In May 2010, Capt Joe Serokos and 3 guests ( Holly, Penny, Rod ) returned to the Green Turtle Club: this time without a boat. We flew in from Ft. Lauderdale and Landed at Treasure. The flight was flawless and we could see the beautiful blue water and beaches as we touched down. We took a cab to the ferry dock ( 10 minute ride) and boarded the ferry to Green Turtle where we were greeted at the dock by Giselle Mc Intosh and offered a " Tipsy Turtle " cocktail to welcome us. Our rooms were clean, large and airy and our door opened up on a porch overlooking the water with colorful fish swimming beneath. Giselle arranged for golf carts and a small boat rental, and John and Molly made you feel special, it seemed like they couldn't do enough for us. The bartender and waitress couldn't be nicer, they remembered what you drank and what you had for dinner and lunch the day before and they always had a smile on their face.. We rented a small boat and went to some of the nearby islands which had an abundance of beautiful starfish CONCH SHELLS AND SEABISCUITS AND SAND DOLLARS WOW! we went into town in our golf cart and visited some of the nicest restaurants and bars ( MISS EMILYS BLUE BEE BAR the home of the original goombay smash and met Violet ( Miss Emily 's daughter ) Violet was kind enough to describe and serve this beverage of an alcoholic variety, which when consumed in quantity can take over your common senses and enables you to fully embrace the beautiful tropical surroundings ( the secret combination of fruit juices, rums and vitamins is wonderful )..The beaches are truly beautiful and accessible by golf cart or strolling from the resort. We returned to the Green Turtle Club for wonderful dinners and quiet evenings with games in the lounge. We will return again.
WARNING.. the rooms were so nicely appointed with bed covers, pillows and curtains that my wife, upon our return stateside went to a website and purchased them.

My husband and I have recently returned from our fourth trip in 3 years to The Green Turtle Club Resort & Marina on Green Turtle Cay (an Abaco Out Island). I apologize in advance for the length of this review, but I can't say enough good things about this place - the island and the resort! The setting is unbelievably, post card-beautiful, with the requisite coconut trees, turquoise waters, and white sand beaches. But that's only the start.

Flocks of wild parrots flew overhead as if on cue while I lounged by the club's sparkling swimming pool. A jewel-toned hummingbird flitted about my head as it went from one flower-laden shrub to the next, on either side of my verandah. As usual, I had a beach to myself whenever I wanted it. Ocean Beach was only a short (and fun) golf cart ride away. Even without renting a golf cart (which you can do at friendly D & P Rentals, onsite), you can get your toes in the sand - there is a nice little (bay) beach on the grounds of the Club. The grounds are beautifully-landscaped and invite exploring.

The rooms (we've stayed in room numbers 4, 5, 6, and 9) are adorable, well-furnished and well-equipped bungalows. All rooms have satellite TV, very good air-conditioning, mini fridge, coffee maker, radio/alarm clock, magnifying, lighted make-up mirror, powerful hair dryer, iron & ironing board, Coleman lantern (for night-time strolls, I guess), and of course plenty of clean towels and complimentary shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and soap. The beds are very comfortable!

The staff of The Green Turtle Club are all exceptionally friendly, courteous, and helpful. Their award-winning bartender, Debbie is a gem of a lady. Don't miss her Tipsy Turtle rum punch and her fabulous pina colada! Everyone from the gardeners, to the cleaning ladies, to the servers, to the front-desk staff and management are friendly and delightful.

The food is fabulous! I gain at least 5 lbs every time I visit. The conch chowder, conch burger, cracked conch, pan-seared sushi-grade tuna with wasabi, local grouper, and even the tuna salad sandwich and Bahamian mac & cheese are all must-haves. But try to save some room for dessert (this might be difficult - their entree portions are very generous). Their cheesecake, key lime pie, and guava duff (traditional Bahamian dessert) are all very yummy!

Their fine dining menu changes daily and is displayed by the door of the bar and also at the front desk. Make your dinner appetizer, salad, and entree selection at the front desk by 5:00 PM for this option. Or, you can choose from their a la carte menu. For this option, no prior reservation required. Just show up in the screened-in dining patio between 6:00 and 8:30 PM and order as you would at any restaurant.

The Club's well-stocked marina store always seems to have what I'm looking for. There is also a laundromat and nice little gift shop.

Brendal Stevens, of Brendal's Dive Center, next door to The Green Turtle Club is a world-famous, platinum pro SCUBA diving instructor that offers amazing diving, snorkel, island-hopping and other adventures. Make sure to fit a trip with Brendal into your stay on Green Turtle Cay! You won't regret it and you'll remember it all your life!

The locals on the island are friendly and fun. The island has a very welcoming, safe feel. I have been all over this island at every time of the day and night, many times alone and never once felt in anyway unsafe or unwelcome.

While staying at The Green Turtle Club, make sure to see "The Gully Roosters", the local band. They'll have you rakin' and scrapin' all night long! Sundowners and Pineapples are two good little bars in town (if you need a change from The Green Turtle Club Bar's dollar-bill-festooned, cozy charm).

The only downside to this vacation is the whole day of travel it takes to get there from just about anywhere. This would be true, I suspect of most Out Islands. Two different airports serve Green Turtle Cay from neighbouring Abaco Island: Marsh Harbour Airport (MHH) and Treasure Cay Airport (TCB). Choose Treasure Cay if you can. It is only a short, $10 cab ride to the ferry dock; whereas the cab ride from Marsh Harbour to the same ferry dock is much longer and about $80. The ferry will then take you to Green Turtle Cay, for about $10 a person. This travel experience is all part of the adventure, and the stay at The Green Turtle Club is worth it!

I would highly recommend The Green Turtle Club Resort & Marina to anyone looking for a wonderful Bahamian Out Island getaway. A vacation here offers an excellent blend of quiet, tropical seclusion and fun-filled adventure. If you go, you'll go back again.

My family and I visited Green Turtle Club so I could cover it for Islands magazine, and we had a great time. I really appreciated getting away from the bigger resort areas of the Caribbean to show our kids just how fun a "real" island can be. Our bungalow was very clean and just steps from the fun-sized pool. The golf-cart rental right on-site is a must, and prepare yourself for some steep, rocky roads. At the end are some very quiet beaches. Overall, this resort is fun, charming and authentic. (Shameless plug: You can see a video of my stay at http://www.islands.com/article/News/Green-Turtle-Cay-Perfect-Family-Getaway .)
-Chris

Hmmm...where to start. My Husband and I have travelled to various "out" islands of the Bahamas several times; we love the gorgeous beaches, and the incredibly friendly Bahamians, but have never experienced anything like what occurred on this particular trip. The Green Turtle Club and Marina on Green Turtle Cay (a ferry ride away from Abaco) appeared from its website to be another winner to add to our list; sad to say, it wasn't. First off, something we weren't aware of is that you have an additional cost as soon as you step on the island of Abaco, in that you have to get a taxi to take you to the dock where the ferry will pick you up to take you across to Green Turtle Cay itself, plus of course, the cost of the ferry too - around $100.00 for the both, plus a wait for the ferry to arrive all in its own good time! It was unfortunate that Air Canada felt it necessary to lose my Husband's bag of expensive diving gear en route, but what was even more surprising was the hotel staff's lack of concern or desire to help us track it down. Bearing in mind the rooms at this hotel have no phones (or TV's!) we were reliant upon being able to use the hotel phone at the front desk, which appeared to be a huge problem for them, and my Husband had to become quite insistent. To cut a long story short, despite many promises, no bag appeared for the duration of our stay - my Husband was able to dive thanks to the helpfulness of Brendal Stevens (the dive outfit next door to the hotel who we would HIGHLY recommend to any divers) We finally got the bag back at home about 8 weeks later! Anyway, back to the hotel... there is a full service marina at this hotel, which it appeared was of greater concern to the staff than the guests actually staying in the hotel itself. Everything (drinks, food and supplies in the small on-site store) was incredibly expensive - the so-called welcome rum punch was a dribble in a plastic cup mostly filled with ice...not a great welcome!
The one thing I cannot complain about was our room; it was lovely, obviously one of the renovated ones from what I've seen other people write about the rooms, and the two ladies who looked after it were lovely and did a great job. The hotel is not on the beach, other than the little bay that you can see in the pictures on its website, which is right outside the breakfast room/conservatory. The actual beach is a 15 minute walk away. The hotel employs mostly young locals who have obviously received very little, or no, training, so their lack of good service wasn't their fault, but that of the hotel owner's for adopting the "that'll do" attitude. Meals at this hotel were my biggest gripe. For a start, we were required to select what we required for dinner that night by 9.00am in the morning - so it could be removed from the freezer and defrosted!! The only "sides" that appeared on every single plate were "rice and peas" (frozen of course!) and frozen sweet corn. To boot, the "Chef" deemed it appropriate to wander round the dining room in the evenings, fishing for compliments. We enquired at several local restaurants where we took to eating, albeit we'd paid for dinner each night of our vacation at GTC, if getting food supplies over to the island was a problem, and were told "Absolutely not...they could get anything we desired." We took to hiring a golf cart for 4 hours a day(more unplanned expense!), during which time, we drove to New Plymouth, the little 'town' on the island and ate very well in the local restaurants, with the local people. Upon enquiring as to why nothing was being cooked fresh at the hotel, we were simply told that no-one else had complained about it!! During our stay, I made note of quite a few "idiosyncracies" that I felt were out of line for this standard of hotel. For example, at breakfast time, the coffee was served from a large urn on a trolley in the conservatory for guests to help themselves to - no problem with that, other than it would have been nice to have it served at our table from a coffee pot...BUT, what did make me flinch was the fact that the spoons (all 3 of them) to stir my coffee with, were to be found in a glass of very murky-looking coffee/water on the coffee cart, as they were there to be used by everyone staying at the hotel. It appeared to be too much to expect a coffee spoon to be set at the tables, to stir my coffee with...the attitide appeared to be "Why dirty lots, when three will do!" We don't go to these small hotels on the out islands of the Bahamas expecting 5* luxury - it's not their way, but this was nothing short of a rip-off...high prices to be paid for exceptionally low standards.
Finally, adding insult to injury, our flight home was an early morning one, which required us to leave the island before any front desk staff were on duty. No mention was made to us beforehand, as to what to do with our room keys, so we did what we felt was the safest thing and took them with us, with the intention of mailing them back to the hotel. Before we could do so, we found they'd made a charge on our credit card because we'd taken the keys with us!
In closing, I have one good thing to say about our trip to Green Turtle Club and Marina, which is that following a very explicit letter of complaint I wrote to the Manager of the hotel, upon our return home, which I also copied to the Mayor on the Island, together with the Bahamas Minister for Tourism, they refunded our entire food and beverage bill to us!! I strongly suspect this was due to the interception of the Minister, but as I pointed out in my letter to him, the "out" islands rely on tourism to sustain their economy and can't afford to treat people like dirt. I guess he agreed with me!!