Singing the Blues — Sophisticated St. Louis

Play the role of a pampered castaway during a stay at Caerula Mar on remote Andros Island in the Bahamas.

by Bridget Williams

What is it about certain shades of cerulean waters in the Caribbean that tickle the senses, causing us to stare into them, unblinking as if Medusa herself stood before us? Do the fortunate few who traverse these sandy shores daily live in a perpetual state of enchantment? I pondered these questions during a recent scenic one-hour Maker's Air flight (makersair.com/bahamas-flights), which operates daily from Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport to Congo Town, a small fishing village on South Andros in the Bahamas just minutes away to idyllic Caerula Mar, the first luxury resort on this island.

Caerula Mar Resort Aerials / photo by William Torrillo.

Looking down from above as Florida's greenish waters gradually morphed into myriad shades of blue, I experienced what I have since learned is called "Blue Mind," a phrase coined by marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols and the title of his book. Backed by a healthy body of research, Nichols writes, "When we get near, in, on, or underwater, it moves us into this blue mind state, which turns out is a place that's very good for creativity and connection and collaboration. Being calm, being curious, and even being courageous, it's a place of contentment."

I can only surmise that Bryan and Sarah Baeumler were experiencing a "Blue Mind" state when they acquired the 10-acre oceanfront property on the largest island of the Bahama archipelago. HGTV devotees will undoubtedly recognize the resort's name from the show Renovation Island, which ran for five seasons starting in 2020 and followed the Canadian couple and their four children as they renovated a dilapidated 1960s-era resort that had been on the market for a decade on the very undeveloped island, approximately 200 miles from the Florida coast.

Driffs beach bar / photo by William Torillo.

It's not hard for visitors today to see how the couple—long-time fixtures on both the HGTV and DIY networks—who visited the island on a lark in 2017 as part of a day trip fell under the spell of the property's potential. Taking $24 million and giving plenty of drama for their HGTV audience, Caerula Mar opened in February 2020 with five private villas and 18 Clubhouse suites.

During our three-night visit in late winter, we stayed in one of the two-bedroom, one-bath villas, thoughtfully spread out among the palm tree-dotted oceanfront lawn for optimal privacy. Boasting traditional island architecture, including a generous wrap-around front porch and a cathedral ceiling in the main bedroom, the mid-century-inspired interiors, and gilded gold touches, including Kelly Wearstler Strada scones above the mini bar and sculptural bamboo-shaped drawer pulls in the closet, artfully resist going full-on beachy and instead rely on a palette of muted sand colors with pops of blue and large framed black and white nature photographs to communicate a subtle sense of place (a notable exception being the cutest sea urchin lamp on the nightstand in between twin beds in the secondary bedroom).

The bathroom was enormous, with dual vanities, a separate water closet, and a shower so large that it took several steps to get from the wonderfully scented lavender and tea tree bath products packaged in environmentally friendly large bottles (big bonus points from me!) and back to the dual showerheads.

From the moment we boarded our flight in Ft. Lauderdale, Caerula regulars surrounded us; in fact, it seemed that we were the only newbies on the property during our stay. While the maximum capacity is 60 guests, occupancy typically runs in the upper 40s, so faces quickly become familiar. Our fellow guests were a chatty and friendly lot, and it was clear that in the four years since it's been open, Caerula Mar has helped forge more than a few long-term friendships. The familial atmosphere is fostered by on-property managers Margaret and Ron Gratzinger, South Carolina natives who embarked on remote resort management as a second career and managed the property in the early 2000s under its previous ownership. The return rate is also buoyed by a ten-percent discount if you rebook your next visit prior to departing.

Oceanfront Signature Villa, Emerald Palms, Caerula Mar Club, Bahamas.

There is a trio of on-property restaurants: Switcha, a café and smoothie bar; Driffs Bar and Lounge, situated between the pool and the ocean; and Lusca (named after the mythical sea monster said to inhabit the island's blue holes), serving breakfast and dinner with a menu that changes daily, particularly welcome for extended stay guests on an island with limited outside dining options. Working in tandem, Carlos Alvarez, who worked his way up the ladder to become Executive Chef, and Executive Sous Chef Janet Hoediono, who spent last year's off-season in Peru to glean culinary inspiration, use a global lens to create dishes teeming with local ingredients and Caribbean flavors. Guests can choose to dine à la carte or opt for a three-meal dining plan for $155 per person, per day.

Many guests relished in the resort's remoteness and were amply preoccupied in the pursuit of idyll, reading and lounging by the pool, and occasionally taking to the wide, white sand beach for a long stroll or using complimentary kayaks or paddleboards. However, if, like me, you're not able to sit still for long, you can do as we did and make use of the yoga and fitness rooms, pickleball court, and bicycles, the latter of which allowed us to explore the natural wonders of this subtropical island with ten distinct vegetation zones.

Villa at night / photo by William Torillo.

Birders will appreciate that Andros' long-term bird counts record more than 200 endemic and North American birds, including the critically endangered Bahama Oriole. Phytophiles can look for more than 50 species of wild orchids. Geologists and adventurers can admire the highest concentration of blue holes found anywhere in the world: 178 inland and 50 oceanic.

Using a map provided by the concierge, our short bike ride took us to the 40,000-acre Blue Hole Natural Park. Too nervous about jumping from the limestone cliffs into the blue abyss, we opted to hike the rim of several freshwater basins, where the surface of pockmarked rocks was as pointy as the peaks of property whipped egg whites.

I was similarly timid the following day when our half-day "Ocean Adventure" reef fishing and snorkeling trip took us to a large oceanic blue hole. As a writer and someone who gets the heebie-jeebies during shallow water snorkeling, it wasn't hard for me to breathe life into what I read about the Lusca, described as a predatory sea creature up to 250 feet long with the head and torso of a Great White and an octopus' tentacled tail. Luckily, Andros' barrier reef, the third largest in the world, runs the entire length of the island and supports a tremendous variety of hard and soft coral gardens and exotic reef fish, which took my mind off mythical menaces.

Burton, our boat captain and life-long Andros resident making reef fishing look easy.

If you'd like to go deeper, Caerula Mar offers Discover SCUBA and certification classes with advance notice. The resort is also working on a coral gardening and reef restoration program that guests can participate in to help combat the effects of global warming, ocean acidification, and overfishing.

Other water-based activities include half- and full-day bonefishing excursions (Andros is known as the "bonefishing capital of the world"), private boat charters, sunset cruises, and guided mangrove kayaking. After your adventuring, you can recharge with a relaxing facial or massage in Caerula Mar's beachfront spa cottage.

During our daily exploration by land and sea, I marveled that large, sparsely populated pieces of paradise still exist in such a connected and seemingly oversaturated world. And, by doing my best to forgo my phone, I came to appreciate a new perspective on experiencing the blues.

For more information visit caerulamar.com.