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Long Island is located Southeast of the Exuma Cays, it's northern quarter is crossed by the Tropic of Cancer. Historical church architecture is the focus of the sightseeing, especially the Catholic Parish Church in Clarence Town, another of Monsignor Hawes works. Stella Maris is a popular meeting place for sports fishermen and yachtsmen. The Island is approximately 80 miles long and from 1 to 3 miles wide and is a total land area of 173 sq. miles. Many artists consider Long Island the beauty queen of the country. The Atlantic side is lined with a dramatic rocky shoreline; leeward are sandy beaches. It is very hilly and punctuated with numerous limestone caves. It is another of the Bahamian islands believed to have been visited by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Population is just under 3,500.
There are outstanding reefs for snorkeling and diving, some of the best white sand beaches in the world can be found here. Long island is dotted with small settlements filled with hard working and friendly people. Vegetable and fruit farming is the mainstay of the people as well as raising some live stock. Columbus visited the island, then referred to as Yuma by the Lucayan Indians who inhabited it. Loyalists from Carolina settled on Long Island in 1790 and built plantations. They thrived with farming and livestock.
Long Islanders are consider to be the most physically attractive of all Bahamians. Their heritage may include input from the Lucayan-Arawak-Taino aborigines who lived here in the 15th century and before. Archaeologists have found ceremonial stools called duhos and other evidence confirming pre-Columbian inhabitation of Long Island's caves. A network of caves with stalagmites, stalactites and tiny fruit bats lies at Deadman's Cay, six miles north of Clarence Town, the island's largest settlement. Each year the Long Island Regatta is celebrated around Whit Monday weekend. You can also get lots of mangoes and pineapple around this time.
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