Half Moon Cay

I saved the best day of our cruise for last. Our first port of call was a tiny island called, Half Moon Cay, and today, I want to share with you my newest favorite place on Earth (to add to the long list of favorites).

Half Moon Cay (also known as Little San Salvador) is a private island owned by Carnival and is off the southern tip of Eleuthera. From my research I found that cay is pronounced “key,” something I did not know before this trip. This island is only 1,700 acres and most of it is wild life sanctuary so it remains largely undeveloped. The port is not big enough to hold a massive cruise ship so we had to take a smaller boat, called a tender, to the island. We were on the first tender that morning and one of the first passengers to step foot on the tiny island.

My first thought when walking down to the beach was that it was one of the prettiest beaches I have been to in my entire life (and I’ve been to a lot of pretty beaches). The white sand was as fine as powdered sugar; I have never been on softer sand in all of my travels. We walked the water’s edge to the other side of the long, crescent-shaped beach and found the perfect spot to spend our day in paradise.

The water was absolutely gorgeous as you can see from the pictures above and below. Yes, the water really was that blue. In some of our pictures it looks as if we are swimming in a swimming pool because it’s so clear. After a delicious lunch of jerk chicken, hamburgers, fresh fruit, salads, and plenty of dessert we went on a hike around the island to burn off some of the excess calories. The rest of our day on Half Moon Cay was spent relaxing under the warm tropical sun and listening to the sound of the waves. We enjoyed a few Bahama Mamas while we watched other travelers parasail, kayak, and play football.

The picture below says it all… and we can’t wait to go back!