SHANGRI-LA ON CAT ISLAND

We have visited beaches from Australia to the Seychelles and many points in between, but Shangri-La on Cat Island remains our absolute favorite beach vacation in the world. Once again, we had this beautiful and pristine beach to ourselves for our entire two week stay. We have stayed at Shangri-La at least sixteen times over the past sixteen years, and we've been the only two people on the beach on all but two of our visits. To say we love this place is an understatement. The house is always very clean, in perfect condition and is extremely comfortable. The people on Cat Island are the most friendly, helpful and happy people we have ever met. This is a true escape from the world, and when you must leave the island, you will be very relaxed and rejuvenated. (Although we're also very sad because we don't want to leave!) Ginny and Richie are such wonderful people to deal with, and we cannot recommend this very special place highly enough.

We love this beach house and keep returning -- our 16th time just this past June. The white sandy beach is at least 1/3 mile long and we spent most of the time in the water. We were the only ones on the beach the whole week long.

The house is immaculate and the whole property is well-taken care of.
You will find everything you need to use in the kitchen.

We bought conch and grouper from a local fisherman. The people are so friendly and helpful! If you want casinos, fancy restaurants, loud music, Facebook, and other forms of virtual happiness, you need to go to a different island. Otherwise, this rental is truly paradise!

My husband, two adult sons and I spent the second week of Feb. at ShangriLa. From the time I first contacted Ginny and Rich about the possibility of renting, they have been wonderful to deal with. Ginny told me alot about the Island so I had a good idea of what to expect. We flew into Nassau on Friday and then took Sky Bahamas to Cat on Saturday. Trevor picked us up at the airport and drove us to the house. Quite honestly I wasn't sure what to expect because so many houses on the island are in really bad shape. But after the trip back the long lane we were so impressed with how lovely the house really is. We've stayed in several tropical vacation spots, but I've got to say that the first view from the patio is absolutely breathtaking! Although the pictures on this website are beautiful, they don't really do the property justice. The beach is pristine and pretty much private. My husband spent most of his week under the cabana reading, and I spent most of my week in a lounge chair by the water. The sons had never been to the Caribbean and were honestly speechless at it's beauty. Eric, Trevor's son, brought them snorkeling equipment and they used the neighbor's kayaks every day.The house is lovely and homey. There are no ceilings in the rooms, so be warned if you're traveling with a snorer(like our son). Luckily I took ear plugs. You'll need things like laundry soap, dish soap, coffee and filters,paper towels and toilet paper. It's really high on the island so you might want to bring with you.Several people told us they checked a cooler w/frozen food, which was a good idea. We did a few days of sightseeing but mostly just enjoyed our own beach. We bought steaks at King's Meats and grilled out one night. We ate at Yardy's several times.Rev. Johnson stopped 1st day selling fruit and veggies off his truck. Good but expensive. We got to watch the Super Bowl at the house on their satellite TV - way to go, Packers!! - but I think that was just about the only time the TV was on all week. Loved the CD collection, tho. Weather was mid 80's and sunny all week, which we were told was unusual for Feb. Sand fleas were viscious, but I heard they were bad all over the island, so it wasn't just at our place. Please be aware - Cat Island is very, very rustic and undeveloped, which appealed to us. We hope to be able to return very soon. Thanks so much to Ginny, Rich, Trevor, Eric and everyone else who contributed to making our vacation wonderful.