Three hundred years ago a small band of English pilgrims, seeking religious freedom, landed on this island and gave it the ethereal name, Eleuthera, which means "Freedom" in Greek.
The island of Eleuthera is split into North and South areas. Next to Eleuthera are two popular islets known as Harbour Island and Spanish Wells. Harbour Island is a popular dive destination. North Eleuthera lies at one corner of the Bermuda Triangle. Eleuthera is known for its pineapples, the sweetest in the world!
As for places to visit. Preacher's Cave is a good place to start. It's a subterranean cave in which the Eleutheran Adventurers, the few pilgrims who first landed here, took refuge and held religious services upon their arrival.
You should also visit the magnificent Cave at Hatchet Bay. It gives the appearance of a vaulted cathedral. It is more than a mile long, with stalagmites and stalactites that gleam in the torchlight.
Another magnificent sight is the Glass Window Bridge, which spans a gap in which the turbulent waters of the Atlantic meet the calmer seas of the Exuma Sound on the island's leeward side. The existing man-made structure has replaced a naturally-formed bridge that was blown away during a hurricane years ago.
Nearby Windermere Island is an exclusive resort, often frequented by members of the Royal Family
On Harbour Island, off the north coast of Eleuthera, is Dunmore Town, the oldest and most charming settlement in The Bahamas complete with white picket fences and friendly residents.
Every year in the beginning of June, the residents of the island of Eleuthera dedicate the first week or so in June to the celebration of the pineapple. This sweet, succulent fruit, savoured by Caribbean folks as the perfect pizza topping, is a symbol of hospitality to all Bahamians, particularly those on Eleuthera, where the fruit is grown.
This symbolism has its roots in an old tradition by northern seafaring captains, who placed pineapples on their gate posts to let neighbours, friends and relatives know they had returned home and all were welcome to visit.
With exports topping 50,000 pineapples a year, the pineapple industry was the mainstay of about 40 farmers in the small settlement of Gregory Town until Hurricane Andrew devastated the island in 1992. In 1987, years before the misfortune struck, the Pineapple Festival was established by the Eleuthera Ministry of Tourism to honour these farmers and bring together Bahamians from all walks of life in a spirit of community.
Now long established, the event attracts over 5000 people annually and takes place in Gregory Town, where a large replica of a pineapple is situated. The celebrations include pineapple eating contests, crazy sports, the plaiting of the pineapple pole, the parade of the Gregory Town Marching Brass Band, fire dancing, a Little Miss and Teen Pineapple Princess pageant and junkanoo, the colourful and musical Bahamian street carnival.
Eleuthera, first settled in 1648, is perhaps the best known of the Out Islands of The Bahamas. Shaped like a praying mantis, the island is just under five miles wide and 110 miles long. The magnificent glass window bridge to the north of the island affords spectacular views of the deep blue Atlantic on one side and the turquoise Caribbean Sea on the other. Eleuthera attracts those who wish to explore, either by bicycle or car, the land and nature in its undisturbed atmosphere. Visitors may visit the island's scattered settlements, grottos, and hidden caves that combine to create Eleuthera's remote and laid back ambiance.
Despite a coral and limestone surface which may seem forbidding to farmers, Eleuthera is one of the agricultural centres of The Islands of The Bahamas. The hilly farming area in the centre of the island with its rich, red soil is ideal for producing pineapples, tomatoes and a variety of vegetables. In the late 1800's Eleuthera dominated the world's pineapple market with its luscious fruit of rare sweetness.
History reveals that in 1648 British Puritans seeking religious freedom settled in Eleuthera. Taking shelter in a limestone cave, they faced hardship but persevered on the island that they named Eleuthera after the Greek word for "freedom". Led by William Sayle, a former governor of Bermuda, the group called themselves the Eleutheran Adventurers. They gave The Islands of The Bahamas its first written constitution which called for the establishment of a republic. The group eventually divided and later settled Eleuthera, Harbour Island and Spanish Wells.
The enterprising Eleutheran Adventurers were able to survive on the island with the help of their generous Puritan relatives in the newly formed colonies of Massachusetts and Virginia. The New Englanders sent supplies and the Eleutherans thanked them in return with rare and valuable wood - from which the proceeds were used to help build Harvard College.
Today, many visitors are attracted to Eleuthera for its abundance of water-related activities - there are plenty of great fishing holes and dive spots. The Devil's Backbone just north of Spanish Wells is a long stretch of fringe reef that is a vast playground for a variety of reef and deep-sea fish, attracted to the many shipwrecks. The Current Cut, located between Eleuthera and the small island of Current is exciting for experienced divers, where changing tides send a tricky current through a 100-yard wide channel.
