by Ernie Martin
Great Harbour Cay, Bahamas, an hour's flight from Miami, is a tropical paradise with what Travel and Leisure calls one of the most beautiful white-sand beaches in the world. Nestled in idyllic Sugar Beach is "BolaBeach", the beach home we owned for over 20 years, until we sold it in 2023; its magnificent setting can be seen in the aerial view shown further down.
Completed in 2002, BolaBeach is a centrally air conditioned 4-bedroom 3-bath house on a private 1.32-acre property encompassing two beachfront lots. It was designed by me and custom-built to our specifications -- with a high cathedral ceiling in the Great Room and quirks like a bidet in the master bath. Sleeps 12, due to the two sofabeds in the Great Room. The large ocean-facing terrace and 15-foot diameter Tiki hut on the beach have fully-reclining lounge chairs with cushions; after you've seen the floor plan and pictures below, there is a link with more details at the bottom of the page. And the house is here to stay, able to withstand the most powerful hurricanes and even flooding from the worst-case sea-level rise forecast for this century (details here).
But once in Great Harbour Cay, there's lots to see and do: caves, great fishing, a huge sand bar that's a treasure trove of sand-dollars and shells, plus amazing things in nearby islands. Click here for details, including how to get there.
Want more? Here are more house details, more exterior pics and a video .
With the help of my cousins, Rafi and Raul, a new shed was built in 2012; see the plans and the pics.
The terrace and outside shower
The beach in front of the house is GORGEOUS (click to enlarge)
Maggie on the beach as seen from the terrace (click to enlarge)
Sunrise from the terrace (click to see more sunrises)
The Scarab with twin 200HP Yamahas off the beach near sunset (close-up of boat may be seen here)