach is on Little Exuma, over the bridge. Staniel Cay, Thunderball Grotto and Big Major Cay lie further up the chain. Knowing which of these your day took in tells us early whether a detectorist would need a boat to get there.
Places we cover in Exuma
- Great Exuma
- George Town
- The Government Dock in George Town
- Elizabeth Harbour
- Jolly Hall Beach
- Stocking Island
- Chat 'N' Chill
- The Moriah Harbour sandbar
- Three Sisters Beach at Mt. Thompson
- Coco Plum Beach
- Emerald Bay
- Little Exuma
- Williams Town
- Tropic of Cancer Beach (Pelican Beach)
- Staniel Cay
- Ho Tai Beach and Pirate's Beach
- Thunderball Grotto
- Big Major Cay (Pig Beach)
- Compass Cay
- The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park
- Warderick Wells Cay
- Shroud Cay
Beaches on the main islands, and beaches across the water
Around George Town and Elizabeth Harbour, then down to Little Exuma and up to Staniel Cay.
George Town and Jolly Hall Beach
George Town, the capital, is on Great Exuma. Jolly Hall Beach is a sandy crescent in the town, and the Government Dock is where people ask around for a water taxi over to Stocking Island.
Chat 'N' Chill
Chat 'N' Chill is a beach bar on the sandy shore of Stocking Island, reachable only by boat. People eat and drink with their toes in the sand and play volleyball on its courts. Mark the spot where you ate and, if you played, the court.
Stocking Island away from the bar
Stocking Island is a barrier cay that shelters Great Exuma from the Atlantic. Its beaches come one after another, separated by limestone promontories, and snorkelers and divers come for its blue holes, coral gardens and undersea caves. Tell us which two promontories your beach lay between.
Coco Plum Beach and Emerald Bay
Coco Plum Beach is in the northeastern part of Great Exuma, white sand with palms that give shade, and a beach bar. Emerald Bay has a white, powdery beach in front of a resort, with calm turquoise water.
Three Sisters Beach at Mt. Thompson
Three Sisters Beach is an expanse of white sand at Mt. Thompson, north of George Town, looking over blue-green water to Three Sisters Rock, a trio of rocks rising out of the sea offshore. The Three Sisters Reef nearby is a snorkeling spot off the beach, so a loss here can be on the sand or out over the reef.
Tropic of Cancer Beach on Little Exuma
Tropic of Cancer Beach, officially Pelican Beach, is a crescent of white-powder sand just outside Williams Town on Little Exuma, over the bridge from Great Exuma. It takes its name from the Tropic of Cancer, which crosses right through it. You know you are there when you see a small hut with benches and the name carved into the ramp down to the sand, and people snorkel right off the beach.
Staniel Cay, Thunderball Grotto and Big Major Cay
Staniel Cay is reached by boat or by air. Ho Tai Beach and Pirate's Beach there have dunes and sea oats, with reefs just offshore. Thunderball Grotto, just west of the cay, is a small hollow cay that snorkelers duck into through an almost hidden entrance. Big Major Cay, known as Pig Beach, is uninhabited and reachable only by boat, and its pigs swim out whenever a boat arrives.
The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park
Up the chain of cays, the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park takes in reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds, and people come by boat to snorkel, dive, kayak and hike. Boaters pick up moorings at Warderick Wells. Shroud Cay has a white sand beach set against the mangroves around it. Give us the cay, and the mooring or beach you went ashore from.
Dealing with us
Who you deal with
The person who answers your first WhatsApp message is the one who keeps you posted until the search is done.
Your notes travel with the search
Your list of stops goes to the detectorist along with the map pins and photos, in the order you wrote it.
Straight talk on deep water
A pin on a sandbar and a guess at a spot in open water are not the same request, and we say which one you have sent.
What a search would cost
We explain the costs before any search is booked. Ask about them at any point.
Tide times and clear water in Exuma
A few things about the water here change what is worth telling us.
Seeing the bottom
The water in Exuma is clear enough to see the ocean floor on most days. If you looked and still could not spot it, tell us whether the bottom was sand, grass or coral, and how deep the water came on you.
Where the tide comes into it
Some places here change with the tide. Thunderball Grotto is entered at low or slack tide, and at high tide its entrance is hidden. At Compass Cay people either stay on the marina dock or get into the water with the nurse sharks, so say which you did. Give us the time you were there as well as the date.
Behind Stocking Island
Stocking Island has protected bays, and Chat 'N' Chill is on its lee side, while the beaches on its other shore face the Atlantic. Tell us which shore you were on.
Questions about Exuma
The bracelet was on at breakfast and gone by the time the water taxi brought us back from Stocking Island.
Then the day has several places in it. Stocking Island is a short boat ride across Elizabeth Harbour from the Government Dock in George Town, so the dock and the taxi are as possible as the beach itself. Write the day out stop by stop and mark the last moment you remember the bracelet on your wrist.
Does the tide matter for a watch lost at Thunderball Grotto?
It does. The grotto is a small hollow cay just west of Staniel Cay, and snorkelers swim in through its small entrance at low or slack tide. At high tide the entrance is hidden underwater and diving gear is needed. Tell us the time you were there and whether you made it inside.
Our phone fell in when the pigs swam out to the boat at Big Major Cay.
The pigs on Big Major Cay swim out to be fed whenever a boat arrives, and the cay is uninhabited and reached only by boat. What counts is where your boat stopped and whether you were aboard or standing in the water. Deep water under the boat makes it a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
An engagement ring came off while we were looking for sand dollars at Coco Plum Beach.
Sand dollars and shells turn up at Coco Plum at low tide, so the time you were out there tells a detectorist where the edge of the water was. Palms shade part of the beach and there is a beach bar, so a pin for your towel and one for the bar give a detectorist two more places to start.
The clasp on my necklace gave way at Tropic of Cancer Beach, and all the sand looks the same.
The ramp helps. The way down to the beach, just outside Williams Town on Little Exuma, is a ramp with the Tropic of Cancer name carved into it, and a small hut with benches is there too. Tell us which way you turned at the bottom and roughly how long you walked, and whether you went snorkeling off the beach.
An Oura ring slipped off while I was snorkeling at the Three Sisters.
Three Sisters Beach at Mt. Thompson faces a trio of rocks standing up out of the sea, and the Three Sisters Reef is a snorkeling spot off the same beach. Say whether the ring went on the swim out to the reef or on the way back in, and send any photo from that day with the rocks in it, since where the rocks sit in the frame helps place the spot.
An earring came out during volleyball at Chat 'N' Chill.
Chat 'N' Chill has several volleyball courts on its white sand, so first say which court you played on and roughly where you stood on it. Mention it too if you went into the water afterward.
We are staying near Jolly Hall Beach in George Town and a wedding band is missing.
Jolly Hall Beach is a sandy crescent in George Town, and the curve helps. Say whether you were toward one end of it or in the middle. While you are still close by, walk back and drop a pin exactly where you sat.
Exuma
Send us the day in order
Even a rough list gets things moving.
Your list of stops is the start. Put it in a WhatsApp message, mark the stop you suspect most, and we reply with the questions that come next.