Most interesting attractions and landmarks in

The Bahamas
Gatis Pvils, 17 July 2010 No.23. http://www.wondermondo.com/Bahamas.htm

Image: Deans Blue Hole. Ton Engwirda, Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA-3.0 Netherlands

Wondermondo is unique project: it aims to describe the most interesting man made and natural attractions /
landmarks in the whole world. Author of website www.wondermondo.com and each article in it is Gatis Pvils. Visit the site to find a lot more information!

he low lying, comparatively small Bahamas are quite

popular destination for mass tourism. Most people enjoy here a complete relaxation without bothering too much about travelling around and researching the intricacies of local history and nature. Interested visitor though will be rewarded with many unique monuments of nature and also several exciting cultural attractions. Islands are rich with legends including stories about unusual creatures looming in the wild forests and swamps.

Crossection of South Andros Black Hole in south north direction. Gatis Pvils, basing on S.Schwabe, R.A.Herbert, 2005, CC-BY-SA-3.0

Just some 100 kilometres away from the crowded

city of Nassau with its highrise hotels there is nearly unexplored land with some of the most mysterious karst formations in the world black holes. The best known and the most impressive among them is the Black Hole of Andros (The Black Hole of South Andros). Dark waters of this weird lake hide a layer of microorganisms which have heated water up to 36 C.

Islands consist of limestone of the former coral reefs rised above the sea level. Here have formed thousands of sinkholes and similar formations. Most of them are small and often the indigenous Lucayan people used them as flowerpots for cultivated plants in the past.

Some sinkholes though are large and unusual. Many large sinkholes and cave systems are connected to the sea and during the tides can be observed either incredible funnels sucking out the water (even a boat can disappear in these funnels) or giant bulges from the incoming water. Even more exotic are black holes these formations are unique in the world as they contain bacterial layer which generated heat heating the water up to 40 C hot! Big Blue Hole of Cat Island north of Cat Island. Legendary lake here supposedly lives a monster which devours horses. Deep karst sinkhole, well connected with the sea through underwater cavities. Strong sea induced currents may bring objects from the lake into the sea. Black Hole of Andros South Andros. 300 m wide and up to 47 m deep round water filled sinkhole with a layer of violet jelly layer of bacteria at 18 metres depth. Microoganisms have heated up the water to 40 C. Church's Blue Hole North Andros. 140 m wide, beautiful, almost perfectly round water filled sinkhole, one of the many in this area. Covered with 18 m thick layer of freshwater. Sea water starts below it.

Church's Blue Hole. Tim Horton, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5

Dean's Blue Hole Long Island. World's deepest sinkhole in the sea, 202 metres deep and only 25 35 metres across.

Ocean Hole South Eleuthera. Rounded sinkhole filled with sea water, for most part up to 30 m deep. It experiences sea tides as it is connected to the 300 m distant sea with underground passages. At the southwest corner is located very deep, unexplored hole possible entrance in such passage. Thunderball Grotto Exuma. Beautiful underwater cave sinkhole under the limestone cliffs of small island near Staniel Cay.

There are numerous and very diverse caves in Bahamas, many still waiting for their explorers. It is speculated that below the sea level here can be found very extensive cave systems. Many of these caves have impressive dropstone formations (also below the sea level) and some contain artefacts and petroglyphs left by the extinct Lucayan people. Many caves with valuable finds are kept secret from tourism industry to prevent damage to ancient artefacts and dripstone formations. Dunmore's Cave Long Island, near Deadman's Cay. Cave with 2 tunnels, one unexplored tunnel leads to the sea. Contains Lucayan petroglyphs. Hamilton's Cave Long Island, near Deadman's Cay. One of the most impressive cave systems in Bahamas, 460 m long, contains beautiful dripstone formations and ancient Lucayan artefacts. Hartford Cave Rum Cay. Seaside cave with the carvings, possibly even writings of Lucayans. Mystery Cave Stoking Island, Exuma. Underwater cave system with three known entrances Mystery Cave, Angelfish Cave (both in the ocean) and the Bottomley's Blue Hole on the island, total explored length exceeds 3 km, some tunnels are very large. Contains large amount of endemic species of sea organisms.
Sinkhole in Preacher's Cave. Paul Schultz, Flickr / CC BY 2.0

Preacher's Cave North Eleuthera. Large niche burial site of early Lucayans from 8th century AD with few petroglyphs. First home of European settlers in Bahamas in 1640.

Bimini Road Bimini. Unusual natural monument some 0.8 km long geological formation which resembles ancient man-made linear structure, located in 5.5 m depth. For a while it was considered to be a unique megalithic structure. There are several more similar sites in the Bahamas f.e. Andros Temple. East Plana Cays Acklins. The only island where survived Bahamian Hutia ( Geocapromys ingrahami (J.A.Allen, 1891)). Population of these large rodents on this narrow, 10 km long island could reach 12,000. Later hutia has been introduced to several more islands of Bahamas. The Healing Hole Bimini. Unusual, mineralised spring coming up from the cave in the salt marshes of North Bimini. Considered to have unique healing powers, although this seems to be largely exaggerated.

St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church Long Island. Beautiful Art Deco style church built after 1946 by Father Jerome Hawes. Grey Lady of Great Isaac Cay Bimini. Small island site of legends, reputedly haunted by a spirit of mother deceased in shipwreck nearby and looking for her child. Rich with other stories as well. Atlantis Paradise Island New Providence. Enormous resort complex with the first highrise building in Bahamas, which in many respects symbolises contemporary Bahamas. Built in 1997 2007, impressive Postmodern architecture.
Atlantis Paradise Island. Fotodawg, Flickr / CC BY 2.0