 Owner: Gordon Storr |
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 Free use of
underwater camera + closeup lense |
Music Control: |
Note: on January 1, 2007, the US Customs Service is
requiring valid passports for virtually all persons (including children and
infants) for all travel outside of the USA including Bahamas (Canada, too).
Please allow PLENTY of time (like 60+ days) to get a new passport.
Click here for details of passport requirements
Panoramic view from top of Octagon's deck (camera @ 27' above ground): (click on below picture to see the great detailed view -- 263K byte picture size)
Calendar of available rental dates for Octagon house
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Want a quick overview?
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Place a reservation
More Information Follows Below:
Are you so stressed that you can't think straight??? Do you have too much pressure of work with too little time to relax??? Do you have a list of "to do" things that never seems to end??? Do your children think that life is a series of go here, do this, do that, with no time to stop and enjoy the world around them???
Imagine yourself sitting at the helm of a small 17' Boston Whaler watercraft, drifting in the rolling waves, with a line out 50 feet, waiting for the gigantic tug of a 48 inch, 18 pound fish (or even a small 15 inch 2 pound fish) hooked and ready to be pulled in. Imagine the gentle breeze and fresh salt air as you picnic on a secluded beach or under the shade of a grove of coconut trees or on a bed of tangerina pine tree needles with the tide flowing or ebbing on the shoreline with no one else around. Picture yourself sitting quietly reading, or enjoying a card game, or putting together a jigsaw puzzle with family or friends while a quick tropical shower rolls through the island followed by sunshine and flitting Bananaquit (pronounced "banana keet") birds. Can you smell the clean fresh air, the fish frying in the pan? Can you hear the peaceful roar of the ocean, the silence of the night? Can you see the stars at night (no haze or smog), the schools of fish as they cross your snorkel mask inches from you nose, a small 3' ray gliding by a few feet away from your feet in shallow hip-deep water, a world that exists for a day at a time? Can you taste the fresh fruits, the fish that doesn't get any fresher, or the conch (burger or fritters) that are out of this world?
Have I tantalized your taste buds??? Let me tell you about a quiet get-away house we own in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas. (ABACO is pronounced "AB-A-CO"; CAY is pronounced "KEY"). With 12 sides, the house is basically round, has two bedrooms (one with a queen-size bed for 2 persons; the second bedroom has a single twin and a bunk bed for a total of 3 persons that can sleep in the second bedroom), one bath, kitchen, combination living room dining room. We thought it had 8 sides so we called it the Octagon house... the name was etched by my Dad in a concrete platform at the foot of the steps leading up to the deck of the house before we realized there were 12 sides... so the name stays! The house itself is 2-1/2 minute walk (45 second golf cart ride) from the private development dock at Tahiti Beach (calm water) on the western side of Elbow Cay and it is here that you have free mooring privileges your boat (about an 8' draft). It's also a 3-3/4 minute walk (1 minute golf cart ride) from the big rolling waves on the Atlantic (eastern) side of Elbow Cay. Tahiti Beach has the occasional other "tourist", and the eastern side -- well, I've seen only about 4 persons there in 35 years.
Why did Sally (my wife) and I decide on a house in this area of the Bahamas? My Dad was a marine biologist and limnologist for 50+ years. A Canadian, he taught at Nassau College for 4 years during the years 1942-1946. Every summer for 2-1/2 months he would explore different areas of the Bahamas looking for the best area to do his underwater research and underwater photography. He finally determined that this area had the richest marine life for his studies, and since 1946, he did over 50+ years and 5000+ hours diving in this region. He did his Doctoral (PhD) Thesis on the reef at the north end of Elbow Cay, and even wrote a book about his underwater experiences on what he considered the best coral reef in all of the Bahamas. So, my Mum and Dad built a house 35 years ago (called Storrhaven), and my wife and I bought a house 15 years ago which is 200' from their house (called Octagon). So that's the story.
The Octagon house is available for rent year-round with the same rates any time of the year (no peak season). It is centrally located on a full acre of land surrounded by a garden of tropical fruit trees, coconut trees, and flowering shrubs on the southern end of Elbow Cay, a cay just 2-1/2 miles east of Abaco Island, the island that is the most North East of all the Bahamas. The area is called Dorros Cove, and the beach at the southwest part of Dorros Cove is called Tahiti Beach, a beautiful crescent-shaped 1,200' beach with a backdrop of a coconut plantation (from the 1860's). Tahiti Beach is reated as one of the top 10 beachs in the 700 islands that make up the Bahamas. There are about 20+ houses on this southern 100+ acres of Elbow Cay, so there is plenty of privacy, and NO commercial businesses are allowed in the private Dorros Cove area. Several commercial airlines go directly to the main (Abaco) island to the city of Marsh Harbour (MHH) from Ft. Lauderdale (FLL), Miami (MIA), West Palm Beach (PBI), and Orlando (MCO). It's about a 55 minute flight (from Ft. Lauderdale). A 10 minute taxi ride from the airport and a 20 minute ferry ride over to Hope Town (on Elbow Cay) takes you to your rental boat (most people also rent a boat to explore the many areas around and near Octagon), and in 7 minutes, you're at Tahiti Beach. If you choose not to rent a boat or pick up you rental boat when you arrive, e.g., delay until the day after your arrival date, your caretaker will pick you up in Hope Town via private boat and take you down to Octagon. In Hope Town, the quaint little town at the northern end with a picture post card harbor and a red and white candy-striped lighthouse, you can also use a 4-person golf cart if you prefer not to rent a boat as there is a paved road that goes almost the whole length (3 miles) of the elongated north-south oriented Elbow Cay. There is even a taxi on Elbow Cay that can take you from Hope Town to the Octagon house (about 2-1/2 miles). We do provide a free golf cart for use during your stay although there are some use restrictions.
Weekly rental (7 nights) for up to four (4) persons is $1000. Children 3 years old or under at the time you make your reservation are free. Below is a table of additional rate information.
| Rental Period | Amount Per Week |
Amount For Each Additional Night Above Rental Period |
Each Additional Person Above 4 Persons* |
| 1 week | $1000/week | $140/night beyond 1 week | $50/week |
| 2 weeks | $900/week | $125/night beyond 2 weeks | $25/week |
| 3 weeks | $800/week | $110/night beyond 3 weeks | $25/week |
| 4 weeks | $700/week | $100/night beyond 4 weeks | $25/week |
| < 1 week | $175/night | N/A | $10/night |
* No additional charge for partial weeks for the 5th or 6th person; charge is calculated on just the full week(s) of stay. For example, if 5 persons were to rent Octagon for 9 nights, the rate would be $1000 for the first 7 nights + 2 additional nights at $140/night + 1 full week of the 5th person at $50/week = $1000 + $280 + $50 = $1330.
While most persons normally make their reservations 2-4 months in advance, we can usually accommodate shorter lead times. Some discounts are available during the normal slack times of September and (usually) October on a case-by-case basis, but please call if you wish to discuss a certain time and/or discount.
Although most persons like to come to Octagon from Saturday to Saturday, if there is an opening, other arrival and departure days can usually be accommodated. We recommend a 9 or 10 day stay as the Abaco area has such a tremendous amount of different areas to explore. For our own personal use of Octagon, we like a Wednesday or Thursday arrival and a Saturday or Sunday return. Airline prices are considerably lower (10%-30% or more) in the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Saturday arrival/departures, so a Tuesday arrival and a Thursday departure can get you the lowest air fare pricing as well as (usually) less numbers of vacationers on the planes. The Octagon house rental price does not include a boat, but boat rentals are readily available and boat rental contact information is included in the literature pack.
If you are interested, even just dreaming of someday... send us an e-mail request, phone, or write for more information... we will send:
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Calendar of available rental dates for Octagon house
Place a reservation for the Octagon house rental
Map of
the northern part of the Bahama Islands and map of Abaco
Area
Floor
plan of the Octagon house
Pictures
of Octagon, Tahiti Beach, and views from the roof (sun deck)
Octagon's 4 Libraries: Ocean/Bahamas/Tropical Library; Children's Library;
Lending Library; Casual Reading Library
Go fer more information about the Bahamas, but please
come back! (no current link).
Enter
the "Bahamas Vacation Home Contest"; 1 week free use of Octagon
Ferry
schedule, both Albury's Ferry and Abaco Ferry (to coordinate your flights
in and out of Marsh Harbour)
Monthly Tides On Elbow Cay (also, mean datum levels, sunrise/sunset
times, phases of the moon)
Monthly Average Air Temperature, Water Temperature, and Rainfall
Bahamas Postage, To and From the Bahamas, Letters, Postcards, and
Aerogrammes
Underwater book: The Reef At Abaco,
160 pages
By: Dr. John F. Storr, PhD, Marine Biologist and Limnologist
Click Here for sample of writing + more information about the
book.
.
All descriptions and specifications subject to change. Please call, write, or email to confirm accuracy of any item on this web site.
Request additional information about the Octagon house via one of the following four methods: we have a packet available consisting of 12 pages of important (and some not so important but interesting) information including maps, boat/cart rental information, pictures -- use the second method by filling out the address/email form to order this packet.
1. E-mail at:
bahamas@costar.net
3. Phone at: 1-877-354-1745, 9am-11pm
Mon-Sat, 1pm-11pm Sun, Eastern Standard Time, a "live" person (Gordon or
Sally, the owners of the Octagon) will answer, or if not available, leave
a message and we'll call you back.
4. Mail at:
Gordon C.J. Storr
This page has been accessed
times since September 11, 2001
This is the Island home of Octagon house located
on Elbow Cay 3 miles east of Marsh Harbour on Abaco Island, BAHAMAS. Elbow
Cay is same as Elbow Key. Marsh Harbour is located on Abaco Island. Private
plane access flies into Marsh Harbour or Marsh harbor. Octagon vacation home
is on Abaco Island or Elbow Cay also know as Elbow Key. Contact Gordon Storr
or Sally Storr. Hopetown (actually Hope Town ) is a small city located on
Elbow Cay (Elbow Key) Abaco Island, BAHAMAS. Abaco Island is the most north
east island of the bahamas (Bahamas). Parrot Cay: Parrot Key reef snorkeling
and diving is great. Island Marine located at mouth of Hopetown (also called
Hope Town) on Elbow Cay, Abaco Island Bahamas. Vacation home for rent weekly
$1000 per week for 1-4 persons. Tahiti Beach area on Elbow Cay, Abaco Island,
Bahamas is where Octagon house is located. Bahamas snorkeling and SCUBA diving
site in coral reef north of Hopetown (or Hope Town ), Elbow Cay, and also
south of Elbow Cay at Sandy Cay Bahamian National Preserve. Can you feel
the stress lifting and giving you a new lease on life as you relax on the
sundeck 26 feet high and above the tops of the trees, during the day scanning
the island keys for 10-15 miles south, and during the night gazing at the
coal black sky and zillion of stars which you couldn't see because of air
pollution and/or the city's reflective lights back home? A great place to
vacation in the Caribbean
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