THE BAHAMAS - THE DELPHI CLUB...RESERVATIONS OPEN FOR 2013/14 SEASON, PRICES STABLE AND DELPHI BIRD BOOK...

Added: Thu 9th May 13

Reservations open for 2013/14 season

It's time to start thinking about planning your next bonefishing trip. Bookings are brisk for the upcoming October 2013 to July 2014 season, so do get in touch if you are considering a first-time or a return visit to the Delphi Club. Don't leave it too late to get the week that you really want.

We look forward to welcoming back many old friends for what will be the fifth year of the Club's existence. Rolling up to Rolling Harbour is, happily, becoming a habit for many.

There's great bonefishing to be had right throughout the season. There are no dud months. Yes, the chances of a brief cool front may be a bit higher in January, but this past January offered up some of the best conditions of the entire season.

If you want to have your own houseparty, taking over the whole Club, there are lots of possibilities in May, June and July.
If you're a numbers person, consider fishing for the big schools in November and December.
If you're desperate for a permit, try May, June or November.
If you're keen to avoid the depths of winter, December and January offer a worthy alternative to snow and fog.

Whatever your preference, get in touch ASAP.

Prices held at same level

For the third year running we are holding our prices steady. We compete on level terms with many less exquisite lodges. You don't have to pay more to enjoy one of the best Bahamian bonefishing venues.

We don't think there's a more beautiful location. Amazing views over a perfect, deserted beach. Total tranquility. Awesome architecture. Bird life to beat the band. And stunning food & wines, great atmosphere, extraordinary comfort, a wonderful team of guides and prolific catches of bonefish. What's not to like?

Get lost in the wilderness of the Abaco Marls and experience an environment utterly devoid of human impact.

And just because your partner doesn't fish doesn't mean she, or he, won't love it too. The Club was meticulously designed to please both fishers and "nons" equally.

The Delphi Club Guide to the Birds of Abaco

There's a delightful new book on the publishing horizon. After nearly two years of fieldwork, the Club's photographic guide to the bird life of Abaco will roll off the presses in coming months, possibly in time for Christmas. With amazing photography contributed by many Club guests, some of whom have obviously missed their true vocation in life, the book is written in lively style by Club member Keith Salvesen (aka Rolling Harbour) with the most exalted production values overseen by experienced art publisher Sally Salvesen.

The print run will be just 600, so this is going to be a collector's item - with a price tag to match of around $125.

To register your interest, let us know now. We'll then keep you posted as publication looms.

Now also available at the Delphi Club...

* The latest range of Thomas & Thomas saltwater rods
* The latest Hardy saltwater reels and rods - and at very reasonable prices
* A wide selection of Costa sunglassses
* Beautiful ceramics from Richard Bramble of England, including a large oval plate featuring the Abaco Parrot.
* A masssive chest of local and other fly patterns.
* A new shipment of wines from France
* Spectacular sunrises
* All the blues in Nature's spectrum
* A billion-dollar beach.......!

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

THE BAHAMAS - THE DELPHI CLUB - LAST FEW WINTER AND SPRING PLACES PLUS GREAT JUNE AND JULY OFFER...

Added: Fri 15th Feb 13

We have enjoyed an exceptionally glorious winter so far in Abaco, with consistently warm and beautiful weather. January guests took advantage of the benign conditions to notch up record catches for the month.

As we now head into the main busy season, there are very few openings between now and mid-May. But we do still have a few rooms available in the first week of March and over Easter between March 27^th and April 1^st.

There are then some gaps in late May and early June. From mid-June on, our special offer package is available. This offer will remain applicable through to a mid-July closedown.

Reservations are now also building for next autumn/fall, notably from mid-October to mid-December, a period that has witnessed consistently excellent fishing over the past four seasons.

Special Offers

JUNE/JULY SPECIAL – BARGAIN BREAK WITH BRILLIANT BONEFISHING

We are happy to repeat a special summer offer….

Enjoy a glorious beach holiday with a full week of fabulous food, lovely rooms and three half days of bonefishing, which leaves plenty of time for other stuff.

All for just $2,595 per fisher or $1,995 per non-fishing companion.

The Bahamas in June/July are beautiful. And the fishing can be outstanding. It is a great opportunity to sample the wonderful Delphi Club at its best.

Details

The offer is open from June 16th to July 15th 2013, subject to availability. The prices include room, all meals, hotel taxes and, where appropriate, guided bonefishing. Prices are based on shared rooms and shared guides/skiffs. Not included: drinks, airport transfers and discretionary gratuities.

Facilties/Activities available include a freshwater pool, sea kayaks, snorkelling, beachcombing, bird watching, scuba lessons*, reef diving*, boat charters*, island cruises*, big game fishing*, massage*, eco/nature tours* and seeing all the sights of lovely Abaco and its charming outer islands. [* Extra charges may apply]

Average temperatures: July, High 87F/30C, Low 75F/24C. Note that although the hurricane season theoretically begins on June 1, hurricanes outside Aug/Sep/Oct are almost unheard of. But trip cancellation insurance is recommended.

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

BAHAMAS - DELPHI LODGE - PETER MANTLE OPINES ON THE PAST SEASON...

Added: Tue 17th Jul 12

Fishing for all seasons:
the real skinny on Abaco’s weather

Someone once said “The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.”

Despite the generally glorious Bahamian climate, we are obsessed with weather. And so are many of our guests. Each evening, at the cocktail hour, we endeavor to form a four-dimensional picture of the next day’s variables – sun, wind, tide and the chance of rain. Accessing a battery of weather websites in search of a common online view, we then plot the best launch points for the next day’s bonefishing. We aim to please.

But, after our third season of trying to second-guess Mother Nature in this way, we have identified a fundamental truth: the internet weather nerds either have a twisted sense of humour or they’re consistently confusing the Bahamas with Bangladesh, Brisbane or Bordeaux. They are not just often wrong, but frequently wildly, totally, comprehensively, 100% wrong. And they err in both directions; for better or worse.

To describe meteorology as a science is like comparing Popeye to Einstein.

Thankfully, we also have Donnie. Donnie Lowe is our head guide and a man of consummate vision and foresight. Whatever his sources (his bones? his whiskers?), he consistently does a far better forecasting job than all our web-based, pseudo-scientific head-scratching. Somebody should hire him as a soothsayer on a gargantuan salary. No, that’s a lousy idea; we need him.

But our new realization is that it really doesn’t matter much after all. You can almost always go bonefishing, whatever the weather. Sure, some days will be better than others and some may test every defect in your eyesight or casting technique; but you should still catch fish. Sure, wind direction and wind strength are important factors, but, unless there's a storm, they are not crucial.

After a season that can only be described as meteorologically dysfunctional, with a lot of wind, we can still look back on a record bag of bonefish (about 2,600 in all) and a total of just five days when fishing was considered impossible or was quickly aborted. (OK, so we were closed when Hurricane Irene paid a visit. That doesn’t count).

The Bahamas are famous for their dazzling blue skies, puffy white clouds and gentle trade winds. And many are the days on Abaco that fulfill the dreams of those tourist board copywriters. There are quite a few others, however, when the wind blows pretty hard or clouds waft up from Cuba or warmish rains appear out of nowhere. They, too, are part of bonefishing and part of subtropical reality.

And there’s no best month. You can have, and we have had, brilliant bonefishing - and difficult days - in every month of the season, from October through June. Yes, there are fewer cool fronts passing through outside the winter months, but some of the very best days this season were between December and February. And that’s the truth.  

The key to it all is sunshine. Transparency. If you can see the fish, you’re in business. You can almost always find shelter from a strong wind, but you can’t turn on more lights. Happily, in the Bahamas we get an average of 2,880 hours of sunshine each year. That’s 7.9 hours per day, pretty much year round.

It is rarely blisteringly hot – and equally rarely anything that could be called cold. There were perhaps three times this season when my daily decision to wear shorts proved to be misguided bravado. Whatever the impact of global warming elsewhere, for much of the time the weather here is like a breezy late-spring day in Europe or New England, with a good dollop of sun, an agreeable variety of clouds, occasional rain showers and (perhaps tempting fate) an absence of extremes. Until hurricane season.

As I write, much of the USA is recovering from a vicious freak heatwave and Europe is awash with rain and gloom. Sorry for your troubles, but it’s been glorious here. Again.

We are now closed for the hurricane season, which is forecast to be unusually lively this year. It may indeed turn out that way; the ethereal met-men sometimes get it vaguely right. But I won’t believe a word of it until I’ve spoken to Donnie. Let’s hope he takes a different view from his weathered chair in Pete’s Pub.…


The shutters will come off again in October and one thing is certain: it will be a busy season. So, to employ a tired old cliché, book now to avoid disappointment. And do bring your other half; there is nowhere nicer to escape to, whether with rod, reel and flybox or with swimsuit, snorkel and kindle.

Oh, and do please remember that if you don’t get out fishing an odd time because the weather gods are having a grumpy day, you certainly won’t be charged. But the chances are very high that you will get out - and get fish - almost as often as you like.

Looking back over the past three seasons, we can offer solid statistics. Taking an average of all days, both perfect and imperfect, all seasons and all anglers, both expert and complete novice (we've had a lot of those), a boat can expect to bring in an average of about six bonefish per day, weighing between two and four pounds each, and to lose three or four more. Some boats will be less lucky, some will occasionally catch dozens. There will be some bigger fish and an occasional minnow.

But everyone fishing for a couple of days or more is assured of catching bonefish. You can bet on it. And we do.

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk