Half Moon Cay is about halfway between Cat Island and Eleuthera and is a private island owned by Holland America line which uses it as a playground for their passengers. It looked a bit like the Disney World of beaches. Hundreds of people were laid out in beach chairs, riding horses, or playing on the water slides. We arrived about an hour before the cruise ship left port, which was just enough time to tidy up and get our beach gear ready. As soon as the ship sailed away, we called for permission to land our dinghy. We were given permission to use the beach, but to stay out of the cabanas. Nice! We enjoyed a long walk and then a lot of time in what we dubbed “Hammock Land”! Some other cruisers stopped by to let us know that the next day, Sunday, was a cruise ship free day, so we’d have the entire day on the beach!
The downside of the Half Moon Cay is that the anchorage gets a pretty awful swell. We paid for our time on the beach with a rough night’s sleep. I was up early making cinnamon rolls, and by 9 a.m. we were sitting in a beach side gazebo enjoying them with some icy cold mimosas. We spent the day relaxing, swimming, taking long walks, enjoying the hammocks and generally having a wonderful time. Again it was another rough night, but it was well worth the awesome day.