The Exuma Guide - A Cruising Guide to the Exuma Cays: Approaches, Routes, Anchorages, Dive Sights, Flora, Fauna, History, and Lore of the Exuma Cays: . Cruising Guides to the Bahamas and Caribbean)

"The Exuma Guide" stands as the flagship title of the Pavlidis cruising series, widely considered the gold standard for navigating the 365 islands and cays of the Exuma chain. Published by Seaworthy Publications, this comprehensive pilot offers an exhaustive resource for one of the world's most sought-after cruising destinations, covering the entire archipelago from Sail Rocks to Hog Cay Cut. For generations of mariners, this guide has been an essential piece of deck equipment, providing the technical confidence required to navigate the shallow banks and intricate cuts of the Bahamian archipelago.

The technical authority of this guide is rooted in Stephen J. Pavlidis’s extensive field research. Eschewing the limitations of secondary data, Pavlidis spent years conducting independent hydrographic surveys to produce original sketch charts featuring precise GPS waypoints and depth soundings. The guide is particularly renowned for its clarity regarding "inside" and "outside" routes, allowing captains to safely transition between the Great Bahama Bank and the Exuma Sound. This precision is enhanced by full-color aerial photography—an invaluable tool for identifying coral heads and reading the shifting white sands of the Bahamas.

Central to the book’s enduring legacy is Pavlidis’s intimate connection to the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. Having served as a volunteer Deputy Warden, his writing provides a level of environmental and regulatory insight found nowhere else. He offers granular detail on park protocols, mooring field layouts, and the conservation efforts that define the region. Drawing from decades of living aboard his own vessel in these waters, Pavlidis provides practical "local knowledge" on everything from optimal heavy-weather anchorages to the most reliable sources for shoreside provisions.

Beyond its navigational utility, The Exuma Guide serves as a cultural and recreational handbook. The text is enriched with island lore and historical context, bringing the settlements and cays to life for the entire crew. With specialized sections on diving, snorkeling, fishing regulations, and shoreside hiking, it is as much a travel companion as it is a chart book. Whether utilized in its robust print edition or via digital formats on Amazon, this guide remains the definitive authority for anyone exploring the natural majesty of the Exumas.

Stephen J. Pavlidis cruised the islands of The Bahamas and the Caribbean aboard his 40-foot cutter IV Play beginning in 1989. In 1993, he met Ray Darville, then the Warden of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, who drew Steve into a working relationship as a volunteer Deputy Warden. In this role, Steve quickly gained an intimate knowledge of the waters of the Park and the Exuma Cays.Realizing that the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park deserved a bit more recognition than is given in even the best guides to the area, Steve and Ray produced A Cruising Guide to the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. The favorable response to that publication led to the publication of The Exuma Guide in 1995, covering the entire Exumas island chain in addition to the Park. The Exuma Guide has been thoroughly updated for this new edition.Steve's books are different than most other cruising guides in some very significant ways. All of the charts in Steve's books were created using data personally collected while visiting each area using a computerized system that interfaces GPS and depth soundings.

Don Reynolds whose sketches grace this publication, was born in 1944. Don's love of the sea began at the age of 18 months while crossing the North Atlantic Ocean from England to America aboard the HMS Queen Mary. Subsequent voyages continued from Puerto Rico to New York via transport aboard the Pvt William H. Thomas and across the Pacific Ocean aboard the USS Yorktown and continuing on with his home-built 36' Roberts cutter, Ppalu.Don met Steve during a shakedown cruise to the Exumas in 1996, sharing sketches and knowledge of the area. Ppalu eventually took Don &Lynn (wife) up to the coast of Maine and back before sailing for the Med the next year. Having always worked as an artist, a dream was fully realized in Italy by sculpting marble in Pietrasanta while living aboard Ppalu for three years.The return voyage out of the Med and down to Cape Verde and across again to the Windward Islands began the island hop back through theturquoise and blue waters of the Bahama outer islands. Private and public art commissions consume the present day activities, but the next dream voyage is still alive and with luck, should come true...while Ppalu patiently waits on her mooring.