Wikipedia tells us that Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas and is composed of a chain of islands approximately 53 miles east of Miami, Florida, and 137 miles west-northwest of Nassau.  In 2010, Bimini was reported to have a population of 2,008 people.

Boaters traveling between Florida and the Bahamas pass through the Gulf Stream.  The “Stream” is a river of warm water which flows north along Florida’s east coast.  When planning to “cross” the Gulf Stream, you need to watch for wind direction and speed.  If the wind is coming from the south is 15 knots or less, it is a good day to cross.  If the wind is coming out of the north, it is blowing against the current and, therefore, the seas will be rougher.  It is not advised to cross when the wind is blowing more than 15 knots.

Bimini has three islands, North Bimini, South Bimini, and East Bimini. The District of Bimini also includes Cay Sal Bank, more than 62 miles further south, which is geographically not a part of the Bimini Islands but a separate unit. 

The first inhabitants on the island were the Lucayans, and the name “Bimini” means “two islands” in the Lucayan language.   While Columbus never came to Bimini, subsequent Spanish raiders came and removed the aboriginal people and carried them to other West Indian islands to work as slaves in Spanish gold and silver mines.

The Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon, who travelled with Columbus, later adventured on his own seeking the fabled “Fountain of Youth” which the Lucayans had spoken of as being on the island called Bimini. Ponce launched an expedition to find the island and the wondrous fountain but there is no record that he ever found Bimini. He did discover Florida.  In late March of 1513, his ships landed on Florida’s east coast near present-day St. Augustine. Though de Leon‘s expedition brought him to Florida, the fountain was rumored to exist within the shallow pools of South Bimini. Today, there is a small freshwater well with a plaque commemorating the Fountain of Youth, on the road leading to the South Bimini Airport. Francis Drake was among Bimini’s visitors.  The Bahamas was completely de-populated between 1492 and 1520.

The island of Bimini remained untouched until the pirates came.  Blackbeard is one of the pirates who would lie in wait at Bimini, see a Spanish galleon and follow it until it could be attacked and plundered. However, once piracy came to an end in the middle 1700s, Bimini was a quiet island just waiting for settlement until 1835 when permanent settlement began.

According to the Bimini Museum’s website, it was 1835 when freed slaves and some Bahamian whites landed on the island to engage in the profitable wrecking trade.

Bimini was a struggling community of fewer than 600 persons until 1920 when American prohibition was proclaimed. At that time, Bimini became a major smuggling point. Bimini boomed during the prohibition era. Fast money could be had by running liquor into America or by assisting the rum runners in organizing their load. But, with prohibition’s repeal in 1933, Bimini fell into poverty as the quick money was quickly gone.

However, at the same time as the prohibition era came to an end, Bimini was discovered as being a major sport fishing destination. Big game fishing was in its infancy and Bimini provided pioneer sports-fisherman, like Ernest Hemingway, with a bountiful fishing ground.  Prosperity came again to the island and Bimini became known as the “Big Game Fishing Capital of The World”.

Bimini is home to several landmarks said to contain mystical properties. Experts have varied opinions/explanations. The most contentious of these sites is The Bimini Road. This “road” was discovered by three divers in 1968.  Investigators have found two additional “pavement-like” linear features that lie parallel to it.  The Bimini Road is approximately ½ mile long and is made up of rounded stone blocks with the average size of 7 – 10 feet.  The two narrower and shorter, approximately 160 and 200 ft.-long linear features consist of smaller stone blocks that are only 3–7 ft.  There is much debate as to whether these “structures” are natural or man-made.  Some people think that this might have been part of the lost City of Atlantis.

Chalk’s International Airlines operated seaplane flights between Miami Harbor and the Bahamas starting in 1917.  The company was an island institution for generations. Its Flight 101 was in route to Bimini when it crashed on December 19, 2005, killing all 18 passengers and 2 crew; at least eleven of the passengers were Bimini residents.  It is said that this crash led to the demise of Chalk Airlines.

North Bimini

North Bimini is about seven miles long and 700 feet wide. Its main settlement is Alice Town.  It has two major roads known as “The King’s Highway” and the Queens Road which runs almost the length of the island parallel to Kings Highway.

Found within the salt water mangrove swamp that covers four miles of North Bimini is The Healing Hole, a pool that lies at the end of a network of winding underground tunnels. During outgoing tides, these channels pump cool, mineral-laden fresh water into the pool.

After reading a Bimini Visitors’ Guide on our first trip to Bimini in January, 2012, I was excited to go into Alice Town and take a walking tour.  We paid two dollars each one-way to take the ferry over from South Bimini.  North Bimini is very popular with big game fishermen and there are a number of marinas and restaurants along the waterway.  Our first stop was the craft center.  Fewer than half of the 17 stalls were open.  I was offered a long-sleeved T-shirt for $20. 

The Bimini Museum was closed.  This museum is located in the restored former government administration building, abandoned for nearly twenty years.  The building was constructed in the 1920s.  At that time, it housed the office of the Commissioner of Bimini, His Majesty’s Customs and Bahamas Immigration, the Post Office, and the police station and holding cells.  Their website http://www.biminimuseum.com advertises opening hours daily from 10AM-7PM.  The museum is privately funded and maintained.  They request a $2.00 donation when visiting.

We continued walking down Kings Highway to the Bimini Big Game Club for lunch.  This club was made famous by Ernest Hemmingway.  It was owned and operated by Guy Harvey in 2012, but has since been sold.   When we last visited (October, 2014), we were greeted by the new General Manager, Mr. David Hess.  He generously bought our first round of drinks and told us of many improvements that have been made and/or are planned.  David told us that they will be running “specials” for fisherman to leave their boats for an extended period of time at their docks.  He also told us that they had recently installed a shark cage at the end of one of their docks where people could get an “up close and personal shark experience”.  You can contact him for more information at dhess@biggameclubbimini.com The club is located at 25o43.34N  &  79o 17.45W.  The following picture came from their website.

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In May 2008 marine conservationist Jean-Michel Cousteau criticized Bimini Bay Resort, calling it a “catastrophe” and announcing, “allowing Bimini Bay to continue with phase II would certainly strip this island paradise of its precious natural riches. Over time, visitors and residents alike will suffer the decline of economic, social and environmental prosperity…”

When we visited in October of 2014, the Bimini Bay Resort had been renamed Resorts World Bimini.  They have a fast ferry which brings people over from the Port of Miami in two hours. The marina is now associated with Island Global Yachting (IGY) as noted in this APRIL 7, 2014 press release.  “IGY Marinas is excited to announce that the Marina at Resorts World Bimini has joined the IGY network as its 14th yachting destination. Ideally located in the Bahamas just 48 nautical miles off the coast of South Florida, the 230‐slip marina welcomes vessels up to 180 feet with a 10 ft draft, and is part of the popular Resorts World Bimini, a 750 acre luxury resort that features exclusive residences, a live action casino, and a new marina hotel scheduled to be completed this fall, all on miles of unspoiled sandy beaches and crystal‐clear turquoise waters.

Amenities at the Marina at Resorts World Bimini include an open‐air lounge, bait & tackle shop, laundry service, a fitness center, grocery and liquor store, as well as showers and restrooms. While on property guests can enjoy the Resort’s six onsite restaurants, outdoor shopping and dining options, two pools, a beach club, a children’s center and tennis courts – or try their luck at the Resorts World Bimini Casino and Sports Book, the first in the world with panoramic water views and just steps away from the Marina.”

Conservationists are not the only ones who have expressed concerns over this development.  We spoke to a local resident who told us that they now have traffic jams on the island!

South Bimini

We first arrived in South Bimini in early January, 2012, and stayed at the Bimini Sands Resort and Marina for 11 nights.  We had departed Florida from Key Biscayne and headed across the Gulf Stream going north with its flow to reach Bimini.  We had to pay close attention to the charts as we made our way into the marina because there was a marked channel between North Bimini and South Bimini, but there was a shoal between the channel and the entrance to Bimini Sands Resort Marina making us have to first go to the south end of the island and approach the entrance to the marina by staying very close to the island.  Upon arrival at Bimini Sands, Rick took a taxi to the Customs and Immigration offices located at the airport (on South Bimini Island).  Here he paid for our cruising permit ($300 for one year for our size boat – a 4788 Bayliner with an overall length of 54 feet.)  The cruising permit can be renewed twice before we must take the boat out of Bahamian waters.  He was also given permission for us to stay 90 days in the Bahamas by the Immigration agent.

We stayed one night at the Bimini Sands Resort Marina on our return trip to Florida from the Bahamas in February, 2014.  Just about everything was the same as before with the exception of the new infinity pool which overlooks the beach. 

It was a great surprise to us that the shoal between the markers and the entrance to the resort had been dredged making it possible to head straight for the markers and then into the marina.  That saved a lot of time.

On our crossing in October, 2014, we departed from Ft. Lauderdale and went slightly south against the north current of the Gulf Stream.  Still, we had a fairly nice and uneventful crossing.  Upon arrival at the marina, we were very pleased to find that their rates remained the same as they had been when we visited in 2012.  (Although, we found out just before leaving, that we could have paid 50 cents a foot less at the Resort Worlds IGY Marina.)

On South Bimini, we ate at the Bimini Twist Restaurant at the Bimini Sands Beach Club as well as Mackey’s Sand Bar.  We enjoyed the food at the restaurant, but found the service a little slow.  The Sand Bar is aptly named as it is a bar and it has a sand floor.  We have eaten there several times and always enjoyed the experience.  They have a ring toss game which is loads of fun and weekly karaoke which is well attended by the locals.

On the way to the ferry we stopped in at a shop called Booze and Screws – that’s right, they sold alcohol and hardware! 

We took the resort bus to the Bimini Sands Nature Walk and took the one-mile self-guided tour in January, 2012.  We walked for about an hour and learned a lot about the flora and fauna of the island (including the Bimini Boa) as well as some history.  One of the stops along the walk was on a high dune overlooking the beach.  It was the ruins of the home of an Australian, Percy Cavill. Winner of the Gold Medal in the World Swimming championships in 1899, he is credited with developing the “Australian crawl” swimming stroke. Cavill lived on South Bimini and swam to work at the Bimini Rod and Gun Club on North Bimini each day.  In October, 2014, we didn’t have enough mosquito repellant to make the walk possible. 

The Bimini Biological Field Station is a world famous facility owned and operated by shark biologist Dr. Samuel Gruber.  It’s located on South Bimini Island and contributed a lot of research regarding the lemon shark.  They have captured and recorded 13 species of sharks in the shallow waters around Bimini.  However, the number of sharks around the island is even higher when considering the sharks of the deep waters off Bimini’s western shores