First off, if you are looking for a posh Bahamas island with lots of planted palm trees, abundant shopping and an active nightlife scene, then Staniel Cay is not for you. Go to Nassau or Georgetown. The village surrounding Staniel Cay Yacht Club is real, not touristy glam, and thus is not the most picturesque. And the markets do not offer much in the way of food, much less clothing or cute touristy items. And nothing happens quickly or on time.

What Staniel Cay does have to offer is an incredibly relaxed atmosphere, friendly people, no crowds and a feeling like you are part of a family when you are staying there. Everyone on the island says hello when passing and after a few days you come to recognize the repeating faces and learn names. And the sunsets are out of this world.

My husband and I stayed in the Key Lime Suite at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. Our suite was 2 stories with a balcony on each story, two bathrooms, a very comfortable king size bed (2 twins pushed together) on the top floor plus a day bed/couch on the bottom floor, and a very effective A/C unit on each floor. The cottages are cleaned every day by housekeeping and fresh towels are set out, in addition to yummy-smelling toiletries such as shampoo, etc. We loved our suite and leaving the balcony doors open at night to hear the sound of the ocean was pure heaven.

The grounds of the Yacht Club are clean and nicely landscaped, and the bar/restaurant (AKA the yacht club - makes it sound so fancy) is a funky little delight with its many flags from visiting boats and the friendly staff. The staff is wonderful and so hard working - you will see some of the gals at both breakfast, lunch and dinner, every day, plus sometimes doing housekeeping as well. The bartenders are also great - highly recommend the rum punch. You will need to de-pressurize and start living in "island time" though - service is not speedy. But the staff are so nice, and you start to come to know them, plus you become so relaxed yourself that you just don't mind the wait. The food at the restaurant is good, especially the homemade soup starter each night. The lobster tail is huge and tastes wonderful. After 7 nights, we found the menu selection wearing a bit thin, being from a big city and used to a variety of cultural food, but we had no complaints as to the quality. I highly recommend going with SCYC's all inclusive plan - food is basically non-existent in the local markets, plus you have no way of cooking it at SCYC. Yes, the cost recording of bar drinks was not the most accurate (pencil scribbles on a piece of paper at the bar) but we felt that our bar tab came out fairly at the end. If you don't want to run the tab, just insist on paying cash for each drink. The staff at SCYC is always willing to accomodate you. We even had some laundry done.

The boats included with the all-inclusive plan were the best part of the whole thing. Not the boats themselves - those Boston Whalers pound your body hard! What was wonderful was the ability to take off on an adventure each day - visiting the pigs at Major Cay (we got to pet 3 piglets), bonefishing, snorkeling, exploring little deserted islands, etc. and seeing no one except on boats in the distance. Then you can come back to your nice room, get cleaned up, and head to the bar to socialize with all the characters that come in off the boats - from rich mega-yacht owners to quirky sailboaters travelling alone. We found it amusing that no one batted an eye about mariners from Australia but when we said we were from California, almost everyone we talked to was amazed that we had travelled so far.

We found our vacation at SCYC to truly be the most relaxing we have ever taken, and we have done Hawaii and Mexico extensively. SCYC is just so removed from the normal chores and habits of home - no crowds, no driving (except golf carts), no tv, no cooking, no laundry, no cleaning up a condo. One thing we were surprised at, however, was the number of kids there. It didn't bother us a bit, in fact we plan on bringing our own kids the next time, but it might bother some people. They tend to run all over noisily, as kids do. And the adults can forget a game at the pool table until late night. On the other hand, the party atmosphere and noise of the bar might upset those people with kids. We had a neighbor mildly upset with music being played in the evening at one of the cottages. So something to consider. But if you allow the laid-back pace of the island to envelop you, nothing much will bother you. We will definitely be back.

We spent four nights at SCYC just afer New Year's in one of the tower cottages on the inclusive plan. After waiting 5 hours for our Air Flamingo flight to leave Nassau, finally getting to Staniel Cay was like arriving in paradise. The island is beautiful and the town and local people were charming. The main point of contact is the bartender, so when the bar is busy, you might have to wait to check in/check out. Without exception, everyone on the staff was friendly and helpful. My mother broke her foot 3 days before our trip and was determined not to cancel. The SCYC staff were gracious and solicitous of her needs. We checked our bill carefully but had no problems with the accounting. We advise future travelers to opt for the all inclusive plan rather than a la carte; it makes things simpler for the staff and for you. The website clearly states that there is a 5% charge for Visa and MasterCard - do your homework before you travel to a remote location! Take travellers checks to SCYC. It takes a certain type of person to travel to an out island destination; if you need to be pampered and have every modern convenience, something like Atlantis is probably a better choice for you. However, if you know you can readily adapt to the "island time" lifestyle, SCYC is a great destination.

The plan includes three meals daily and use of all "toys". The food was great; not fancy but plentiful and well executed. Breakfast was a choice of an omelet, eggs, french toast, or pancakes served with fresh fruit, Bahamian toast, and your choice of bacon or sausage. Lunch is available in the Club or packed in a cooler for explorers. The four course dinners consist of a nightly soup, salad, entree, and dessert. Order your entrees at the bar by 5pm nightly for a 7:30pm seating. Entree choices include ribs, chicken, mahi, lobster tail, steak, cracked conch, and rack of lamb. If you're on the plan, grab snorkeling equipment off the wall near the door, and keep it for the duration of your stay. We saw great sea life even at the Staniel Cay public beach steps from our dock. As for the Whalers, they are tough little boats that take a licking and keep on ticking. We had limited boating experience and ran into problems (our fault) with the boat, so after that we got a guide instead. We highly recommend Captain Cliff; he did a wonderful job helping us regain our sea legs! With Cliff we went to the Exumas Land and Sea Park, Big Major the see the famous swimming pigs, Compass Cay to see the sharks, Sampson Cay, and lastly we snorkeled at Thunderball grotto, which was truly a once in a lifetime experience!

We found our cottage charming; the sunset views over the water were stunning. The cottages have ceramic tile floors, minifridges and coffee makings and are decorated with conch shells and island watercolors. In the bathroom, you'll find plush towels (including beach towels) and Caswell-Massey bath products; a nice touch. We purchased soda and alcohol in the gift shop to keep in our room and enjoy on our deck and the bartenders were great about filling an ice bucket for us.

I'm a 25 year old woman, and I would travel back to SCYC alone. I never experienced anything in the bar that made me feel uncomfortable. (The Happy People Bar down the street is the true late night party spot.) The bar building is a wifi hotspot and there is one computer available for internet rental.

A friend and I just spent three nights at SCYC, a trip which we planned at the last minute a week before. Given that we hadn't really put a lot of research into the trip, we would have been happy with anything, but it turned out to be a fabulous trip. SCYC is such a laid-back environment, and in such a fantastically beautiful setting, that you just don't care about the lackluster decor of the room or the weird shower door that won't close. Seriously, if you're upset about that kind of stuff in the room, you're clearly missing the point of the vacation - it's not about the room, or even the club, as much as the scattering of amazing beaches everywhere and the days spent trolling around on your Boston Whaler ($60/day) looking for the perfect spot to have your box lunch (sandwich, fruit cup, pringles).

A couple of warnings - first, check your bill carefully, and make sure to read the details of whatever package you get (we had MAP, but thought we had All Inclusive - yikes). We got over/undercharged like crazy, and only after privately calculating the bill with my friend (and realizing that they had left off as many charges as they'd tacked on) did we settle the bill. And I'm not sure if the website says this, but there's a 5% charge for credit card use, and no ATM on the island, although they do accept personal checks (we were told too late to do anything about it).

Also - for single female travelers, the SCYC bar can be kind of overwhelming. At all hours, it's full of mostly male yachters and boat crew, as well as locals, and my friend said it reminded her of Jimmy Buffet's song "Fins" ("Fins to the left, fins to the right, and you're the only bait in town"). One night we felt so uncomfortable that we snuck around the back of the bar to get out so we wouldn't have to run the gauntlet of ogling seamen blocking the entrance. SCYC still felt very safe, though - the island and the club itself are too small and intimate for anyone to try anything. Not dangerous, just annoying.

Overall, totally beautiful and laid-back, and a very good Bahamas deal for the money (assuming you don't get wildly overcharged for the bar/food tab, etc. - watch out). I'd like to go back with a bigger group for a longer stay.

Third time I've been to this resort. The 2nd time for Christmas.

If you can find a cost effective way of getting here - ideally by your own private plane or yacht - then this is the best base from which to explore the Bahamian out islands.

If you decide to stay here you must stay in either the bungalows or towers that overlook the sea. The manageress, Suzannah, is an excellent host. The food at the bar is good although we found the snack menu (which you can order in evenings too) is better value than the meal package or main meal evening menu. The food and beverages are as fine a quality and as good a value as you'll find anywhere in the Bahamas (other than Paradise Island of course).

Anyway, if you have a bucket load of cash then make sure you get a golf cart for the duration of your stay so you can explore the island and rent a wee motor boat to explore the nearby beautiful beaches (please be careful not to damage the coral with the prop when the tide is out).

For this last stay there were a lot of mosquitos around so make sure you pack lots of repellent and consider buying insect spray to kill all of these critters in your room.

Also, make sure that you check your final bill carefully as the staff make frequent mistakes (in both yours and their favours).

This is a great resort, although there are no decent beaches in the immediate vicinity they are within easy reach with a golf cart, private plane, boat or long walk. There are, however, some fascinating reef or nurse sharks by the jetty (they are safe to swim with) and you have the impressive thunderball grotto to explore (get there by boat or, if you are a decent swimmer, stick on some fins and swim there).