Small Hope's "West Side Story"

The west side of Andros Island is a virtually unexplored and pristine oasis. It is miles of waterways and mangroves, estuaries and sand banks. At Small Hope we offer tours to this paradise for nature lovers.

We have several guided tours of Andros Island - half days and whole days, and to some of the beautiful natural attractions this island has to offer - but nothing compares to the West Side. This tour is unique since we have to go by boat rather than vehicle.

It is a whole day tour and starts early in the morning. We drive down to Cargill Creek where we get in to the skiff and start the ride through North Bight, the large waterway that crosses Andros. The tour includes bird watching, fishing, snorkeling, and sight-seeing. You can see the old sponging locations and you'll pass the historic Bang Bang Club, which worn down now, used to have guests like Al Capone! Some of our guests even spot dolphins on this trip!

Check out our guests' most recent trip to the West Side. Looks like they had a great lunch with some very fresh snapper! They also made a new friend - one of the rare iguanas we have on the island.

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Some More Sustainable Practices at Small Hope!

As you may have read from a previous post, we at Small Hope maintain a continuous effort in being as Eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable. This means many things to us - it is why we installed solar energy and use only solar heated hot water, it is why we use water saving devices in our plumbling, why we have LED light bulbs in all fixtures on the property, and most recently, why we have started removing all of the Casuarina trees (also know as Australian Pine) from the property.


The Casuarinas are an invasive species and contribute to excessive beach erosion. In place of these trees we are planting many more coconut palms, as well as many varieties of native grasses and shrubs. Our staff can frequently be spotted along our beach planting and maintaining these new plants.

Come down and see our efforts for yourself, or let us know what practices you think are important for us to try!

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The Wonderful Nature and Birding Tours at Small Hope!

Nature? - check! Birding? - check! Island history? - check! We have tours for everyone here at Small Hope! Our extensive list of tours offered include (but are not limited tot) the following:

• Our most popular Blue Hole Tour - a half day tour that visits Rainbow Blue Hole, Maidenhair Coppice, Cousteau's Blue Hole, and Captain Bill's Blue Hole; 
• West Side Story - an full day trip by boat to the West Side of Andros Island. Great for nature and bird lovers alike!
• Kayak Tour of Davis Creek - a half day tour exploring the mangrove and creek right in our backyard. The tour ends with some snorkeling at the mouth of the creek.
• Birding Tour - Half or whole day guided tour to various spots nearby where our guides have spotted many varieties of birds.

 And speaking of birding guides . . . Our very own Dennis Burrows has completed his Bahamas National Trust/Audubon Bird Guide Training and is now an Audubon certified Bird Guide! Congratulations Dennis!!!!! We have known for some time of his great nature guide skill. We are proud of him on his certification!!!
Come and go on a tour with him to see for yourself!

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Small Hope featured in the Washington Post!

In early September we had a writer come stay with us to learn about Small Hope and all of the amazing things to do on Andros. 

Check out his amazing article here!

Dolphins spotted on the way back from the West Side!

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Jad Davenport visit Andros Wild Wild West!!!!

Jad Davenport visit's Andros West Side with Small Hope Bay 

Jad Davenport writer for coastal magazine and National Geographic photographer recently paid a visit to Small Hope Bay Lodge to visit the west side of Andros Island. He explored the area with Small Hope tour guide Tarran and boat captain Jeff. The west side of Andros is the western most frontier of The Bahama Islands. The area has a large bio-diversity of marine life. Many fishermen believe that because of the preservation of this area, species such as snappers, spiny lobsters, tarpon, and bonfish can use it as a nursery habitat. These nursery habitats are believed to contribute to the fish stocks throughout the Caribbean region and the East Coast of the united states. 

The Small Hope Bay Lodge Andros west side tour will take you on a journey to a place where not many have ventured. Hunting for endangered species such as the Andros Iguana,  the sawtooth fish and luck may bring a few turtles. You will visit Al Capone's old hang out at the Bang Bang club, and the old sponging market. Guests will have a chance to exfoliate their skin with the alluvial clay, and fish for their lunch. The west side tour is like non-other, life changing, thrilling, out of this world. Visit Small Hope Bay Lodge and book the west side tour today www.smallhope.com.

Check out Jad's Adventure by clicking on the link above!

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Small Hope Has Gone SOLAR!

Solar panels for our hot tub

As you may know, Small Hope Bay Lodge has always been firmly committed to our natural environment. For many years we have employed several measures to reduce our environmental impact such as LED bulbs in all of our light fixtures and water saving devices in all our toilets.

Now we have taken it a step further. All the hot water for our entire resort - that means all 21 of our beachfront cabins, as well as our kitchen, lounge, and hot tub - is completely solar heated now.

Layout of our solar design

This is a big step for Small Hope, and Andros Island in general. This island's energy is currently supplied by diesel generators, a very costly and inefficient fuel source. By switching all our water heating to solar, we are taking a huge step forward in reducing our dependency on non-renewable energy sources. 

We are very proud of this. And it's just the beginning. . . .

Solar panels for our cabins and lounge

This process began last summer when we had a team of interns from Duke University down for several weeks to help design and implement a solar hot water heating system for the resort. They definitely got the ball rolling and helped construct the unit we currently are using to heat all the water for our cabins, lounge and kitchen.

We then expanded the project further and, with a little help for some good friends, constructed an additional unit for heating our hot tub.

A big thanks to everyone who helped us achieve this goal!

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The Solar Project at Small Hope

Four months ago, I expected my summer to be spent somewhere in the hustle and bustle of downtown Washington, DC, researching and writing memos on various environmental issues. It didn’t even occur to me that building a solar domestic hot water system in the Bahamas at a dive resort surrounded by mangroves and clear turquoise water was an option! I am glad I made the choice to trade in my metro card and suit for a bicycle and flip flops.

As August, and the end of my time with Small Hope Bay Lodge, approaches, I start to reflect on my experience here and all that has been accomplished. Working with Small Hope has been an incredible experience and a rare opportunity to be able to see a vision turn into a physical reality. I came down here with nothing but a notepad and with the help of some great teammates, Kevin Kurkul, Jake Vestal, and Esi Waters, and the support of the Small Hope family we can leave with a resort-wide solar hot water system, an energy monitoring program, community outreach material on solar hot water systems, and an environmental management plan for the resort.

Time has really flown by and these next few weeks will continue to fly by as we try to finish construction on the solar hot water system. I am ecstatic to get my hands dirty after weeks of dealing with the logistics of obtaining specialized parts and shipping to a remote Out Island like Andros.  (You will not believe how inaccurate those shipping estimate dates are!)

Finally after a few weeks of calling freight companies, distributors, and coordinating with manufacturers, the majority of the parts have arrived! We have been focusing our efforts on building the water manifolds for the hot water storage tanks and starting to solder the copper components. If you are interested in reading more about the specifics of the system, check out my blog entry on the system design. http://blogs.nicholas.duke.edu/internshipblogs/pulling-together-a-solar-hot-water-system-for-small-hope/ Once we are done with that, the team will start to run the pex tubing (a flexible tube that will deliver the end use water) around the resort and to each of our cabins. I am excited to see what our final system looks like and to get it online! I think it will be a great help to Small Hope in terms of reducing its energy costs, but also as an example for the community and to inspire others to follow suit! With plentiful sun exposure, Bahamians really could benefit by tapping into this underutilized resource!

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Small Hope, the Nature Conservancy and Lionfish!

This week at Small Hope we got to be involved in two different environmental efforts, one addressing the growth and health of our reef, and one focused on controlling the lionfish population that threatens the marine life here in the Bahamas and other Caribbean areas.

At Small Hope, we take the protection of the environment very seriously. We have enacted several ecological programs around the lodge for this reason. From our recycling program to the water saving procedures to our reverse osmosis water treatment, Small Hope has continued to develop plans and programs that help to safeguard the beautiful and unique environment of Andros Island, Bahamas.

Andros is home to the Andros Barrier Reef, the third largest barrier reef in the world. The reef is full of hard and soft corals, sponges and a variety of sea life. The reef itself is in good condition, but due to various global conditions and effects there is more algae on the reef in recent years. 

ANCAT (Andros Conservancy and Trust), which was formed with Small Hope Bay Lodge and of which Jeff Birch is secretary has developed a new coral farming program and this week Small Hope got to be a part of their efforts. Felicity, of the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos branch of the Nature Conservancy led the group which also included Kemit-Amon Lewis, the Coral Conservation Manager from the US branch, Stopher Slade of the St. Croix branch and Eric Buck of the St. Thomas branch. The group came to Andros with the goal of setting up Coral Nurseries. They set up 5 blocks of new-growth coral, each featuring three different types of coral in each block.  These Coral Nurseries will grow the coral and can be used for future coral transplanting to any damaged areas of the reef!

We were also lucky enough to host Indira and Nichola, who came to Andros as representatives of  the Bahamas Department of Agriculture to work on their study of lionfish. Lionfish are a venomous fish native to Indo-Pacific waters and considered an invasive species in the Bahamas as well as the rest of the Caribbean. The beautiful striped fish are known to have a voracious appetite, an indiscriminate palate (devouring many different species) and reproduce at a high rate. Many organizations and governments have started to take a more active role in the control of the spread of lionfish population.

Indira and Nichola came as part of a study evaluating the changes in populations of lionfish in various areas - places where they were being actively hunted, as well as control groups - and to report on their findings. 

The spiny fish are often killed with spear guns by scuba divers and are considered quite tasty. Our own chef, Don Goodman made up some tasty lionfish fritters from a catch brought in by a few of Small Hope's guests . . . 

 . . . Delicious! Pin It Now!

Green Island Living

Small Hope Bay Lodge does it's best to provide a relaxing and enjoyable haven for vacationers while having as little impact as possible on the surrounding environment. In addition to being eco-friendly at the Lodge, SHBL is active in its support of the Andros National Conservancy And Trust (ANCAT).

As a leader of eco-tourism in the Bahamas, Jeff Birch is called upon every now and again to share his knowledge with others. The International Field Station (FORFAR) research station will bring their classes of college students studying eco-tourism and adventure travel to Small Hope to talk to Mr. Birch and get his views on the world of eco-lodges and nature tourism.

Two such classes visited recently and were given a tour of our property, including stops at our recycling center and nursery. Pin It Now!