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Random Quote: No matter how you measure it-dumbass is expensive! (LSC-101)
I've never been there, but I heard that it was a really nice place to stay... better than the Seacrest but not as expensive as The Sands....
I've also heard from Wet that is closed now, but they were planing to reopen it in the near future...
Everybody that I talked to, said that it was a really nice place.
Are you going to cross this season???
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Low voltage PM and Rehabilitation Clinic Owner (small biz)
Don't Tax Me Bro!!
it dead. been closed for about a year with absolutely no signs of life, other than the docks which you have access to but have no water nor electricity.
its a true shame, so much history. the loss of Big Game and the Complete Angler, Bimini is losing a lot of "charm". better than Bimini Bay, place is like a party spot for drunks.
Its a damn shame. I have been staying at the Big Game since the mid 90s and have been every year since. It is definatly closed down and no signs of reopening.
The place has been having big money problems for a few years (prior to closing last year) and it was starting to show. On many occasions they would turn the water off from 10pm-6am to save water. Then the power was going off multiple times through out the weekend. The AC sucked in the cottages and they were out of ice by Friday.
The place is fixable, but not at the rates they were charging. If they cleaned the place up, stocked the bar and advertised rooms for $99.00 and docks for a buck a foot it would book out and they could probably pull the place back. But they were trying to charge $250.00 a night and then losing power and water. Not acceptible.
I am headed over next week but staying at the Sea Crest. I'll go take a look at the once popular BGC.
Its a damn shame. I have been staying at the Big Game since the mid 90s and have been every year since. It is definatly closed down and no signs of reopening.
The place has been having big money problems for a few years (prior to closing last year) and it was starting to show. On many occasions they would turn the water off from 10pm-6am to save water. Then the power was going off multiple times through out the weekend. The AC sucked in the cottages and they were out of ice by Friday.
The place is fixable, but not at the rates they were charging. If they cleaned the place up, stocked the bar and advertised rooms for $99.00 and docks for a buck a foot it would book out and they could probably pull the place back. But they were trying to charge $250.00 a night and then losing power and water. Not acceptible.
I am headed over next week but staying at the Sea Crest. I'll go take a look at the once popular BGC.
Chris, went over Memorial Day and had a blast. Took Springer and my 6 year old daughter. The yellowtail were off the chain! The island is looking rough to say the least.
Guys, don't write Bimini Bay off. The best is yet to come for this young resort.
I was lucky enough to be invited to Bimini Bay last year by one of the developers who put me up and took me fishing for free, even though he knew a guy from Oregon would never buy a place there.
I am still in awe of his 38' (I think) Sea Vee with 4 big motors on the back. Not a bad way to commute from Miami.
I was real impressed by what they have done and what they have planned.
The guys developing Bimini Bay have some big, big plans and if the government lets them, this is going to be one of the coolest fishing places on earth.
Guys, don't write Bimini Bay off. The best is yet to come for this young resort.
The guys developing Bimini Bay have some big, big plans and if the government lets them, this is going to be one of the coolest fishing places on earth.
Mike C
Exactly why Bimini Bay is getting such bad feedback. Its destroying the island.
They bulldozed a lot of mangroves and wetlands to build that place.
They are hiring a lot of non locals to work there, many brought in from latin countries.
Crime has shot up on the island sinse the opening of BB
Most of the guests speed right past all the docks of the hotels that have been there for 50 years causing wakes and boats bouncing around. No respect...says a lot about some of the owners and guests.
I have been a guest of a guest, never spent a night there though. Just cruised around a few times and hung at the pool. I hate that you need a golf car to get from your dock to your room/condo.
I will agree....it is a beautiful resort, but its way out of place on that island and its destroying what Bimini was and is.
And if all the stuff I listed isn't bad enough, wait and see what happens if the casino actually opens. Talk about a large number of criminals on a tiny island.
And I am will to bet that if Bimini Bay wasn't there the Big Game would still be alive and kicking.
But hey....thats just the opinion (and some facts) of a guy that has enjoyed many years of the classic Bimini feel at the Big Game and not the rich party crowed that likes the Coral Gables feel 50 miles offshore.
I even heard here is a friggin Starbucks and high end shop to buy a Rolex or Gucci bag at BB!
I can't comment on what it used to be like since last year was the first time I visited it.
I can tell you that the people who are developing it live and fish there and have fished out of Bimini their whole lives.
My hosts knew everyone in Alicetown by name, as they had been regulars since the 60's.
The resort is being developed by a family, who is taking a big risk sinking their money into something like this during a down economy. I was a friend of a friend, but was treated like family by some very nice people.
They are doing the best they can to try and keep everyone happy, but expansion always makes someone unhappy.
I like the idea of having a 5 star fishing resort as it makes it a lot easier to make fishing a family affair. Its too bad our northwest boating season is so short that something like Bimini Bay could never survive here.
I can't comment on what it used to be like since last year was the first time I visited it.
I can tell you that the people who are developing it live and fish there and have fished out of Bimini their whole lives.
My hosts knew everyone in Alicetown by name, as they had been regulars since the 60's.
The resort is being developed by a family, who is taking a big risk sinking their money into something like this during a down economy. I was a friend of a friend, but was treated like family by some very nice people.
They are doing the best they can to try and keep everyone happy, but expansion always makes someone unhappy.
I like the idea of having a 5 star fishing resort as it makes it a lot easier to make fishing a family affair. Its too bad our northwest boating season is so short that something like Bimini Bay could never survive here.
Mike C
Sinse you have not been to Bimini before BB then you definatly don't understand. Its not the same island, alot has changed.....for the worse.
And don't take me wrong, its not all BB fault, but they are playing a large part in the demise of what Bimini once was. They are taking that laid back, rustic island feeling and turning into Coral Gables (Miami).
Young rich punks flying over on daddy's 38' CC, staying at daddy's million dollar pad and running all over the island in daddy's $25K pimped out golf cart like they own the whole island. Getting into fights at the bars, littering, rude attitudes, speeding in no wake zones.......ect. I have seen it first hand. I have never seen behavior like that prior to BB.
That "family" you are refering to is the mega rich Capo family of the Eldorado Furniture emprie. They have plenty of money to "sink" into it but don't let that fool you, they have plenty of investors as well as the people buying up million dollar homes there.
I have nothing against what they are doing, just where they are doing it.
Just stumbled across this post this morning. Terrible what is happening to Bimini. In November of 2006, I had the pleasure of being a guest of one of the managers of Bimini Big Game. Once I arrived at Big Game, I was introduced to the owner who made me feel like I had known him for years. I have lived in Texas my entire life, and had never been to any part of the Bahama's. I had always heard Bimini was the place to go for a tried and true Blue water angler who didn't need all the amenities of a 5 star tourist trap.
I have to say that visiting Bimini was truly an experience I have and will not ever forget. I bought the book authored by Dave Kresge and published by vantage point guides before my trip. Read it cover to cover before my trip. Best thing I could have ever done. In one week of being on the Island in the off season (November) I think I managed to meet each and every person showcased in the book. Couldn't believe how small and friendly everyone was on the Island. In November of 2006, we arrived right after a Hurricane had passed over the island a month earlier. That was probably the first stroke of bad luck for Bimini. A month after I left, the chalks flight from Miami crashed on route to the Island. The Dock master at Big Game and his two grandsons perished. I had met all three a month earlier.
Than, in January, the Compleat Angler burned to the ground. The current owner died in the fire, he was seen walking back into the burning building. I met his son who was bar tending when I was there and toured the museum of Hemingway's pictures and writings. . Went to the "end of the World bar" and met miss Sara Lee and her daughter Shirley I believe it was ???
Was able to go bone fishing with one of Ansil Saunders guides and got the whole tour of the Mangroves where Martin Luther King used to fish with Ansil and write some of his speeches. Can't remember the guides name, but he told me we weren't going to keep any of the "bones". Than I caught a 10 pounder, he said "we keeping tat one ! " LOL
Went offshore fishing with Capt Jerome on the "Miss Bonita" . Rented a golf cart and drove through the entire Island, got to see "Casa Leon" the remnants of the Rockefeller mansion.
I could go on and on. I was truly fortunate to have made it there in Nov of 2006 before Bimini's decline. Change is inevitable, but it doesn't mean I have to welcome it and its not always for the better. If Bimini wasn't so rich with history and so individual in it's residents and establishment's, there is no way I could have remembered half of what I just wrote about my vacation over 3 years ago.
Hope I didn't bore y'all with my experience, but just felt the need to share it with others who might have loved "The Old Bimini" like I did and I only went once.
Last edited by bluewaterbound1; 11-11-2009 at 02:52 PM.
Bluewater....you were fortunate to see Bimini while things were still good. And you got to meet "Dockmaster Don" from the big Game before he passed away in the plane crash. I was on a first name basis with him. I was also on a first name basis with Cisco who filled in for Don.
Unfortunatly change has happened and will continue to happen. I'm just hoping it doesn't get much worse. The loss of the Complete Angler and the Chalks plane crash was a hard hit.
I still have a great time when I go over despite all the negetive things I stated above. I usually go 3-4 times every summer and will continue to, I'll just stay south in Alice Town and avoid the golf carts with the bling.
bimini is not what it used to be and yes it has changed for the worse in my opinion. The Capos resort feels like you're in the Jim Carreys movie "the truman show"....it feels fake, it feels like your in some kind of weird disney land with zero feel that you're in the bahamas other than the beautiful color of the water. Gucci, starbucks etc....disaster in my opinion. my idea of the bahamas is a shack that respects the enviornment with utilities by the boat and a nice place to bbq. the way they did that resort is just wrong.
i've been going there since the mid 90's and big game was great...
Bimini Big Game Resort
