Bahamas / Exuma
Chill Out

Imagine paddling to your local bar. If you're in Exuma, you can do just that. On Stocking Island, part of Exuma, the Chat & Chill Bar is a glorious sea-kayak trip away.Here you just pull-up your boat up onto the beach, rather than search for a parking space for your car. It's stylish travel at its best!

The Chat & Chill is similar to other beach bars in the tropics: the obvious beach location; the eclectic open-air ambience; the casual crowd (in dress and attitude); the drinks that seem to go with the setting, like a 'Bahama Mama' or the Bahamian beer, Kalik
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Near a sheltered cove, boats of all kinds are anchored hodge-podge. Their captains & crews are at the Chat & Chill. Kids run in & out of the bar. An oversized wood-fueled barbeque stands in the sand. Rows of conch burgers, hamburgers and chicken are sizzling. The cook flips the food and chats with people as they saunter up from the beach.

Outside there are picnic tables, rope swings and volleyball nets (courts of a sort). Informal games are constantly going on. Sometimes all five courts are in use at one time, hence the name "Volley Ball Beach" as it is known.

Inside, the bar is lined up with stools & tables all around. The paneled walls have mementos tacked up. People come & go. Barefeet are derigueur.There's not much separating the outdoors from the indoors here, but the Chat & Chill is comfortable, unlike some beach bars that are no more than mere shacks. This is a meeting place for a mixed-bag crowd of old & young, salty boaters & tourists alike, lucky enough to have found this laid-back oasis.

A Television sits up high in one corner, turned on for a basketball game being played light-years away from Exuma, or so it seems. And the electrical source? A generator. Generators and solar panels are the only source of energy on the island. That makes Stocking Island not your everyday port-of-call. But it is one the nicest places to visit in all of the Bahamas. It's especially known for its gorgeous beaches.

Stocking Island is an ecologically sensitive area. You can't help but be aware of that while you're here. Trash removal, hot water, lamp-light & the rare TV set are not taken for granted. So, this piece of paradise will not suit everyone. Most visitors that pass through are staying on their boats. If you don't have one, you can rent a houseboat.

Back at the bar, everyone seems quite content to feel light-years away from their everyday lives. While we were there, we watched the convivial crowd eat a fair share of conchburgers, swallow an assortment of drinks and play some impromptu volleyball on the beach. After that, they gathered their entourages of kids, pets & friends and moved on. Not by car...of course!