Seasonal· Exuma Cays
March cold fronts and the clocking wind pattern
24° 12.0′ N · 76° 27.0′ W
March is the tail of the frontal season. Fronts reach the Exumas every roughly 5-10 days, and each drives the wind through a predictable clockwise rotation that dictates which anchorage you can safely sit in.
Practical
TYPICAL SEQUENCE over 24-48 hours: wind backs S then SW ahead of the front, veers W as it arrives (often squalls and 20-30kt), then NW, N, NE, and finally settles back E. Expect 3-6 days of settled E/SE trades between fronts, occasionally only 2. THE DANGEROUS QUADRANT IS W THROUGH NW: almost every popular Exumas anchorage lies on the WEST side of the cays and becomes a dead lee shore in a westerly. Plan to be somewhere with westerly protection BEFORE the front, not during it. Warderick Wells South is the recognised norther hole; Cambridge Cay, Big Major's, Black Point and Emerald Rock all have W limitations. Hurricane season is 1 June - 30 November, so tropical risk in March is effectively nil — the March hazard is frontal.
Best for
Itinerary flexibility and anchorage selection
Nearby
- Cruisers Beach, Big Major Spot0.6 NM away
- Big Majors Spot Anchorage0.8 NM away
- Pig Beach (Big Major Spot)1.1 NM away
- Thunderball Grotto1.3 NM away
- Staniel Cay Moorings (Solomon Robinson)1.4 NM away
- Sampson Cay Outer Harbour Anchorage1.5 NM away
- St. Luke's Clinic, Staniel Cay1.7 NM away
- Staniel Cay village stores and propane1.7 NM away