Everyone on family vacations or luxury travel trips likes to focus on the beauty around them – especially when they're in the Bahamas. The waters of the Caribbean Sea, the sand of its beaches, & the shops & restaurants around the hotels all hold a certain desire, but not often do you consider the beauty that can be found above. In the Bahamas there is a location where tourists can visit to witness their vacation spot on a whole new scale. To behold one of the magical places in the Bahamas, visitors need only take a short boat ride to Cat Island, home of the highest point in all the Bahamas, Mount Alvernia, according to My Out Islands.
The Hermitage For the travelers looking to experience a more quiet vacation without the hustle & bustle of other tourists nearby, Cat Island offers the perfect escape. Once you take the short & easy hike up this island's Mount Alvernia, you'll see the Hermitage, a church built by a local priest named Father Jerome, according to Bahamas.com. Though it's not the grandest of churches, the view from the summit will be among the best in the Bahamas. You'll be the highest person in the Bahamas at a total of 206 feet above sea level.
Also along your trek up the incline will be another path that take you to the Stations of the Cross, another church built by Father Jerome. Both churches were built by hand & feature carved steps & statues among other aesthetic designs made by Father Jerome himself, who was an amateur architect.
One this is for sure though, at the top of Mount Alvernia you'll be in place to see one of the greatest sunsets in all of the Bahamanian islands.
The rest of Cat Island After your hike up the mount, you can explore many of the other attractions on the island that make it a unique destination. Despite its small population & land mass, Cat Island has a long history that has made it stand out throughout the years.
Once thought to be the first place Christopher Columbus arrived at in the Americas, people have been on the island for a long time. Visitors can scour the land for all kind of past life or they can take to the sea itself & dive around its coral reefs with all kinds of aquatic life.
There are sharks, dolphins & sting rays amidst shipwrecks & other natural wonders. Ruins from the old cotton plantations that once made the way of life on Cat Island can be found all over the landscape. Ruins from slave huts still remain, as well as the hideouts they used for escape. You can explore even further back in time at the caves used by the native Arawak Indians who once called the region their home.
Cat Island has its fair share of fantasy & folklore too. There are numerous locations where locals believe creatures have resided dating back many years. Boiling Point is a clear lake where bubbles have risen from the depths, causing people to say some kind of creature lived below its surface. Another lake on the island with four big holes at the bottom that lead to an underground cave system is said to have a mermaid living in it. Also, the Big Blue Hole is is near a creek where the bottom seems never ending. It it connects with an underground tunnel that leads back to seas & a monster is said to live in there as well.
Next time you're in the Bahamas, take a side trip to Cat Island & experience a new side of the Caribbean.
