You may travel to Nassau for the beaches, the casinos or the straw markets. But if you meet Harry the grouper, he just might become your most outstanding memory.
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Harry is a fish, but he`s a bit of a ham, too. He likes nothing better than to swim up next to your diving helmet and have his picture taken. Then he rolls over to have his tummy scratched. Though he maintains a constant fishy sort of pout, he does seem happy to pose. Then he waits patiently for his reward-a morsel of food from Christopher Hartley, who guides novice divers through an underwater world twice a day.
Harry wasn`t the first Bahamian we met, of course. As a matter of fact, our dive was the last activity we squeezed into a busy schedule in Nassau. But one of the best things about the capital city of the Bahamas is that you can be as lazy or as busy as you like.
We were met by sounds of calypso music provided by a combo in the airport waiting area and drove away to find we had traded interstate highways for a winding road lined with palm trees and a view of azure water and white sandy beaches. The road joined Bay Street, which leads all along the north side of New Providence island through the Cable Beach area and into downtown Nassau.
After a quick check-in at the large, contemporary Cable Beach Hotel, we dashed for the beach, where we found people sunbathing, swimming, snorkeling and sailing. Parasailers drifted above it all.
Americans in Nassau outnumber other tourists and sometimes seem to outnumber the Bahamians-especially at touristy events. And because the exchange rate is even, American dollars and coins are mixed with Bahamian ones in cash registers everywhere.
As we walked down the beach to look for sailboats to rent, we found Bahamian boat drivers bringing freshly caught conch (pronounced conk) shells onto the beach. The large shells-shiny, smooth pink inside, rough, sandpaper tan outside-hold the seafood that is on every Bahamian menu. One talkative Bahamian boatman, who said his name was Rhythm, strutted around the beach until he had gathered a crowd, then broke open a shell with a screwdriver. He pulled the live conch out and ate it, grinning widely.
At the other end of the beach, two Englishmen were snorkeling in search of a school of 40 or 50 fish they had spotted from the top of an unfinished luxury hotel. They had just ended a day`s work on the Crystal Palace Resort and Casino being built by Carnival Cruise Lines. One suite on the top two floors will rent for $25,000 a night (Yes, that`s $25,000.) The white-on-white rooms will feature extras such as a robot to serve guests, a clear Lucite piano, a voice-imprint security system and lights activated by body heat as you enter a room.
While one workman described this suite built for ”high rollers,” the other chased the fish until he got a good look at them. ”I can just see one of those fish on my plate for tea,” he said. He went back to his room for a Hawaiian sling, a kind of fishing spear. We don`t know whether he had the fish for dinner, but we were told later that some kinds of fishing are illegal and punishable by a substantial fine, so check before renting or using fishing equipment.
In addition to a large swimming pool, the Cable Beach Hotel features an inviting exotic pool designed to look like a tropical lagoon, complete with a waterfall that splashes from hollowed rocks.
That evening when we saw conch on the menu in the hotel`s King Conch Cafe, we thought of Rhythm chewing that tough, raw meat.
Our conch, however, had been tenderized and was much tastier than it had looked on the beach.
Casinos are part of the night life of Cable Beach Hotel, and the slot machines, roulette wheels and blackjack dealers in the dark casinos all create an atmosphere reminiscent of their Las Vegas counterparts.
Flashing lights signal slot-machine winners, and the sound of coins crashing down always draws a murmur from the crowd.
We left Nassau for a few days and, on our return, settled into the posh Nassau Beach Hotel, a quiet hotel with a touch of British colonial style.
Tea is served each afternoon, and the shuffleboard court next to the pool is kept busy most of the day.
The wide sand beach offers sunbathing or relaxing in the shade of a tiki hut made of dried palm fronds. At the sports desk on the beach, visitors can rent sailboats, wind-surfing or scuba equipment or pay $35 to be lifted into the sky under the colorful wings of a parasail. It looked more tempting all the time.
Islands seem to attract a little rain year-round, but an afternoon shower is no deterrent to shopping, sightseeing and planning future excursions over or under the water. Information desks at the Nassau Beach Hotel were overflowing with pamphlets from companies offering day or half-day trips to small islands, evening entertainment and dollars-off coupons on everything from pizza to calypso parties.
Ships have always found the shallow waters around the 750 Bahamian Islands treacherous-much to the delight of the pirates who were happy to scoop up treasure from the shipwrecks. Even today, divers are finding treasure the pirates missed.
We drove past Government House, where the Duke of Windsor lived during World War II and where Wallis kept busy redecorating, according to our guide. At the water tower above the Queen`s Staircase, four or five tourists at a time squeezed-really squeezed-into a tiny brass elevator for the ride to the top and a view of the city.
The water-tower admission price is 50 cents, and that`s just about what the view from the top is worth. It certainly isn`t worth a long wait.
But with only half a day left, we wanted to have a look at the fascinating undersea world of the Bahamas. Because we had no scuba training, we chose Hartley`s Undersea Walk-a guided tour of the ocean floor with Christopher Hartley. We took a cab to Hartley`s houseboat at the eastern dock of the Nassau Yacht Haven, East Bay Street, and arrived by 9 a.m. for the morning dive.
This is old stuff to Hartley, 33, who has been helmet diving since he was a year old. Christopher`s father, Bronson Hartley, who started the business in 1948 in Nassau, has now moved to Bermuda, where he and another son, Gregory, run the same kind of helmet-diving business.
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Some of the would-be divers were nervous about the old-fashioned diving helmet. Would we really be able to breathe? Wouldn`t the water leak into the open part of the helmet? Remember television`s ”Sea Hunt”? What if some villain chopped all the air lines while we`re under the water?
Hartley had heard it all before. He patiently explained the dive and answered most of the questions while they were still just in our minds.
After the catamaran cruiser was anchored in the bay, each person stood on the second or third rung of a ladder that hangs off the back of the boat. With the water at the diver`s shoulder level, an assistant carefully placed the 75- pound helmet on the diver`s head. Hartley told them how many floats to attach depending on the size of the diver.
Hartley led divers down one at time until four people were kneeling 15 feet below the water near coral and rocks teaming with fish and sea anemones. The glass front and sides of the big brass helmet allowed a clear view of starfish, sea cucumbers, coral and bright blue, yellow, red and orange fish.
Harry swam up as soon as his clients arrived. Hartley has taught him what to do by feeding him pinches of food. If he has to be patient with novice divers, we thought, imagine how patient he has to be to train a fish!
If you can`t get to Nassau soon, don`t worry about missing Harry. ”The other fish see what he`s doing and hang around hoping to take his place someday,” Hartley said. If you can`t meet Harry, maybe you can meet one of his understudies.