My picks in Travel

The Abaco Club on Winding Bay, A Ritz-Carlton Managed Club in the Bahamas

From bonefishing excursions and private island tours to one of my favorite activities, relaxing on a beautiful white sand beach, it's hard to decide what to do first at the beautiful Abaco Club.

Be Their Guest

There’s no place like home, but when you arrive at your luxurious quarters at The Abaco Club on Winding Bay, Margo Dean makes it feel like you’ve been there forever.
There's no place like home, but when you arrive at your luxurious quarters at The Abaco Club on Winding Bay, a Ritz-Carlton Managed Club, Margo Dean makes it feel like you've been there forever. Whether you own a cottage, estate home, a new fractional interest with The Ritz-Carlton Club (currently opening its first phase of residences) or you're renting a cabana for the weekend, Assistant Director of Member and Guest Services, Margo welcomes each member personally, and oversees every need from ensuring the kitchen in your home-away-from-home is fully stocked before you arrive to arranging snorkeling trips, sunrise horseback rides on the beach, spa requests and dinner reservations, leaving you with nothing but plenty of time to relax on the gorgeous beach. Need retail therapy? Let Margo point you to the nearby island shops where you'll find native straw works. "It's refreshing because more times than not there are things for guests to do that they haven't done before, something quite unusual," Margo says. "The property is laid out over 534 acres and there are several islands for island hopping. At end of the day I get the satisfaction of making someone's experience one-of-a-kind."

The Abaco Club Adventures for Kids

Bob works with families to custom arrange tropical action-packed days that your kids will rave about for months.
Wondering how to keep the kids entertained? Look no further than Robert Russell, known to most on the island as Fun Bob. Bob works with families to custom arrange tropical action-packed days that your kids will rave about for months. "Kids hang out with me and we just go! I take them snorkeling, putting on the golf course and to play tennis or croquet," says Bob. “I always keep kids moving—even  just looking for and catching lizards; that's a huge thing!” Fun Bob grew up in Abaco, so he knows the best ways to turn the island into a playground. Sugar Key, a tiny island off the coast of the property, has been unofficially christened in his honor. “Sometimes the water gets so low—just up to your ankles—that you can walk to the island. If I'm with a bunch of kids and I want do a treasure hunt, it'll end at Fun Bob Island,” he says. And if your little one has never cast a line, Fun Bob will take them out to the pier and instruct them in the seafaring ways. They can show off the yellowtails or grunts that they catch. “If they want to eat, they've gotta catch fish!” says Fun Bob jokingly. “And if they catch fish, I'll take it to the restaurant and at dinner, the parents will see the big fish they caught.” After dinner, it's bonfires and s'mores on the beach. (You're welcome to indulge, too.)

Private Island Tours

Unleash your inner Vasco da Gamma and head out for an afternoon of island hopping or plan a romantic escape by kayak to one of the smaller islands.
Unleash your inner Vasco da Gamma and head out for an afternoon of island hopping or plan a romantic escape by kayak to one of the smaller islands. Your guide, Robert Russell, will take care of all the preparations—from setting up a leisurely lunch on the sand (complete with umbrellas)—to equipping you for a dive so you can explore the picture perfect coral reefs. Or he can show you and your party the ocean's tropical wonders while steering you over the crystal clear waters in a catamaran with pauses for snorkeling along the way.

Dinner: Nice Catch!

After just a few hours on the water with an expert guide, chances are good that you’ll have a fresh catch for dinner—and you’ll have yourself to thank for it!
It doesn't matter if you don't know the difference between a sea bass and a skate. After just a few hours on the water with an expert guide, chances are good you'll have a fresh catch for dinner—and you'll have yourself to thank for it! "Folks like knowing they can go out and catch dinner," says Bob. "If they say, 'I want conch,' I put them in an area where there's lots of conch. They can take the hammer and put a hole in the conch and pull the meat out." Beyond guide and fishing instructor, Bob acts as personal chef. "I clean it and dice it up and make conch salad with lime, onions, green pepper, tomatoes and little touch of hot pepper. That's Bahaman style," he says. "I can cook it right on the beach—catch a conch and put it on the foil and put herbs right on top and you eat it right there."

Golf at the Abaco Club

The 18 holes wind along the Atlantic with dramatic elevations, a strong wind influencing your game and jaw-dropping, sand dune-dappled Caribbean scenery

The Scottish-style links course at The Abaco Club is a major draw for seasoned pros as well as novices. The 18 holes wind along the Atlantic and Winding Bay with dramatic elevations, a strong wind influencing your game and jaw-dropping, sand dune-dappled Caribbean scenery. Peter de Savary, who was the visionary behind the development of the property and is now chairman of The Abaco Club on Winding Bay, enlisted legendary links architects Donald Steel and Tom Mackenzie to fulfill his ambitious dream of making Abaco a world-class sporting destination. "He flew over every island in the Bahamas to find the perfect location for an international sporting club. When he flew over Abaco, that was it," Justin Norvell, Director of Golf, said of de Savary. "He's a visionary to the point that when he looked down from the helicopter he could see the course and the club and the fishing. Ultimately what he was looking for was a place for families—most of members come with children—to escape from reality to come to our beach. It's only an hour flight from Fort Lauderdale, but it feels like a million miles from civilization." Read more about golf at The Abaco Club

 

Learn about membership at The Abaco Club on Winding Bay, a Ritz-Carlton Managed Club as well as other destinations

The Ritz-Carlton Club is pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. We encourage and support an affirmative advertising and marketing program in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin

www.ritzcarltonclub.com | Phone: +1 242 366 3820
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Topics: Sports & Active , Family & Occasions , Travel
Geography: The Bahamas

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